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.

 

Is Implementing a Color-Coded Food Safety Plan Right for your Operation?

Foodborne pathogens are by far the most prevalent cause of foodborne illness in the United States and across the world.  There are 31 known agents that cause foodborne illnesses, and more that are unspecified or yet undiscovered – remember, E. Coli 0157:H7 wasn’t identified until the early-1980s. It is estimated each year, 48 million illnesses occur because of these known and unknown pathogens, resulting in over 3,000 deaths.

Maintaining your Equipment: Is it the Missing Ingredient in your Recipe for Food Safety?

Although I am no longer in day-to-day operations, between our students and foodservice lab at the university and my volunteer activities in my local church, I keep a close hand in food production. This past week, I had the opportunity to lead a group of men at our church in preparation of a luncheon for 100 women who were attending a spirituality retreat.  Over the course of the morning, I realized our main cooler in the kitchen was not functioning properly and was about 10˚F above the required temperature.  While we do have a commercial kitchen, we do not routinely log temperatures, so when the unit started to malfunction is questionable.  Even more concerning was not the lunch we were preparing for, but the dinner that was served the night before for 300+ families in the parish.

Contamination of Food: Chemicals, Pesticides, and more, Oh My!

If you have followed our blogs, you have often heard us opine about food safety-related behavior and communication, food traceability, and other overarching food safety topics.  We often don’t get into the weeds and discuss topics you may have learned about in your food safety training.  But I thought we might circle back around and dig into a few of these topics for a few blogs.  This month, I’d like to discuss food contamination, this blog will focus on chemical contamination of food and later this month, we will discuss physical contaminates.