This section includes regulatory information, fact sheets and guidance for food safety practices in retail and foodservice operations.

In the United States, state and local regulatory agencies are responsible for the regulation of restaurants and retail food stores. Regulatory oversight is in line with federal food safety initiatives. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assists state and local regulatory agencies and the industries they regulate by providing a model Food Code. This Food Code provides science-based guidance for reducing risk factors that are known to cause or contribute to foodborne illness outbreaks associated with retail foodservice establishments. Local, state, tribal, and federal regulators use the FDA Food Code as a model to develop or update their own food safety rules and to be consistent with national food regulatory policy (www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/default.htm).

The FDA works with the Conference for Food Protection (www.foodprotect.org) to update the FDA Food Code and to promote best practices. The Conference for Food Protection (CFP) is a non-profit organization which was created to provide a formal process for developing and modifying food safety guidance for inclusion in national food safety laws and regulations.

In Rhode Island, the Department of Health (RIDOH), Center for Food Protection is the regulatory agency responsible for the oversight of all retail food service operations. The 2007 Rhode Island Food Code is used for regulatory oversight in Rhode Island. This edition of the Rhode Island Food Code is based on the FDA 2005 Food Code. In the near future, the RIDOH will be updating to the 2013 FDA Food Code. Once this occurs, this website will be updated.