You Should. Because the Details Aren't Likely to Be Arbitrary Much Longer.

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publishes the Food Code, a model that 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 (restaurants and grocery stores and institutions such as nursing homes). Local, state, tribal, and federal 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 Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) reported in June 2005, that 48 of 56 States and territories have adopted food codes patterned after one of the five versions of the Food Code, beginning with the 1993 edition. Those 48 states and territories represent 79% of the U.S. population.

For most operations, it's going to mean closer attention must be paid to the details. For example, in many cases, regulations on the use of gloves in food handling could change. Meanwhile, for those who fail to keep strict date marking records on their ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous and prepackaged foods, it could mean more frequent inspections. When it's all said and done, foodservice operations across the country are going to have to re-evaluate their practices, or face such problems as seizure and destruction of goods, serious fines or even indefinite shutdown, depending on the health risk.

Between 1993 and 2001, the Food Code was issued in its current format, every two years. With the support of the Conference for Food Protection, FDA decided to move to a four-year interval between complete Food Code revisions. The 2005 Food Code is the first full-edition to publish since the 2001 edition. During the 4-year interim period, a Food Code Supplement that updates, modifies, or clarifies certain provisions was made available. (borrowed from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodcode.html)

To learn more, or to acquire an up-to-date copy of the FDA's Food Code, visit our links page. Some websites, such as U.S. Food and Drug Administration, post the Code online. Or, call us at (877) 774-6829.