Quick Bites: Updates to the state food code

The primary goal of incorporating active managerial control is to reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses. Active managerial control is designed to empower managers to mitigate risks and correct problems that come up.

Implementing active managerial control successfully will require:

• Establishing policies & procedures for reducing foodborne illnesses. Policies and procedures are not required to be written, but that is a best practice to help ensure all team members are on the same page.
• Providing ongoing training to ensure employees the most up-to-date information.
• Verifying that team members have been trained, understand what’s required and are following the policies and procedures designed to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

Active Managerial Control Toolkit

The Department of Health is working on a toolkit and other materials to help you evaluate if you have active managerial control. Current AMC toolkit materials available for download include:

There are four changes to the state food code going into effect March 1, 2022, related to cleaning and sanitizing processes in your food establishment. There’s a good chance you are following these processes already, but the Department of Health received feedback that there was some confusion in the code on these topics, so the updated food code provides additional clarity.

Monitoring food temperature

Food establishments are required to have temperature measuring devices to ensure food is cooked to proper temperatures. However, the new update clarifies the requirement to have small-diameter probes to measure thin foods such as hamburger patties and fish filets. The key here is to make sure the measuring device is where the temperature can be measured with the tip of the probe.

Dishwashing test strips

Making sure water is getting hot enough for high-temperature washers is key to ensuring dishes and utensils are sanitized properly. The code now requires you to have test strips that measure chemical levels inside the dishwasher or testing strips to make sure the water is getting hot enough.

The code does not require you to test your equipment at specific intervals. However, this is an item that will be checked during every health inspection. A good best practice is to use the test strips regularly to ensure your dishwashing equipment is working properly.

Soap and sanitizer

Some operators may have an established process where equipment sanitizing happens at a set time, like at the end of the day. A new change in the food code will require your team to have access to equipment sanitizing stations as they do food prep throughout the day.

Hard close-grained woods

The list of allowable uses of hard, close-grained wood products is being expanded to include serving boards. You may have maple boards or other hard, close-grained wood products that you use as cutting boards, for example. Those boards may now also be used as serving boards so long as those boards can be properly washed, rinsed and sanitized before they are reused.

The practice of date marking foods is designed to prevent Listeria — an illness from bacteria that can grow in refrigerated foods over time. Date marking encourages a “first in, first out” practice designed to rotate stock as quickly as possible and should be a back-of-house practice – not something that is customer-facing.

New changes around date marking foods are coming to the state food code starting March 1, 2022. Date marking only applies to:

• Cold, refrigerated food
• Ready-to-eat food
• Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) food
• Food prepared inside the food establishment or opened packaged food
• Food that you store for more than 24 hours

Foods that meet those criteria require date marking. If they do not meet one or more of those criteria, they do not need to be date marked.

Date marking systems
You do not have to subscribe to a specific date marking system. You can use a variety of methods such as color-coded stickers, written stickers, or calendars – whatever works best for your business. However, whatever system you use, you must train your team so that everyone is on the same page. And the system must be explainable to a health inspector. While not a requirement of the food code, a good best practice would be to have your date marking system in writing so that the system can be clearly explained to your team members and health inspectors.

Day One starts as foods are prepared or opened from their packaging. From there, the foods must be used within seven days before discarding them. Freezing foods will allow you to pause the calendar, but it doesn’t restart the clock.

Exemptions

• Some foods are exempt from date marking requirements, including:
• Deli salads prepared & packaged in a food processing plant
• USDA-regulated, shelf-stable fermented sausages & salt-cured meats
• Shellstock
• Hard and semi-soft cheeses
• Cultured dairy products
• Preserved fish products
• Reduced oxygen packaging food

The new food code requires every food establishment to have a written plan on how they handle events involving vomit and diarrhea.

Your written plan should include procedures that reduce exposure to four things:

Food

Your plan should specify which food will be discarded. The health department recommends unwrapped food within 25 feet of a vomiting incident be discarded.

Employees

• Include the personal protective equipment employees should use like gloves and masks.
• Specify how they should clean their garments after clean-up.
• Establish who will be monitoring the employee to make sure they don’t get sick after cleanup.

Consumers

Include your procedures for isolating or cleaning such as roping off the affected areas.

Surfaces

This will be specific to your business. Look at all surfaces and make sure you have the right materials to clean them. The cleaning solution you use should specify on the label that it is effective against norovirus.

Make sure your managers and persons in charge…

• Are trained to watch for the key symptoms and illnesses that can pose a threat.
• Know what to do if there is a potential for foodborne illness.
• Ensure that workers practice good hygiene at all times – even if they are feeling healthy.

Symptoms and illnesses to watch for

Each employee must be informed that they are required to report specific information about personal health conditions that can be spread through food to the person in charge including:

• The date the employee first had symptoms.
• Whether the employee had a medical diagnosis and what it was.
• If they were potentially exposed to a foodborne illness

Ill food workers

There are two levels of action that are required for ill food workers.

Restriction is when workers are kept away from clean equipment and are not allowed to handle unpackaged food or items like clean utensils. They can still do other tasks like sweeping. Some symptoms that require restriction include:

• Coughing
• Sneezing
• Sore throat
• An inflamed cut.

Exclusion is the more serious level that requires workers to be excluded from the food establishment. This is required if they have specific symptoms or a diagnosed illness. The symptoms include:

• Diarrhea
• Vomit
• Jaundice

And the diagnosed illnesses that would require a worker to be excluded are:

• Shigella
• E. coli
• Hepatitis A
• Salmonella
• Norovirus

1. Washing produce
2. Prepping food to cook
3. Approved plans

Food establishments can apply for a variance for bare hand contact by getting a plan approved by their local health department. If you are creating a plan for your business to apply for an exemption, or because you want to reduce the potential of foodborne illness outbreaks, you should make sure:

• Workers are well trained to know when they are too sick to work with foods.
• You have two or more handwashing control measures. Add another level to routine handwashing like an extra step with sanitizer or scrubbing with a brush after regular handwashing.

In order to apply for a bare hand contact exemption you must have:

• A written employee health policy
• Two or more handwashing control measures
• Employee training
• Handwashing sinks near the bare hand contact areas
• Engage in active managerial control. Have written rules for your employees and make sure they are trained on them.

Ground meat

• Current requirement: Cook to 155°F and hold for :15
• New requirement: Cook to 158°F and no hold time required*
  * You may apply for an approved plan with your local health department if want to cook ground meat to a different temperature.

Poultry

• Current requirement: Cook to 165°F and hold for :15
• New requirement: Cook to 165°F and no hold time required

Fish
Raw fish needs to be stored away from other raw animal products. Raw fish may not come into contact with prep items like cutting boards and knives that are also being used for other raw animal products without first being washed, rinsed and sanitized. This is designed to reduce allergen cross-contact.

And new procures are in place for vacuum-packed fish labeled “keep frozen.” The packaging seals must be broken:

• Before thawing in a refrigerator.
• Immediately after thawing in running water.

This is to reduce the risk of Clostridium botulinum, which is a bacteria that can grow in a low-oxygen environment like vacuum-packaged fish.

Two new consumer advisory requirements are in place when serving partially-cooked fish:

• Disclosure: Partially-cooked fish can be prepared upon consumer’s request.
• Reminder: Information available upon request regarding the safety of consuming fresh partially-cooked fish.

Fruits & Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables must be stored away from raw animal products.

A new addition to the food code will give food establishments the option to use customers refillable reusable containers, but must have a plan approved by the Local Health Department to ensure food safety.

Under an approved plan, customers may refill visibly clean containers if they are:

• Refilling non-ready-to-eat, bulk and packaged foods
• Refilling with ready-to-eat foods if dispensed through a chute or other system that protects against contamination
• Refilling with any food if done by the food employee using a contamination-free process

Operators who want the option to use refillables under an approved plan can submit a Refilling Consumer-owned Containers application here. Be sure to connect with your local public health department for additional guidance and resources.

There are some changes to the food code for pet dogs in dining establishments. These changes are for pets only, not service animals that are allowed wherever the customer with the service animal goes.

Outdoor eating areas

Restaurants that allow dogs in the outdoor serving area need to:

• Submit a plan to their local health department and get approval in advance.
• The dogs must go directly to outdoor area.
• The outdoor area that allows dogs can’t be used for food or drink preparation.
• No serviceware storage or dish washing is allowed in the outdoor area.

Indoor

The Legislature passed a law with new rules for establishments like tasting rooms or microbreweries that don’t have food production and have a limited food selection.

For these establishments:

• A pre-approved plan is not required.
• Signage is required saying dogs are allowed inside.
• You must provide notice to your local health department.

Several changes to the Washington State Food Code went into effect on March 1, 2022. Are you compliant with the changes? Be sure to watch our webinar with the Department of Health to learn about the top 10 changes made to the state food code in 2022.

Thank you to Harbor Foodservice for sponsoring this webinar.