I was just thinking about a conversation I had with a client who came to us looking for some clear logo-printed containers with lids last year around this time. When I asked her what her company would be using them for, she replied that they were planning to buy M&M candies in bulk and have their employees fill up the imprinted jars with the candies for holiday delivery to their clients.

Now, this sounds like a lovely idea. The client is a local bank that's located in the suburbs and is very involved in their local community. While happy to help with the imprinted candy containers, something about this project was making me feel a little uncomfortable - I began to wonder...is there potential liability when companies decide to go DIY with their food gifts?

The first experience I've had that made me step back and think about food safety was the way policies in public schools have changed when it comes to bringing classroom treats. Back when I was growing up, Mom baked cookies and cakes for our classroom and the school bake sales. I was so surprised to find when my daughter started school that home-baked treats are no longer allowed - everything must come from a store or commercial bakery now because of health regulations.

As I started to imagine bank employees filling up these jars with bulk M&Ms I began to wonder... are they washing and sanitizing the jars first, or just pulling them out of the box and filling them up? Is their hair pulled back? Are they going to wear gloves or at least wash their hands thoroughly before handling the candy? Suddenly what seemed like a sweet and simple idea was fraught with questions about safety.

Of course, as any good lawyer will tell you, safety usually travels hand-in-hand with liability. I began to wonder... if the bank distributed these food gifts to their clients, and heaven forbid one of them became ill or found a hair or a fingernail in their candy jar, could the bank face any sort of liability since they didn't fill the candy jars under supervision in a licensed & inspected commercial facility?

The USDA regulates the packaging of the items sold in our industry that are considered 'edible', including food gifts, candies, breath mints and even lip balm. To avoid liability, we're careful to choose suppliers who are USDA-compliant and ship these goods in containers with tamper-evident seals and the required ingredient disclosures.

My advice for the bank? While chances are nothing bad will happen, why take a chance at all? Instead of using M&Ms, I suggested they switch to individually wrapped candies instead. Doing so would eliminate the need to wash the containers before filling and, even better, would eliminate any possible contact between the candies and the hands of the bank employees.

Just like my client is an expert in banking, my staff and I are experts in promotional marketing. We're here to give you suggestions, feedback and advice for your promotions... and help you avoid expensive mistakes. Please feel free to contact us if you need a good promotional firm to work with!