Edible Food Recovery
What does SB 1383 mean for edible food recovery?
To reduce unnecessary food waste and help address food insecurity, SB 1383 requires that by 2025, the state of California will recover and redistribute 20 percent of edible food that would have otherwise be sent to landfills. The law directs the following:
- Jurisdictions must establish edible food recovery outreach and inspection programs, help connect mandated edible food generators with food recovery organizations/services, and ensure there is sufficient county-wide capacity for all the recovered edible food.
- Mandated edible food generators must arrange to recover the maximum amount of their edible food that would otherwise go to landfills. They must establish contracts with food recovery organizations/services that will accept their edible food and keep records of all edible food recovery.
- Food recovery organizations and services that work with mandated edible food generators must maintain and submit records of edible food recovery.
What is edible food? Edible food is food intended for people to eat, including food not sold because of appearance, age, freshness, grade, surplus, etc. Edible food includes, but is not limited to, prepared foods, packaged foods and produce. All edible food must meet the food safety requirements of the California Retail Food Code (PDF).
For information on how to donate food to a food recovery organization, please visit the San Mateo County's Office of Sustainability website or contact them via email at ediblefoodrecovery@smcgov.org.
Information for Edible Food Generators
SB 1383 requires certain businesses that are defined as either a “Tier 1” or “Tier 2” edible food generators to recover edible food. Please see the chart below for a description of the types of businesses that fall under the Tier 1 and Tier 2 categories and when they are required to start recovering edible food.
Tier 1 Edible Food Generators
These entities are required to recover the maximum amount of edible food (that would otherwise be disposed of) starting January 1, 2022.
Grocery store – a store that is 10,000 square feet or more in size that is primarily engaged in the retail sale of canned food, dry goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, fish, and poultry, and any area that is not separately owned within the store where the food is prepared and served, including a bakery, deli, and meat and seafood departments.
Supermarket - a full-line, self-service retail store with gross annual sales $2,000,000 or more that sells a line of dry grocery, canned goods, or nonfood items and some perishable items.
Food service provider - an entity primarily engaged in providing food services to institutional, governmental, commercial, or industrial locations of others based on contractual arrangements with these types of organizations.
Food distributor - a company that distributes food to entities including, but not limited to, supermarkets and grocery stores.
Wholesale food vendor - a business engaged in the wholesale distribution of food, where food is received, shipped, stored, or prepared for distribution to a retailer, warehouse, distributor, or other destination.
Tier 2 Edible Food Generators
These entities are required to recover the maximum amount of edible food (that would otherwise be disposed of) starting January 1, 2024.
Restaurant with 250 or more seats, or a total facility size equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet.
Hotel with an on-site food facility and 200 or more rooms.
Health facility with an on-site food facility and 100 or more beds.
Large venue - a permanent venue facility that annually seats or serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals within the grounds of the facility per day of operation of the venue facility. A venue facility includes, but is not limited to, a public, nonprofit, or privately owned or operated stadium, amphitheater, arena, hall, amusement park, conference or civic center, zoo, aquarium, airport, racetrack, horse track, performing arts center, fairground, museum, theater, or other public attraction facilities. A site under common ownership or control that includes more than one large venue that is contiguous with other large venues in the site, is a single large venue.
Large event - an event, including, but not limited to, a sporting event or a flea market, that charges an admission price, or is operated by a local agency, and serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals per day of operation of the event, at a location that includes, but is not limited to, a public, nonprofit, or privately owned park, parking lot, golf course, street system, or other open space when being used for an event.
A state agency with a cafeteria with 250 or more seats or a total cafeteria facility size equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet.
A local education agency with an on-site food facility.