ASSEMBLY, No STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 212th LEGISLATURE PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2006 SESSION

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1 ASSEMBLY, No. STATE OF NEW JERSEY th LEGISLATURE PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 00 SESSION Sponsored by: Assemblyman JOSEPH J. ROBERTS, JR. District (Camden and Gloucester) Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE District (Bergen) SYNOPSIS Requires retail food establishments to have staff person certified in DHSSapproved food safety training course. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel (Sponsorship Updated As Of: /0/00)

2 A ROBERTS, VAINIERI HUTTLE AN ACT concerning training in food safety and supplementing Title of the Revised Statutes. BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:. As used in this act: "Department" means the Department of Health and Senior Services. "Retail food establishment" has the same meaning as provided in N.J.A.C.:-... a. Beginning June 0, 00, a for-profit retail food establishment in this State shall have at least one person on staff who has taken a food safety training course and successfully passed a certification examination, approved by the department pursuant to this act. b. Beginning June 0, 00, a nonprofit retail food establishment in this State shall have at least one person on staff who has taken a food safety training course and successfully passed a certification examination, approved by the department pursuant to this act. c. A retail food establishment in this State that opened for business or transferred ownership on or after June 0, 00 or June 0, 00, as applicable to paragraphs () and () of this subsection, shall have six months after the date of opening or transfer to comply with the provisions of this act. d. In the event that a certified staff person leaves employment at a retail food establishment, the establishment shall have six months after the date the person leaves to meet the requirements of this act.. A person's food safety certification shall be valid for three years, and the person shall have six months from the date of expiration of the certification to be recertified.. a. An approved food safety training course and certification examination shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics: food preparation and handling; contamination and cross contamination; food allergens; sanitation; cleaning and sanitizing utensils and food services; diseases that are transmissible through food; personal hygiene; food from unsafe sources; prevention of food-borne illness; proper time, temperature and holding procedures; and maintaining the food establishment in a clean condition and in good repair. b. The department shall approve food manager training programs and certification examinations that have been accredited by the Conference for Food Protection and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and training programs and certification

3 A ROBERTS, VAINIERI HUTTLE examinations that meet the minimum standards established by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation ServSafe Food program. c. The department shall ensure that: () at least one approved food safety training course and certification examination is available in the State at a participant cost of no more than $0, including training materials, examination, proctored testing and grading, and certification; and () approved food safety training courses are available in English, Spanish, Chinese and such other languages as the department determines appropriate.. An entity that provides a food safety training course approved by the department shall maintain a record of all persons who have taken the entity's training course and successfully passed the certification examination. The entity shall maintain an individual's record for a period of three years, and shall make the record available to the department upon request.. a. The department shall provide, on its Internet website, information concerning: issues related to food safety, including the requirements of this act; a summary of the topics covered in approved food safety training and certification programs; and a list of approved food safety training and certification programs in the State. b. The department shall also provide copies of the information available on its website, pursuant to this section, to retail food establishments, upon request.. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, in consultation with the Public Health Council, shall adopt regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L., c. (C.:B- et seq.), to carry out the purposes of this act.. This act shall take effect on January, 00. STATEMENT This bill provides for a system of certification in food safety by food handlers in retail food establishments that will lead to enhanced consumer protection and improve the overall level of food safety. Specifically, the bill provides that beginning June 0, 00, a for-profit retail food establishment in this State shall have at least one person on staff who has taken a food safety training course and successfully passed a certification examination, recognized or approved by the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

4 A ROBERTS, VAINIERI HUTTLE Beginning June 0, 00 a nonprofit retail food establishment in this State would have to comply with this requirement. A person's certification would be valid for three years, and the person will have six months from the date of expiration of the certification to be recertified. In the case of retail food establishments that opened for business or transferred ownership on or after June 0, 00 or June 0, 00 (in the case of nonprofit establishments), or in the event that a certified staff person leaves employment at a retail food establishment, the establishment would have six months after the date of the applicable event to comply with the provisions of this bill. The bill specifies that an approved food safety training course and certification examination shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics: food preparation and handling; contamination and cross contamination; food allergens; sanitation; cleaning and sanitizing utensils and food services; diseases that are transmissible through food; personal hygiene; food from unsafe sources; prevention of food borne illness; proper time, temperature and holding procedures; and maintaining the food establishment in a clean condition and in good repair. The bill provides that the DHSS shall approve food manager training programs and certification examinations that have been accredited by the Conference for Food Protection and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and training and certification programs that meet the minimum standards established by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation ServSafe Food program. DHSS is required to ensure that at least one approved food safety training course and certification examination is available in the State at a participant cost of no more than $0, including training materials, examination, proctored testing and grading, and certification. Also, DHSS shall ensure that approved courses are available in English, Spanish, Chinese and such other languages as the department determines appropriate. The bill directs DHSS to provide, on its Internet website, information concerning: issues related to food safety, including the requirements of this bill; a summary of the topics covered in approved food safety training and certification programs; and a list of approved food safety training and certification programs in the State. DHSS shall also provide copies of the information available on its website to retail food establishments, upon request. The bill directs DHSS, in consultation with the Public Health Council (which establishes regulations for the State Sanitary Code), to adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of the bill. DHSS regulations at N.J.A.C.:-. provide that "every retail food establishment should have supervisory personnel certified in food safety and sanitation through a course of instruction approved

5 A ROBERTS, VAINIERI HUTTLE by the State Department of Health." The provisions of this bill strengthen the current requirement by making it mandatory, rather than optional, that each retail food establishment have a staff member certified in food safety, and by specifying the types of training and certification programs that would qualify for this purpose. "Retail food establishment" is defined in N.J.A.C.:-. to mean: any fixed or mobile restaurant; coffee shop; cafeteria; short-order cafe; luncheonette; grill; tearoom; sandwich shop; soda fountain; tavern; bar; cocktail lounge; night club; roadside stand; industrial feeding establishment; private, public or nonprofit organization, institution, or group preparing, storing or serving food; catering kitchen; commissary; box lunch establishment; retail bakery; meat market; delicatessen; grocery store; public food market, or any similar place in which food or drink is prepared for retail sale or service on the premises or elsewhere, and any other retail eating or drinking establishment or operation where food is served, handled or provided for the public with or without charge.