Food code
The FDA Food Code is released by the US Food and Drug Administration every four years as a guide or model from which health jurisdictions nationwide can develop their foodservice sanitation standards. First published in 1993, the Food Code represents the best known information regarding safe food storage, handling, and preparation.
The current version of the FDA Food Code is 2005, with an interim supplement issued in 2007.[1] Health jurisdictions adopt these guidelines to create their own regulations, which form the basis for food safety standards and sanitation inspections of food service establishments and retail food operations.
Use and content
According to the FDA, the Food Code provides “practical, science-based guidance and manageable, enforceable provisions for mitigating risk factors known to cause food-borne illness. The Code is a reference document for regulatory agencies that ensure food safety in food service establishments, retail food stores, other food establishments at the retail level, and institutions, such as nursing homes and child care centers.”[1]
Contributors to the development of the Food Code are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Conference for Food Protection also provides recommendations for FDA Food Code standards.
Food Code provisions address management and personnel, food, equipment, plumbing, physical facilities, chemical product use, and other areas. The FDA Food Code also includes references, rationale to standards, and model forms.
Adoption of the FDA Food Code
The new thing for the Food and Drug Officials, which monitors FDA Food Code adoption for the FDA, reported in November 2007 that 48 of the 50 US states had adopted codes modeled on one of the versions of the FDA Food Code.[2] Which version of the Food Code is in force varies by health jurisdiction.[2]
Notes
- ^ a b US Food and Drug Administration. Joint Introduction to the 2005 Food Code. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/fc05-int.pdf
- ^ a b US Food and Drug Administration. Real Progress in Food Code Adoptions. http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Eear/fcadopt.html
References
- Food and Drug Administration. 2005 Food Code: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodcode.html#get05
- Food and Drug Administration. Previous Editions of Codes. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/fc05-cod.pdf