• On November 4, 2024, FDA published a Supplement to the 2022 Food Code that incorporates recommendations from regulatory officials, industry, academia, and consumers. The FDA Food Code and its Supplement represent FDA’s best advice to address the safety and protection of food offered at retail and in food service and are intended to be a model for adoption by state, local, tribal, and territorial regulatory bodies.
• The Food Code and its Supplement are joint projects by FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. The documents provide practical, science-based controls for reducing the risk of foodborne illness.
• The amendments in the Supplement include:
  • Adding new provisions addressing disinfection of food contact, nonfood-contact, and equipment surfaces;
  • Expanding and clarifying how and when containers can be refilled and reused in a food establishment;
  • Addressing food protection with new provisions that improve awareness of food defense measures;
  • Building on the concept of Food Safety Management Systems and Active Managerial Control by defining the terms, including new provisions that speak to when a Food Safety Management System is required;
  • Updating testing requirements for reinstatement of food employees diagnosed with an illness from STEC, Shigella, or Nontyphoidal Salmonella to include culture-independent diagnostic tests; and
  • Enhancing information regarding sushi rice acidification with a dedicated section in Annex 6 Food Processing Criteria addressing risks and controls.

The Food Code was most recently updated in 2022, as discussed on this blog. The next complete revision will be published in 2026.