The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published the 2022 Food Code Supplement. The supplement updates the 2022 Food Code with recommendations from regulatory officials, industry, academia and consumers at the 2023 biennial meeting of the Conference on Food Protection.
The Food Code and its supplement provide government and industry with practical, evidence-based controls to reduce the risk of foodborne illness in all retail and hospitality businesses. The Food Code and Supplement are joint projects of the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Some highlights in the Supplement to the Food Code 2022 include:
- Add new provisions related to the disinfection of surfaces that come into contact with food, non-food and equipment;
- Expand and clarify how and when containers can be refilled and reused in a food business;
- Addressing food protection with new provisions that raise awareness of food protection measures;
- Building on the concept of food safety management systems and active management control by defining the conditions, including new provisions indicating when a food safety management system is required;
- Updating testing requirements for recovery of food workers diagnosed with illness due to STEC, Shigella, or non-typhoidal Salmonella to include culture-independent diagnostic tests and
- Improving information on the acidification of sushi rice with a special section in Annex 6 Food Processing Criteria addressing risks and controls.
The Food Code is the model for retail food regulation in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories. The FDA encourages its state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to adopt the current version of the FDA Food Code, including the 2022 Food Code Supplement. The agency’s Office of Retail Food Protection is available to advise regulatory officials , educators, and industry to understand, adopt, and implement the FDA Food Code. Questions can be sent to retailfoodprotectionteam@fda.hhs.gov or directly to a Retail food specialist.
The next full revision of the Food Code will be published in 2026.
(Click here to sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News.)