The Importance of the FDA Food Code Annexes | Episode 91

In episode 91 of Don't Eat POOP! A Food Safety Podcast, Matthew Regusci and I are joined by FDA Retail Food Specialist Carolyn White at the 2024 FDA Retail Food Seminar & IEHA Annual Education Conference.

No one is happy to see a health inspector, right? Well, today’s guest will help reframe that point of view as she shows that a health inspector is NOT the enemy but a resource.

She shares some essential FDA resources available for retail food safety both for regulators and operators.

In true Don’t Eat Poop! fashion, we dive deep into the issue of Norovirus including all the projectile vomiting that goes with it. We also share great stories of being in food retail.

In this episode:

• [01:35] Carolyn White and her role as FDA Retail Food Specialist
• [03:21] The power of Carolyn’s background   
• [05:11] Working with different rules in different places
• [05:56] A day in the life of an FDA Retail Food Specialist
• [06:37] The importance of the Annexes in the Food Code
• [10:09] Free tools and resources for regulators and operators
• [12:36] Norovirus and the difficulty of preventing its spread 
• [16:09] An FDA Retail Food Specialist’s role in an outbreak situation
• [17:19] How local regulatory programs are making a difference
• [21:22] Regulators and operators share the same goals
• [24:52] No conversation is off-limits for folks in retail food
• [26:45] The importance of health inspectors

Something that a lot of people aren't familiar with is the back of the Food Code. There you will find the Annexes, which most people don’t think are important or even know exist.

I understand. The Food Code is pretty hefty – the FDA Food Code 2022 has 668 pages – and it’s easy to think that it's just extra pages and there’s just not a lot of substance or importance there.

If you’re one of those who don’t know much about them, here’s some important information about the Annexes.

Why the Annexes Matter

The model Food Code itself is written in that statutory language that is easily adoptable by our state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions. Ultimately, the Code gives the what for safeguarding public health and ensuring food is unadulterated and honestly presented when offered to the consumer.

The Annexes get into the why. They give the background information, the public health reasons, and the science behind it. For example, how we need to keep cold food at 41 °F or below to prevent the growth of pathogens.

This makes the Annexes really important for food safety work, because

“I can tell you all day what I need you to do, but that doesn't mean we're going to have an operator buy into what we're saying. But if I can give you the why, if I can explain why I need you to have this in a certain way, why I need these temperatures to be controlled, why we don't want to have garlic and oil that we've made in house sitting at room temperature (because we'll create botulism and we'll kill somebody). Sometimes we really need to just get into the why to get that buy in, right?” – Carolyn White on episode 91 of Don’t Eat Poop! A Food Safety Podcast

And, as we all know, buy-in from food establishments is key for the food they serve to be safe.

A Ton of Resources

In the Annexes you will also find a ton of resources that are beneficial not just for regulators but for operators as well. So, they not only give the why they provide some templates on how-to.

There are model forms, a lot of guides, and some useful charts.

For example, if you don’t have policies around employee health and preventing workers from working when they’re ill, FORM 1-B Conditional Employee or Food Employee Reporting Agreement is an excellent place to start. 

This form contains an agreement for conditional employees or food employees to confirm they have been informed of their responsibility to notify the person in charge when they experience any of the conditions listed – diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and an infected wound or pustular boil – so that the person in charge can take appropriate steps to preclude the transmission of foodborne illness.

A lot of these guides and forms are really valuable because

1. It provides a starting point for folks to implement these food safety measures and start building out their policies.
2. They’re free and who doesn’t like free stuff?
3. This creates the opportunity for uniformity and consistency across the country. (Which is one of the FDA’s national strategies)

If you want to check them out, Annex 7 Model Forms, Guides, and Other Aids starts on page 589 of the FDA Food Code 2022.

The Annexes

The FDA Food Code 2022 has the following Annexes:

1. Compliance and Enforcement
2. References
3. Public Health Reasons/Administrative Guidelines
4. Management of Food Safety Practices – Achieving Active Managerial Control of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors
5. Conducting Risk-based Inspections
6. Food Processing Criteria
7. Model Forms, Guides, and Other Aids

I hope now that you know how important they are you’ll take some time to get to know the Annexes. 

👇 Let me know in the comments what you find.

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