Bulk Repacking of Non-ready-to-eat Dry Product For Charitable Distribution Guidance

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The Bulk Repacking of Non-Ready-to-Eat Dry Product for Charitable Distribution guide provides a simplified set of standard operating practices designed to provide safe packing conditions.

Digital version (free download) 

Description

This will ensure that non-ready-to-eat dry products may continue to be packaged by volunteers and non-profit organizations for distribution within the U.S.

The non-ready-to-eat dry products covered within this guidance document, include dried shelf stable ingredients such as: rice, soy, beans, noodles, dried vegetables, dried pasta, and vitamin powder, with some variations. The products must have a kill-step and must be cooked by boiling in water prior to consumption. This guide addresses the confusion between packagers (non-profits organizations who organize volunteers to pack the meals), food banks, (non-profits who collect food to be redistributed to food pantries), and governmental regulatory agencies as to what guidance, rules or best practices should be followed for these unique volunteer food packaging events to operate.

General consensus is these type of products (dry good with a kill step) are extremely safe and desperately needed in domestic charitable food relief. This publication is not intended to replace any current government regulatory requirements that may exist, but can be applied to a relatively small segment of the charitable food supply program where operational standards do not exist