FDA has released the newest version of the Food Code

Blog by Lori Stephens based on the new FDA Food Code release.

The FDA has released an updated version of the federal Food Code – Food Code 2017.

What is the Food Code?

The Food Code is a set of requirements based on science for preparing and serving food.

The Food Code documents the best ways to prevent foodborne illness and injury.  It provides guidance for restaurants, retail food stores, vending operations and food service operations, including those in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and child care centers.  By following the requirements in the Food Code, these operations can eliminate the most important factors that can cause food safety hazards.

The FDA provides this document to the food industry as a tool.  It is a very important fact that the FDA does not require that the Food Code be followed by local health departments and similar organizations – they describe it as “model regulation”.   It can be adopted fully, or parts can be used.  The FDA allow alternative requirements that offer an equivalent level of food safety.

Why the Food Code important is Important to You

This is important to our business because this document prescribes the use of single-use gloves for handling ready-to-eat food.   It is the main regulatory reason restaurants and food service operations use gloves.

A ton of work goes into revising the Food Code

The FDA writes the food code with input from regulatory officials (USDA and CDC), industry, academia, and consumers at an industry meeting of the Conference for Food Protection (CFP).

The Food Code used to be updated and published every two years, the process to develop a Food Code revision is really time consuming.  Due to the amount of input, edits, and science involved, the document is now revised every four years.

The effort to create this new revision started in mid-2106 and the document was just published last week.  It is called the Food Code 2017 because the contents were agreed on in 2017, even though it was published in 2018.  The last revision is called Food Code 2013.

What has changed in the Food Code 2017?

According to the FDA’s statement, significant changes to the Food Code 2017 include:

  • Revised requirement for the “Person in Charge” to be a Certified Food Protection Manager
  • New section addressing the use of bandages, finger cots or finger stalls
  • Harmonized cooking times and temperatures for meat and poultry to ensure uniformity with guidance from the USDA
  • Updated procedures during an extended water or electrical outage

If you want to read the Code, or share it with one of your customers, it is available on the FDA website at http://www.fda.gov/FoodCode.

 

Proper Cooking Temperature: A Basic Food Safety Measure

Each summer, we see an increase in the incidence of foodborne illnesses. Perhaps this is because of the warmer temperatures making temperature control for Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) food more difficult or perhaps it is the increased amount of people who are barbequing this time of year – it is National Picnic Month, after all!

Changing Climate: The Unseen Impact on Food Safety

In June, I was asked to participate in the Allinfoodz podcast, put on by a colleague, Dr. Amit Sharma, at Penn State University.  One of the points Dr. Sharma wanted to discuss was the impact of climate change on food safety, which is something I was certainly aware of, but not something I had done much research on.  However, when preparing for the interview and podcast, it was interesting to learn more about the relationship between the two.

Thawing Food with Food Safety in Mind

There comes a time in almost every foodservice operation where you must thaw food. Yes, I know there are those operations who have moved to fresh products only and don’t have a freezer in-house, but I am willing to bet that is more the exception than the norm. I am almost sure that anyone reading this blog who works in a foodservice operation can regurgitate what methods are acceptable to thaw food per the FDA Model Food Code. In case you don’t recall, I will discuss them briefly, but I wanted to spend some time covering these requirements a bit more in-depth – so you not only know WHAT to do, but the WHY we do it that way.

Addressing Major Food Recalls in Your Business

It seems like every year we have a large-scale food recall that reminds consumers and foodservice operators about the importance of food safety. Not that we need reminded, but it certainly puts the topic in the headlines again. Last year, it was the onion recall. This year, it may very well be the Jiff peanut butter recall, of which we are in the midst of.  At the time of the publishing, we are starting to learn more about a potential hepatitis A outbreak linked to strawberries.  If you have not been impacted by either of these recalls in your personal or business life, I would be surprised.