Food Sanitation Code Overview of 2008 Amendments
-Illinois Department of Public Health - Division of Food, Drugs & Dairies / Office of Health Protection

FDA Food Code:

The FDA Food Code is a reference document for regulatory agencies that ensure food safety in food service establishments.  The FDA endorses and encourages the adoption of the code.

CDC Risk Factors:

1.  Poor personal hygiene    
2.  Food from unsafe sources    
3.  Inadequate Cooking    
4.  Improper holding temperatures    
5.  Contaminated equipment

Amendments to the Food Sanitation Code

750.10 Definitions Added or Changed:

• Balut        
• Beverage
• Certification Number
• Commingle
• Consumer
• Egg
• Egg Product
• Hazard
• Highly Susceptible Population (People that are more likely than others in the general population to experience foodborne illness. Includes immunocompromised, preschool age children, and older adults.)
• Juice
• Molluscan Shellfish 
• Packaged
• Pasteurized Shell Eggs (Eggs with shell intact that have been pasteurized to destroy all viable salmonellae are not potentially hazardous)
• Potentially Hazardous (Definition now includes "an animal food...that is raw or heat treated: a food of plant origin that is heat treated or consists of raw seed sprouts; cut tomatoes; cut melons; and garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not commercially prepared")
• Ratite
• Reduced Oxygen Packaging
• Re-service
• Sanitization
• Shellfish Control Authority
• Shellstock
• Shucked Shellfish
• Single Use articles
• Smooth
• Temperature Measuring Device
• Utensil
• Variance (A written document that follows section 750.360 and 750.370 is issued by the regulatory authority state or LHD, that authorizes a modification or waiver of one or more requirements, in the opinion of the regulatory, a health hazard or nuisance will not result from the modification or waiver.)

750.120 General Food Protection

• All references to temperature holding units "prior to July , 1996" have been removed                
• The temperature of potentially hazardous foods shall be at 41°F or below, or 135°F or above.

750.140 Refrigerated Storage

• All references to 1996 code change have been removed        
• Minor changes in wording in several sections

750.150 Hot Storage

• 135°F is the new minimum for hot-holding

750.151 Ready-to-eat Potentially Hazardous Food, Date Marking

• This section focuses on date marking of refrigerated Ready-to-eat (RTE), Potentially Hazardous Food (PHF and opened commercially processed PHF.        
• This requirement is intended to decrease the hazard of pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes which over  a period of time can grow to significant numbers at refrigeration temperatures.        
•  The criteria for date marking systems are listed in subsection (d) of Section 750.151

Ready-to-Eat Potentially Hazardous Food, Disposition

When food shall be discarded:

• Exceeds time and temperature in previous section                
•  Not labeled           
•  Improperly labeled

750.153 Time as a Public Health Control 

Time only, rather than time in conjunction with temperature, is used as the public health control for certain PHF's.

• Must have initial temperature of 41°F or less or 135°F or greater.                
•  Marked with use-by time 4 hours)            
•  Must be cooked or served within 4 hour limit                
•  Written procedures shall be maintained and made available to regulatory authority upon request

750.188 Plant Food Cooking for Hot Holding

• Fruits & Vegetables that are cooked for hot holding shall be cooked to 135°F

750.189 Microwave Cooking

• Must be heated to a temperature of 165°F in all parts of the food.

750.208 Preparation for Immediate Service 

• "Cooked and refrigerated food that is prepared for immediate service in response to a customer order, such a roast beef sandwich au jus, may be served at any temperature."

750.210 Reheating for Hot Holding

• PHF (for hot holding) shall be reheated to at least 165°F for 15 seconds        
• Microwave reheating for hot holding - reheat PHF to 165°F in all parts of the food, allowed to stand for 2 minutes        
• Commercially processed hermetically sealed container heated to 135°F (for hot holding)        
•  Reheating to be done rapidly in less than 2 hours.        
• Remaining unsliced portions of roasts of beef using oven parameters previously noted

750.325 Special Requirements for Highly Susceptible Populations

In a food establishment serving a highly susceptible population:

• Children 9 years an younger, in day care or other custodial care, must receive processed (pasteurized, etc) juice.                
• Raw or undercooked eggs to be replaced pasteurized shell eggs or pasteurized egg product                
• "Time Only" may not be used for raw eggs

750.340 Public Health Protection

• "The regulatory authority shall apply this Part to promote its underlying purpose of safeguarding public health and ensuring that food is safe, unadulterated, and honestly presented when offered to the consumer."

750.350 Preventing Health Hazards, Provision for Conditions Not Addressed

• Additional requirements may be imposed if necessary        
• The regulatory authority must document conditions that necessitate the additional requirements and make available to the permit holder and retain in establishment file.

750.510 Personal Cleanliness

• Fingernails shall be: filed, maintained, cleanable, and not rough        
• No nail polish or artificial nails (unless wearing intact gloves)        
•  Hand and exposed portions of their arms shall be cleaned for at least 20 seconds

Hand Cleaning Procedure

• Rinse under clean running water        
• Apply cleaning compound        
• Rub for 20 seconds        
• Rinse        
• Follow cleaning procedure with drying method (750.1120)        
•  Use paper towel to close faucet handles and open restroom door

750.512 When to wash hands

• This section provides clarification about when food employees shall clean their hands and exposed portions of their arms immediately before engaging in food preparation, including working with exposed foods, clean equipment and utensils, and unwrapped single-service articles including:

• After touching bare body parts                
• Using the toilet                
• Caring for/handling service animals                
• Coughing or sneezing, using handkerchief or tissue, smoking, eating, or drinking                
•  After handling soiled equipment or utensils                
•  During food preparation, as often as is necessary to remove soil and contamination and to prevent cross contamination                
•  When switching between raw food and RTE food                
•  After other activities that contaminate the hands

750.514 Where to Wash Hands

• In hand sink only, not:

• Prep sink                
• Ware wash sink                
• Mop sink

Hand Antiseptics

• Amendments cite documents that approve materials for hand sanitizers        
• May be used to properly washed hands only        
• Exceptions for unapproved materials:    

• Hands must be rinsed before hand contact with foods or by the use of gloves                
• Limited to situations that involved no direct hand contact with food by bare hands

750.520 General - Clothing

• Employees shall keep hair from contacting exposed food, clean equipment, utensils and linens and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles.        
•  This section adds examples of effective hair restraints:                
• Hats                
• Hair coverings or nets
• Beard restraints

750.530 General - Employee Practices

• A food employee may drink from an enclosed beverage container if the container will prevent the contamination of:

• The employee's hands                
• The container                
• Exposed food, equipment, etc.        
• Food employees shall wear no jewelry on arms and hands while preparing food except for plain ring or medical information jewelry.