Federal Updates
FDA commemorates 30 years of the FDA Food Code to enhance safe handling of food in a retail setting
This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is commemorating 30 years of the FDA Food Code (Food Code), a model code that provides regulators and industry partners of retail and food service establishments (restaurants, supermarkets, nursing homes) scientifically accurate information regarding food safety. The food code addresses diverse areas such as cooking temperatures, maintaining equipment and employee health, and is intended for jurisdictions to adopt as regulations. Food Code recommendations aim to reduce the risks of foodborne illnesses within retail food establishments and protect consumers. State, Local, Tribal and Territorial jurisdictions use the FDA Food Code as a model to develop or update their own food safety rules and to be consistent with national food safety practices. The Food Code reflects input from all stakeholders: regulators, industry, academia, and consumers. The December 2022 release kicks off the celebration for the 30-year anniversary of the Food Code.
Read more
AFDO workgroup conducting survey to identify screening tools
The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) is leading the Healthy People 2030 initiative related to food safety. One of the Norovirus workgroups has developed a survey to identify screening tools used for food workers.
Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea as well as other symptoms when ingested. Norovirus outbreaks are commonly attributed restaurants and retail food establishments. To help control norovirus in food establishments, it is very important operators implement policies that remind employees that working while experiencing symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea is not only against public health guidance but also jeopardizes all employees and guests.
The purpose of the survey is to identify specific tools in use by restaurants and retail food establishments to help educate and screen employees for any signs of norovirus. This work is being done to support the Healthy People 2030 initiative. Information received via the survey will help national leaders design and improve tools and resources for restaurants and retail food establishments across the U.S. with the goal of reducing the number of norovirus outbreaks.
The survey is seven questions and will only take you a minute or two.
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact committee member Patrick Guzzle, Vice President, Food Science with the National Restaurant Association.
Cannabinoid inspections in retail facilities
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Office of Medical Cannabis has entered into an inter-agency agreement (IAA) with the MDA. The agreement allows the MDA to assist MDH in performing inspections of establishments selling hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including edibles, beverages, and topicals on behalf of the MDH.
Inspectors from the MDA Retail Food Program may be conducting inspections of hemp-derived cannabinoid products in conjunction with their regularly scheduled routine inspections. During these inspections, MDA inspectors from the MDH and the MDA who are inspecting these facilities will:
- Conduct routine inspections of hemp-derived cannabinoid retail facilities to assess compliance with Minnesota statutes.
- Report findings of inspection and other activities of this agreement to the MDH and participate in any additional enforcement actions led by the MDH as needed.
- Evaluate and respond to complaints regarding cannabinoid retail and manufacturing facilities.
- Conduct field enforcement activities necessary to respond to imminent public health threats from cannabinoid products, such as placing product embargos.
- Conduct surveillance of cannabinoid retail and manufacturing facilities, and report findings to the MDH.
Additional Resources:
Regulatory oversight for wild game animal processing
In the 2021 Minnesota legislative session, changes were made to Minnesota Statute to define wild game processing as custom exempt processing, falling under the same requirements as the MDA Meat Inspection Program’s livestock slaughter and processing establishments. With this change, wild game processors are required to obtain a custom permit from the meat inspection program.
If you currently hold a license with the MDA Retail Food Program or a delegated agency and are inspected by them on a set frequency, this legislative change does not affect your current licensing and inspection status. However, a custom exempt/wild game processing permit will be issued to you by the MDA Meat Inspection Program if necessary. This permit is issued at no cost. Additionally, a meat inspector will inspect wild game processing activities between October 2023 and March 2024. Again, these inspections are at no cost and are solely to review wild game processing and not retail operations. Once issued, the custom exempt/wild game processing permit will also allow processing of farm-raised livestock.
What’s Required? If you intend to process wild game and/or farm-raised livestock, a custom processing permit from the MDA Meat Inspection Program is required. If you are licensed and inspected by the MDA Retail Inspection Program or a delegated agency, you already meet the basic facility requirements for wild game processing.
What’s Next? MDA Meat Inspection field personnel will be visiting retail establishments over the next six months to discuss operations and if applicable, to issue a custom processing permit.
Learn More:
If you have any questions, please contact the Dairy and Meat Inspection Division’s office at 651-201-6300 or MDA.MeatPoultryEgg@state.mn.us.
Food recalls
Food recalls are removals of foods from the market that are in violation of the regulations. A food may be recalled because of contamination with disease causing microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites; the presence of foreign objects such as broken glass or fragments of metal or plastic; or failure to list a major allergen in the food, such as peanuts or shellfish, on the product label. Recalls may be issued by food manufacturers, distributors, retailers, or government agencies for safety or quality issues.
For further information about food recalls, check the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) websites. Subscribe to the MDA Food Recall Newsletter to receive weekly notifications of food recalls affecting Minnesota.
Grants
The Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Program supports the advancement of Minnesota’s agricultural and renewable energy industries.
Are you in need of some equipment updates? The Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Value-Added Grant helps Minnesota processors add value to Minnesota agricultural products by investing in the purchase of equipment, production capacity, market diversification, and market access for value-added products. This competitive grant is open to applications in early 2024 and most retail food handlers are eligible for this grant.
Statewide Waste Reduction and Reuse Grants
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has approximately $1,065,000 available to support waste reduction and reuse projects across the state. Based on feedback from a public survey and input from Minnesota counties, MPCA programming is focused on investing in replacing single-use items with reusables and expanding access to community reuse events. For this grant round, applications will be scored more favorably if they involve education/outreach, infrastructure and supplies, and/or technical assistance (including “micro grants”) to:
- transition Minnesota organizations and communities to reusables (i.e., food ware, packaging, etc.) in place of single-use options, including necessary cleaning and maintenance equipment (i.e., dishwashers).
- expand community reuse events across the state like swaps, lending libraries, and fix-it clinics or repair cafes.
Find out more information on the MPCA Statewide Waste Reduction and Reuse Grants webpage.
Venison donation to food shelves
Hunters in Minnesota have a great opportunity to recycle food by donating harvested deer. The venison donation program with the MDA allows hunters an opportunity to donate deer carcasses to meat processors for donation to local food shelves, which gives the opportunity for people who may not have the means to hunt, a chance to enjoy another type of protein.
Meat processors must hold a current and valid Retail Food Handler license to accept donated deer. Only the entire carcass, including the hide, in good condition, and tagged by a licensed Minnesota hunter is accepted. Deer carcasses that are harvested in a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) zone can be accepted but they must be held separate until negative test results are received. Animals that cannot be accepted are ones that are considered roadkill, harvested with a nuisance permit, or other various reasons identified by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Lastly, when harvested by firearms, packages are held until x-rayed for lead, if lead is found the product is discarded; whereas, deer harvested by means of archery can be distributed directly to food shelves after processing.
Processors must register yearly with the MDA to accept donations and follow specific program procedures, to include documenting donations and following specific regulations for processing, packaging, labeling and distribution. Donated venison must be labeled with “hunted venison, food donation only” and “Not for Sale”, must be wrapped in butcher paper, wild game meat bags, or vacuum packed. The meat must be packaged in one-pound packages for ground product and 1-3 pound packages for whole muscle cuts. Donated venison cannot be mixed with any other ingredients and the product must be held and delivered in frozen form.
A list of registered processors can be found on the MDA website if you are interested in helping other Minnesotans enjoy wild game.
|
What's Sizzling Inside the MDA
The Retail Food Program wants to hear about your inspection experiences
Since November 2022, the Retail Food Program has included an internet address in the comments section on every routine inspection report requesting you to complete a short voluntary survey. An inspector may also print out or present you with a QR code for mobile access to the survey. This survey is used to evaluate the quality of your inspection experience to inform the Retail Food Program how we can improve our inspection services and resources provided to businesses.
After your routine inspections, please complete the Retail Food Program Inspection Survey. It will take approximately five minutes of your time.
Retail Food Program staffing update
You will be seeing some new names and faces in the Retail Food Program this year.
- Jacob Schmidt has been promoted to Retail Food Inspection Supervisor, overseeing inspection staff in the southwest quarter of Minnesota. Jacob has been with the Retail Food Program since 2016.
- The Retail Food Program also welcomes two new Agricultural Specialists to the inspection program with inspection territories in southeast Minnesota (Rochester to I-35/Owatonna to Iowa) and the Twin Cities Metro (Ramsey, Hennepin, and Carver counties)
- The onboarding program that the new staff undergo includes online studies, classroom work, and a series of Joint Training Inspections (JTI) with senior-level inspectors. As a result, you may have two or more staff members present during your inspections throughout the year.
Three more Agricultural Specialist/Advisor positions are vacant, check the State of Minnesota Careers website for position openings.
National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Annual Educational Conference (AEC) - New Orleans, Louisiana
Retail Food Program staff including Kim Carlton, Program Manager; Vonda Canaan, Retail Supervisor; and Cara Pederson, Retail HACCP Team attended the NEHA Annual Education Conference (AEC) in New Orleans in early August. Kim currently serves as the Region 4 Vice President (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) and is a member of the Board of Directors.
Pictured right: Kim Carlton, Vonda Canaan, and Cara Pederson
|
 |
|
Pictured left: Cara Pederson, Retail HACCP Consultant, presented on the HACCP team's consultative approach to HACCP review. |
Lettuce Connect
Food & Feed Safety Main Line
651-201-6027 MDA.FFSD.Info@state.mn.us
Licensing & Registration Food & Feed Safety
651-201-6062 MDA.Licensing@state.mn.us
HACCP/Variance Questions & Plan Review
Retail HACCP and Variance: MDA.HACCP.Variance@state.mn.us
New Construction or Major Remodels: 651-201-6194 MDA.Plan.Review@state.mn.us
Licensing Questions New Business: 651-201-6081 MDA.FoodLicensingLiaison@state.mn.us
Emergency (Fire, Flood, Natural Disaster, etc.) or Complaints
Food complaints: 651-201-6064 or after hours 651-201-6027
Reporting Foodborne Illness: 1-877-FOOD-ILL
Food Emergencies State Duty Officer: 1-800-422-0798
|
