FDA Food Code

Introduction 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. 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 2009 Food Code is the first full-edition to publish since the 2005 edition. During the 4-year interim period, a Food Code Supplement that updates, modifies, or clarifies certain provisions was made available.