Mississippi and Nevada are among U.S. states making it easier for restaurants and cafeterias to donate leftovers to food pantries, officials said.

In laws that took effect this month, Mississippi and Nevada added extra liability protection for food donors as pantries reported an increasing demand for help, USA Today reported Monday.

The demand for food from pantries rose an average of 30 percent last year, with some areas seeing an increase of up to 70 percent, Feeding America, a national association of food banks, said.

Last year, Florida enacted a law to protect donating restaurants from liability, while Massachusetts is considering a bill this year to provide tax credits to restaurants and cafeterias that donate food.

A bill before the California Legislature would establish a database of food outlets interested in donating leftovers to pantries, USA Today reported.

"There simply is too much perfectly good food being wasted in California," State Sen. Jenny Oropeza, the bill's Democratic sponsor, said.