The FDA Food Code has been around since 1934 and is updated every few years. The 2009 edition of the Food Code comes from the FDA, and the CDC of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Food Code is a reference document for state, city, county and tribal agencies that regulate:

• Restaurants
• Retail food stores
• Vending operations
• Foodservice operations in institutions such as

o   Schools

o   Hospitals

o   Nursing Homes

o   Child care centers

The Food Code establishes practical and enforceable provisions for mitigating risk factors known to cause food borne illness. One of the findings of the Food Safety Working Group created by President Obama was the need to modernize statutes that require effective sanitation and preventive controls in food establishments.

Food Code adoption and implementation is important for achieving uniform national food safety standards and for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of our nation’s food safety system. The federal government is committed to enhanced coordination of food safety efforts with state, local, and tribal agencies, and the food industry to protect our food supply. HHS and USDA will continue to take progressive steps to partner with all who have a stake in food safety and are committed to reducing the incidence of food borne illness in the United States.

The need for the Food Code is apparent since food borne illness in the US is a major cause of preventable death. There are estimates that food borne diseases cause about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the US each year.

Epidemiological outbreak data repeatedly identify five major risk factors contributing to food borne illness. They are:

1.    Improper holding temperatures

2.    Inadequate cooking, such as undercooking raw shell eggs

3.    Contaminated equipment

4.    Food from unsafe sources

5.    Poor personal hygiene

The Food Code specifically addresses controls for the risk factors. It establishes 5 key public health interventions to protect consumer health. They are:

• Demonstration of knowledge
• Employee health controls
• Controlling hands as a vehicle of contamination
• Time and temperature parameters for controlling pathogens
• Consumer Advisory

These topics are spelled out in Chapters 2 and 3 of the Food Code. The revisions contained in the 2009 FDA Food Code reflect changes, additions, deletions and format modifications listed in the Supplement to the 2005 FDA Food Code. It also includes recommendations developed during the 2008 Biennial meeting of the Conference for Food Protection. New to the 2009 edition is a revised designation system for Code provisions.

The Food Code provisions address essentially four areas:

1.    Personnel – Chapter 2

2.    Food – Chapter 3

3.    Equipment, facilities, supplies – Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7

4.    Compliance and enforcement – Chapter 8

Each Chapter is divided into:

• Parts
• Subparts
• Sections
• Paragraphs
• Subparagraphs

The United States FDA is issuing a new edition of the Food Code every 4 years. During the 4-year span of time between editions, the FDA may issue supplements to an existing edition. Each new edition will incorporate the changes made in the supplement as well as any new revisions.

The 2009 FDA Food Code is available as PDF files on the FDA web site. The latest updates were in November 2009.

Written by: Margaret Stenerson

10 15 2010