US Food and Drug Administration Updates FDA Food Code 2013 Edition

FAIRFIELD, N.J. - Dec. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- The FDA Food Code is a model code to help assure food safety at US retailers, vending and food service operations and by which State, City, County, Tribal and Territorial Regulatory Agencies can assure compliance to a common set of standards for those industries.

The 2013 Food Code replaces the 2009 Food Code and its 2011 supplement.

The Food Code - which has been completely updated every 4 years since its inception in 1993 - offers a model code for food safety in regards to management and personnel, food handling, equipment, water and waste, physical facilities, poisonous materials and compliance/enforcement to those food retail and food service operators in the US and their suppliers. As of 2012 the Food Code has been adopted in part or fully by all 50 states and the 3 out of 6 territorial regulatory agencies that regulate over 1,000,000 retail and food service operations. The 2013 Food Code reflects the input from the participants at the 2012 meeting of the conference of food protection.

FDA Food Code 2013: Significant Changes

- Restaurants and food stores must post signs notifying their customers that inspection information is available for review.
- Non-typhoidal Salmonella is added to the list of illnesses that food workers are required to report to their management.
- New requirements that better address the use of reduced oxygen packaging methods and the reuse and refilling of take-home food containers.
- Revisions to some of the minimum cooking temperatures.
- Circumstances under which bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods is permitted.
- Stronger requirements for cleaning and sanitizing equipment used in preparing raw foods that are major food allergens.

Most of the changes are to correct errors, to make information more clear, to make the document more consistent and to update the weblinks (2).

References:

(1) US FDA Food Code 2013 (http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProt...)

(2) Summary of Changes in the FDA Food Code 2013 (http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProt...)

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