2015 Update to the 2013 Food Code

Every four years, the FDA reissues the new version of the food code, and two years after, revisions are made. The FDA just released it’s 2015 update to the 2013 US Food Code. In the news release, the FDA issued these bullet points summarizing the changes:

• Expand the duties of the Person in Charge in a food establishment to include overseeing the routine monitoring of food temperatures during hot and cold holding.
• Expand and clarify the type of information that should be included when a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Plan is required by a regulatory authority.
• Emphasize that cleaning and sanitizing agents should be provided and available for use during all hours of operation.
• Clarify the difference between Typhoid Fever and nontyphoidal Salmonellosis with regard to the reporting of illness and the exclusion and restriction of ill food employees.
• Suggest that regulatory authorities ensure that inspection staff has access to the necessary training and continuing education.

So the regulatory-review minions took a look to see if any of these updates will have an impact.

In the end, there is no major changes, but more clarifications.  Listed below are the key points.

The FDA document listing all changes can be found here, starting on page 13 - http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/UCM451981.pdf

 

  

Section 2-201.11

 Duties were added to those designated to the person in charge. While these may have been assumed to be under that person’s responsibilities, now it is in writing. The implications is that the person with certification…the person in charge, would be responsible for on-going safety during operation, including for monitoring of temperatures, sanitizing of services, avoiding bare hand contact with RTE food, reporting of health issues. 

 

(I) EMPLOYEES are properly maintaining the temperatures of TIME/TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR SAFETY FOODS during hot and cold holding through daily oversight of the EMPLOYEES’ routine monitoring of FOOD temperatures; Pf

J) CONSUMERS who order raw or partially cooked READY-TO-EAT FOODS of animal origin are informed as specified under § 3-603.11 that the FOOD is not cooked sufficiently to ensure its safety; Pf

K) EMPLOYEES are properly SANITIZING cleaned multiuse EQUIPMENT and UTENSILS before they are reused, through routine monitoring of solution temperature and exposure time for hot water SANITIZING, and chemical concentration, pH, temperature, and exposure time for chemical SANITIZING; Pf

(L) CONSUMERS are notified that clean TABLEWARE is to be used when they return to self-service areas such as salad bars and buffets as specified under § 3-304.16; Pf

(M) Except when APPROVAL is obtained from the REGULATORY AUTHORITY as specified in ¶ 3-301.11(E), EMPLOYEES are preventing cross-contamination of READY-TO-EAT FOOD with bare hands by properly using suitable UTENSILS such as deli tissue, spatulas, tongs, single-use gloves, or dispensing EQUIPMENT; Pf

(N) EMPLOYEES are properly trained in FOOD safety, including FOOD allergy awareness, as it relates to their assigned duties; Pf

(O) FOOD EMPLOYEES and CONDITIONAL EMPLOYEES are informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report in accordance with LAW, to the PERSON IN CHARGE, information about their health and activities as they relate to diseases that are transmissible through FOOD, as specified under ¶ 2-201.11(A); Pf and

(P) Written procedures and plans, where specified by this Code and as developed by the FOOD ESTABLISHMENT, are maintained and implemented as required. Pf

  

Section 201.13

 Changes were made in this section to further differentiate Salmonella Typhi and nontyphoidal Salmonella. Now, they designate Typhoid Fever (Salmonella Typhoid) as the reportable illness and call the regular strains of Salmonella as Salmonella (nontyphoidal) instead of nontyphoidal Salmonella. This will help in the education since there is a distinct difference in the types of illnesses each cause. While we do not see many cases of Typhoid Fever, it is a much more serious illness than your garden strains of Salmonella.

   

Section 4-303.11

This addition makes sure that cleaning chemicals are available during all hours of the operation.

4-303.11-Cleaning Agents and Sanitizers, Availability
(A) Cleaning agents that are used to clean EQUIPMENT and UTENSILS as specified under Part 4-6, shall be provided and available for use during all hours of operation

(B) (B) Except for those that are generated on-site at the time of use, chemical SANITIZERS that are used to sanitize EQUIPMENT and UTENSILS as specified under Part 4-7, shall be provided and available for use during all hours of operation.

    

Section 8-201.14

This section titled Contents of a HACCP Plan was updated to list the items needed as part of a HACCP plan for a retail establishment.

 

 

FDA releases Food Code Reference System

FDA has released the Food Code Reference System, (FCRS) a search tool for providing additional information on questions posed to FDA on various provisions in the Food Code. It can be used when looking for specific issues that may come up. For example:
Can a wait staffer or server not involved in food prep have artificial nails? ? Short answer from what was posted – no.
What is the maximum strength allowed for a chlorine hand dip? ? Short answer from what was posted – there is no maximum, only a minimum of 100 mg/L of chlorine?
Are eggs that have been pasteurized in the shell shelf stable? Short answer – no, but they are free from Salmonella.
So this may be a useful site when you have a specific question and are looking for support documentation. However the amount of items in the database is limited and you may not find what you need. And I found that the answers could be somewhat basic. For example, a question on allergens and cooking oil is pretty simplistic in its response. It gets to the fact that allergens from food can be transferred by oils, but does not get to a question that is often posed, ant that is, what is defined as a refined oil.  

Possible reason is that the database has answers that were posted over a 8 or so year range, and so these questions/answers may not provide sufficient depth to some of the more complex questions that arise today. Perhaps as time goes, these questions will be posed to FDA and then this information will become searchable on the database.

Overall, I find that the information listed in the Annex section of the 2013 Food Code (the section that supports the 2013 Food Code) to be a better source for supporting documentation, however, for more specific questions you may come across, the FCRS can be a tool to find that answer.   

One other issue….the FDA website is sooooo slooowwwww.

FDA Constituent Update
http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm394144.htm
FDA Releases Searchable Database - Food Code Reference System
Latest effort to strengthen understanding and application of the FDA Model Food Code
April 21, 2014

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created the Food Code Reference System1 as part of an effort to promote consistent understanding and application of the FDA’s Food Code.

The FDA Food Code -- a model that has been widely adopted by state, local, tribal and territorial regulatory agencies -- provides FDA’s best advice for a uniform system of provisions to address the safety and protection of food offered at retail and in food service. The food code assists food control jurisdictions at all levels of government by providing them with a scientifically sound technical and legal basis for regulating the retail and food service segment of the industry. Regulators use the FDA Food Code as a model to develop or update their own food safety rules and to be consistent with national food regulatory policy.

The new Food Code Reference System, a searchable database that answers questions users may have about the Food Code and the application of its model regulations, will help to promote nationwide consistency and increase transparency about the Food Code.

Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government agencies; consumers, and stakeholders from academia and industry will benefit from this database as they promote compliance with their respective food safety requirements throughout the United States.

The Food Code Reference System contains entries derived from responses to Food Code-related questions posed to FDA.

Initially, users of the FCRS will find more than 20 entries that clarify many issues including:

The storage of foods that require temperature control for safety.
The design of food establishments and the cleaning of food equipment.
Bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods
Preventing contamination of food through proper hand hygiene and employee attire 

The FDA intends to add entries it believes are important to the uniform application of the Food Code and that may have implications across all jurisdictions that regulate food establishments. These entries will reflect questions previously answered by FDA as well as responses to future inquires that FDA receives.

The Food Code Reference Systems contains a User Manual and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page, both accessible from the log-in page. After an initial registration, system users can search the database using dropdown menus, keyword search, date fields, or a combination of these options. Users can also retrieve, view, and save documents to a local computer system. The materials contained in the Food Code Reference System are developed and issued by the Retail Food Protection Team in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

More information on FDA’s Food Code Reference System is available at http://www.fda.gov/retailfoodprotection2. Questions about the use of FDA’s Food Code Reference System can also be sent by email to: Retailfoodprotectionteam@fda.hhs.gov.