Food Code - Use and Content

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.”

Contributors to the development of the Food Code are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture. 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, rationales for the standards, and model forms.