COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION
P.O.
BOX 2120
RICHMOND,
VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 4
May 6, 2005
REGULATORY
|
TO: |
Division Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Food Safety Requirements in the School Nutrition
Programs Reauthorization 2004 |
Public Law 108-265, the Child Nutrition and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program
for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Reauthorization Act of
2004, amended food safety requirements for schools participating in the
National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program. The amendments affect food safety
inspections and require implementation of a food safety program that complies
with a hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) system. These changes become effective July 1, 2005.
Each participating school must obtain at least two
food safety inspections each school year.
The inspections must be conducted by a state or local governmental agency
responsible for food safety inspection. In Virginia, this agency is the
Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and its 35 local health districts. The
Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) have been in contact with the appropriate state officials to
inform them of the inspection requirement. School divisions should contact
their environmental health specialist at the local health department to arrange
for the required twice per school year inspections.
In addition, schools must post a report of the most
recent food safety inspection, and provide a copy to the public upon request.
An excellent resource for food safety inspection reports is the VDH public
Website at: www.healthspace.ca/vdh.
VDOE will ask each school division to provide an
annual report of the number of food safety inspections conducted in each
participating school. VDOE will be required to send this information to USDA
annually.
Participating schools are required, during the
preparation and service of meals, to implement a food safety program that
complies with the HACCP system requirements as established by the Secretary of
Agriculture. VDOE envisions that schools will build on food safety procedures
already in place to meet the goals of a HACCP compliant system.
To assist school divisions in implementing this
requirement, the VDOE school nutrition programs office has partnered with the
National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) to offer seven regional
HACCP orientation workshops. Some of
these workshops were conducted in April and others will be conducted in May
2005. Information and registration for these workshops was sent to school
nutrition directors and superintendents in a March 14, 2005, memorandum. The
NFSMI manual, HACCP for Child Nutrition Programs: Building on the Basics,
used in these workshops outlines the principles of HACCP and the steps to
design and implement a HACCP compliant food safety system in schools.
Effective with the school year 2005-06, VDOE will
monitor compliance with these food safety regulations during the federal
Coordinated Review Effort (CRE) and needs assessments conducted by school
nutrition program staff.
USDA continues to develop guidance to assist school
divisions in implementing this requirement.
Additional information and tools will be provided to school divisions as
they become available.
Questions regarding food safety requirements in the
school nutrition programs may be directed to the school nutrition program
specialist assigned to the division, or Lynne Fellin, acting director, at (804)
225-2074.
JLD/LAF/idl