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2007 Georgia Food Code
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The 2007 GA Rules and Regs were made law on Feb 17th of this year through the cooperation of state and local government experts and foodservice industry leaders, including GRA members. How do you view the outcome of this effort and what do both groups need to do going forward? The goal of the 2007 GA Food Code is to reduce risk factors that CDC has stated most often causes foodborne illness. By doing so, food safety will be greatly enhanced in food service establishments and the occurrence of foodborne illness will be reduced in Georgia. To accomplish this goal, both food service industry and regulatory have to work together. The food service industry has to maintain daily vigilance in training and monitoring food employees. They have to know the new food service rules and regulations and apply its interventions to prevent foodborne illness risk factors. Knowledge in food safety through standardized training will enhance food service management in applying the interventions as well. In short they need to find a way to comply with the Rules and Regulations. Regulatory has to maintain up-to-date training in food safety, be standardized in the inspection process, and know the Rules and Regulations too. Regulatory also has to assist the food service industry by pointing out areas of their operation that needs improvement. A major concern expressed by many owners and managers throughout the state is the new requirement that the person in charge of the foodservice during an inspection of the operation must be able to demonstrate knowledge of food safety to the environmental health specialist (inspector) during the visit. Can you explain what “demonstrate knowledge of food safety” means in terms of specific behaviors or actions on the part of the PIC? There are many ways in which the person in charge can demonstrate knowledge. Many aspects of the food operation itself will reflect the knowledge of that person. A dialogue with the person in charge during the inspection process will also reveal whether or not that person is enabled by a clear understanding of the Code and its public health principles to follow sound food safety practices and to produce foods that are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and accurately represented. If the establishment does not have any violations the risk factor categories during the inspection, the PIC has demonstrated knowledge. Being a certified food protection manager who has shown proficiency of required information through passing a test that is part of an accredited program. If the PIC can answer questions concerning his operation in regards to the Rules and Regulations to food safety. A simple response is all that is needed. Such as at what temperature should hamburger be cooked? Answer could be, “Cook to 155 ? F to make it safe to eat”. In the past all owners and managers felt that one inspector would rate the foodservice operation one way and another environmental specialist would score the same items in a different way. Now with a new food code that has many changes, how are the state and county agencies preparing to prevent industry from lodging this same complaint? Our office has gone through training with county EHS around the State concerning the 2007 GA Food Code and food service inspection standardization. It is the standardization of the EHS that will provide consistent application of the Code during the inspection. Continuing education of EHS through requirements of CEU will also aid in this effort for consistency. Also, the 2007 GA Food Code has a provision for an Interpretive Manual to aid EHS and the Food Industry in understanding the Code and its application. The new rules and regulations incorporate the FDA’s guidelines for how management must respond to employees who are ill with particular diseases that can cause foodborne illness. Can you briefly discuss the state’s rules and explain what owners and managers need to do? The purpose of this section of the Food Code is to reduce the likelihood that certain viral and bacterial agents will be transmitted from infected food workers into food. The agents of concern are known to be readily transmissible via food that has been contaminated by ill food workers, and so for that reason, are the primary focus of the Employee Health Section of the Food Code. It is based on 4 levels of risk; removes infected food workers when most likely to transmit a pathogen to food items; balances employee’s needs with risk to the public; and provides guidance on safely allowing infected employees to return to duties. The food service operator/management needs to have an established employee health policy for his operation. A good resource in helping the operator/management prepare such an employee health policy can be found in Annex 3 and Annex 7 in the 2005 FDA Model Food Code. Annex 3 has a decision tree the operator can use to decide when to restrict and or reinstate a food employee and Annex 7 has forms that can be used when interviewing food employees or conditional employees. Bare hand contact with foods has stronger language in the new code. Can you explain how the environmental specialists will be inspecting this regulation? The inspector will mark the item as IN compliance only when employees are observed using suitable utensils or gloves to prevent bare hand (or arm) contact with ready-to-eat foods. The item may be marked N.A. for establishments that provide only packaged or bulk food items that are not provided as a ready-to-eat food item. The item may be marked N.O. for establishments that prepare ready-to-eat foods only, but no food preparation is performed at the time of inspection. Many GA restaurants serving meats and raw seafood have been printing a consumer advisory notice in their menu or posting a sign about raw shellfish and undercooked meat consumption, per existing rules. Can you highlight the 2007 code changes and explain how the new regulations will affect these operations? For example, are specific type fonts and sizes of letters required? Will there be a grace period to reprint menus? The 2007 GA Food Code Chapter 290-5-14 Rule.04(7)(e) requires both a disclosure statement and a reminder statement by way of brochures, deli case or menu advisories, label statements, table tents, placards, or other effective written means. The lettering has to be capitalized and at least in font size #8. The disclosure can describe the animal-derived foods, ex. “oysters on the half shell (raw oysters) or “hamburgers (can be cooked to order). Another method would be to place an asterisk by the menu item which points to the reminder statement on the same location or page that the menu item is located. The word death was taken out of the advisory statement found in the 1996 version of the GA Food Code. For establishments that already have an advisory statement on menus but need to change to have the disclosure and reminder statement, we will give six months to come into compliance. For those that do not have the advisory statement, they will be in violation. Handwashing requirements have changed in the new food code. Can you elaborate on the changes affecting daily operations, such as the paper towel requirement for an employee to open the door of the restroom, and how inspectors will evaluate this rule? How should owners and managers prepare for the changes? Handwashing stations will still be required to have proper supplies and now they will have to have a sign at each hand sink to remind food employees to wash hands. Should restroom doors have handles, disposable towels are required. A trash can is required to be placed near the door. This item is marked IN compliance only when employees are observed using proper handwashing techniques at appropriate times and places. This item may be marked N.O. for retail operations only in the RARE case when there are no food workers present at the time of inspection. (If there are no food workers present, but the PIC accompanies the inspector on the inspection and touches food, clean equipment, or utensils without washing his/her hands, this item is marked OUT.) Owners and Managers can prepare by making sure food employees are thoroughly trained as to when they should wash their hands as per the GA Food Code. They should monitor food employees hand washing practices and make adjustments as needed. Likewise, they need to do surveys of their establishment’s physical facilities to make adjustments as needed concerning hand washing facilities. Can you explain the science behind some of the details in the new rules, such as the new TDZ of 41 degrees F to 135 degrees F, the storing serving utensils for PHFs in 135 degrees F water, new date labeling requirements, and the two step process to properly cool hot food for storage? The TDZ between 41 degrees F to 135 degrees F has the same science as the old TDZ of between 41 degrees F to 140 degrees F – foodborne pathogens can grow rapidly. The difference is the 140 degrees F has been lowered to 135 degrees F because science has show that at 135 degrees F foodborne pathogens did not grow – you got adequate kill of harmful bacteria. At 135 degrees F, you get a kill step of vegetative foodborne pathogens. Vegetative cells that outgrow from spores that survive the cooking process are kill, whereas, you can not store utensils in water at 41 degrees F because vegetative foodborne pathogens are still alive and growing at a slow rate – no kill step is achieved. The date marking requirements of the GA Food Code is intended to solely control the growth of Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria still grows at refrigeration temperatures as low as 33 degrees F. The GA Food Code requires foods that are ready-to-eat PHFs to be mark 7 days expiration (through away past this date), if the food is to be held more than 24 hours before it is served or used. Day one is the date of preparation. Any system of date marking can be used as long as the operator can communicate it to the inspector and the food employees understand the system. Foods that have as an ingredient a commercially process food, the sell-by or use –by date of the processed food will determine the date marking. Will you please explain what specific changes to a foodservice operation will require a variance to the food code, when a HACCP plan is required to accompany a variance, and how variances are requested and approved? There are 8 items in the GA Food Code that requires a variance and a HACCP plan to be submitted. They are: 1. Smoking food as a method of food preservation rather than as a method of flavor enhancement. 2. Curing Food 3. Using food additives or adding components such as vinegar as a method of food preservation or to render it non-PHF. 4. Vacuum packaging food 5. Operating a molluscan shellfish life-support system display tank used to store and display shellfish for offering to customer consumption 6. Custom processing animals that are for personal use as food and not for sale or service in a food service establishment 7. Preparing food by another method that is determined by the Health Authority to require a variance 8. Sprouting seeds or beans First contact for variance request is through the local Health Authority. Variances are reviewed by the State EH office jointly with the local Health Authority. The State office will then approve or disapprove variance request based on content and intent. How will GA DHR verify/validate standardization is effective and what will be done to correct deficiencies for the process? When the State Environmental Health Database is established, the State EH office will be able to monitor food establishment assessments. For assessments out side of the expected norm, a report would be forwarded to the Health District EH Director for investigation and correction. Until the EH Database system has been establishment, we will rely on the Health District EH Directors to monitor the standardization process with results reported to the State EH office. Should irregularities exist, the Health District EH Director, as an option, could have the district standard to reevaluate the Standardized EHS and based upon findings, retraining of the EHS could be warranted. Does the Food Code provide for a letter grade rating system that will advise consumers of the performance of the restaurants they visit? Yes, Rule 10(2)(l) of the GA Food Code provides for the letter grade based upon a numerical graded scale. The numerical score is derived from total point values taken for violations of Risk Factors and Good Retail Practices during the inspection and subtracted from a total score of 100. When a restaurant staff is “short” employees it posses a service problem but it also puts the restaurant guest at risk to have their food cooked and served by sick employees. What could be a possible solution? As a former server from a popular restaurant chain, I have seen the managers notably keep sick servers and kitchen workers on shift. Both of versions (1996 and 2007) place the responsibility for preventing pathogens transmittable via food from food employees on the CFSM and the PIC in her/his absence. The CFSM and the PIC will be in violation of the law should they allow a sick food service employee to continue work. The CFSM is required to monitor all food employees’ health for symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and/or a lesion containing pus such as a boil or infected wound that is open or draining and is on the arms, hands or accessible parts of the body. They must restrict or exclude any food workers based upon recognized symptoms and or diagnosis. [The opinion of many is that there is no solution to this problem other than providing sick leave with pay to encourage sick food employees to stay home.] Will there be an appeal or complaint process as a check/balance to the inspectors? Any decision of an EHS can be appealed through the chain of command at the local and district levels. The county EHS manager first will investigate the complaint and attempt a resolution. If he or she is not successful, the District Environmental Health Director of which the County EH Office is located will investigate and attempt to resolve the issue. If all else fails to resolve an issue, the District Medical Health Director representing the County Board of Health in the county of the EH office would hear the complaint. Is there a situation where food preparers do not need to wear hats, such as when the individual shaves his/her head or hair is 1/8” long or less? Rule .03(5)(i)1. states,” Employees preparing and/or handling food shall use effective and clean, disposable or easily cleanable nets or other hair restraints approved by the Health Authority, worn properly to restrain loose hair including beards and mustaches longer than one half inch (1/2"). The intent is two fold: to keep loose hair restraint and out of food and to keep hands away from the hair – all to prevent cross-contamination of hands and prevent a physical hazard (hair in food). Food employees with hair styles less than the one half inch (1/2") limit would not be required to wear a hair restraint. Obviously, a food employee with shaved head would not need a hat or hairnet. Another exemption would go to possible counter staff, hostesses, and wait staff. Rule.03(5)(i)2 states, “This does not apply to employees such as counter staff who only serve beverages and wrapped or packaged foods, hostesses, and wait staff if they present a minimal risk of contaminating exposed food, clean utensils and linens and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles.” Has the state of GA and the counties increased the number of environmental health specialists to inspect restaurants? Food service establishments are inspected by the local county health department Environmental Health Specialists. The county health departments hire EHS to meet the demand of their counties of which food service inspection is part of only one program they oversee. The State EH office holds new EHS training each spring and fall of each year indicating a continued hiring trend by local health departments. As needs arise, EHS will be hired and trained appropriately. The DHR EH office is in the process of seeking the employ of another Food program consultant. One of the duties of the new consultant will be to assist in the standardization and training of county EHS. Will buckets of bleach solution still be allowed for food contact surface sanitizing? Yes. As was allowed in the 1996 version of the GA Food Code, sanitizing solution towels will be utilized as part of clean in place procedures as necessary. When labeling food that is held under refrigeration what information must be included on the label? If this is referring to date marking, the date that the food must be used or discarded must be on the food, if the potentially hazardous food is held for more than 24 hours. The date is set seven days from the date of food preparation. If commercially process food is used, the use-by or sell-by or expiration date is used instead of the 7 day date. What are the 3 to 5 most significant changes restaurant owners need to make in their operations to comply with the new food code? The first priority is to establish an employee health plan. It does not have to be a written plan; but, it would be helpful if it were. Next, train food employees in proper handwashing techniques and to practice no bare hand contact with ready to eat foods. Finally, employ at least one manager who has taken a food safety certification exam to be the certified food safety manager for each food service establishment. The CFSM should become familiar with Rule.03 and .04 of the new food code-they are the largest and newest section of the code. The CFSM should train and monitor food employees in food safety and compliance with the code. Some states will revoke a restaurant’s liquor license if the location’s food service establishment inspection scores fall below certain levels. Do you see GA adopting this type of enforcement? Not at this time. Enforcement of liquor license would be by others than DHR and the GA Food Code. Does each restaurant in a restaurant “group” have to have a ServSafe certified manager onsite at all times or can there be a GM (or Area Manager)who is certified and oversees one or more locations? No. Each food service establishment must employ at least one CFSM. CFSM’s can not supervise more than one food service establishment. When will all restaurants be required to comply with the new CFSM guidelines or be penalized? All food service establishments that hold a valid food service permit prior to the implementation date of December 1, 2007 will have until December 1, 2009 (two years) to employ a CFSM before an establishment would be cited. All food service establishments that are issued a food service permit after the December 1, 2007 implementation date will have ninety (90) days from the issuance date of the food permit before the establishment would be cited. How can equipment dealers and suppliers to the industry help their food service and restaurant customers prepare for the food code changes? Equipment dealers and suppliers can help their customers by providing food service equipment that is ANSI certified. For suppliers and to do this, they will have to become knowledgeable of the GA Food Code and its requirements. Food establishment operators and owners should always find suppliers that will aid their establishment to comply with the food code. Is the GRA offering ServSafe classes in Spanish? The GRA has offered ServSafe textbooks and certification exams in Spanish for several years. Classes are also taught in Spanish by a local industry professional when there are enough registrants. Contact Tashana Thomas through the GRA office at 404.467.9000 for more information. What process should I use when I need further clarification of a food service rule or regulation violation? Step 1: The owner/operator may request clarification from the Environmentalist (Inspector) conducting the inspection.
Any decision made by the respective County Board of Health , may be appealed to the Georgia Department of Human Resources . Their decision may be appealed lastly to the Georgia Superior Court. (NOTE: At anytime during the Clarification Process, the State Office of Environmental Health, Division of Public Health, may be contacted by the Public Health representative to request an interpretation or clear intent of the rule or rules in question. ) |