Federal Regulations: Food facilities

This may be of interest to anyone in the food industry. It shows how pervasive the goverment has become. I got this from a school discussion group.

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Federal Regulations: Food facilities

The Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, a link to which is provided below, requires "food facilities" to register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some entities, including nonprofit food establishments, restaurants, and retail food establishments are exempt from this requirement. In response to FDA's publication of its Interim Final Rule implementing these provisions, NSBA submitted comments to FDA asking for clarification as to whether and under what circumstances school districts must register. For background on the Rule and links to NSBA's comments and other resources, see the COSA Federal Regulations page, below. FDA published a response in a question and answer industry guide about the Act, also below. Question 5.4 asks whether school lunch programs, like the National School Lunch program or a food service program, can be exempt from registration because they are nonprofit food establishments. FDA concludes that such programs can be exempt if
(1) the school district would meet the criteria for being a 501(c)(3) organization, even though a school district is not actually a 501(c)(3) organization, and
(2) the food service program meets the other requirements of being a nonprofit food establishment.

To qualify under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an entity must satisfy four criteria: (1) it must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes (among others); (2) no part of its net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private individual; (3) no substantial part of its activities may be for the purpose of influencing legislation; and (4) it cannot participate in any political campaign of any candidate for public office. A nonprofit food establishment is defined as "a charitable entity that prepares or serves food directly to the consumer or otherwise provides food or meals for consumption by humans or animals in the United States.

The term includes central food banks, soup kitchens, and nonprofit food delivery services." FDA also states in its answer that school lunch or other food service programs may be exempt under the restaurant and retail food establishment exemptions. While NSBA would have preferred that FDA expressly exempt school districts, as a practical matter, these clarifications accomplish the same end for most, if not all, districts.

<http://www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/PL107-188.pdf%20>]
<http://www.nsba.org/site/view.asp?DID=33380&CID=164>]
<http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/ffregui4.html>]

but any school district should meet the requirements fairly easily. In fact, I really can't think of that many facilities what will have to register at all.