In This Section:
Massachusetts Puts Equipment Makers On Notice
Florida Counties Push Posting Of Inspections
Ontario: Don't Let Waste Go To Waste
FDA Okays Germ Warfare To Fight Foodborne Illness
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Enodis |
Industry Report Sponsor: Hotelex Shanghai, April 4-7, 2007
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Massachusetts Puts Equipment Makers On Notice
Yet another hoop to clear? Equipment manufacturers, who have long relied on consensus standards like those from UL, CSA and NSF to simplify jurisdictional compliance, have been put on notice by the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Plumbers & Gas Fitters. The Board says that plumbers and contractors can only use products that have been pre-approved by the board.
The rule itself isn't new, but extending it to kitchen equipment is a more recent development. While the Board's purview is plumbing and gas fittings, the regulations include all products in plumbing or gas "systems," which now means foodservice equipment makers also must go through the approval process.
Temporary initial approval is a one-year term; extended approval is a three-year term. Manufacturers must submit testing results from approved labs with applications, and pay a fee for either initial or extended approval. (Any previous approvals are now null and void.) Manufacturers may list as many as 10 different products on a single application, and pay for that application, up to nine applications. Any remaining products may be lumped onto a tenth application.
Some manufacturers are taking up the issue with the Massachusetts Regulatory Authority in hopes of asking state legislators why the regulations for plumbing and gas fixtures include equipment that already meets consensus standards. If you want to join this effort, contact Joel Hipp at Hobart Corp. by calling 937-332-2836 or e-mail him at joel.hipp@hobartcorp.com.
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Florida Counties Push Posting Of Inspections
Thumbing their noses at Florida's Department of Business & Professional Regulation, two counties are making their own rules about posting restaurant inspections. The DBPR, whose hotels and restaurants division conducts health inspection, requires restaurants in the state to make their inspections available to the public and post a notice to that effect.
Pasco County went a step further with its new ordinance. There, restaurants have to post the inspection report itself. Pasco was the first county in the state to require restaurants to post their inspection letter scores. Though the state subsequently barred other counties from doing so, the Pasco law stood on the books. The DBPR has since ended its policy of giving letter grades, so the county switched the requirement to posting the entire report.
Palm Beach County commissioners, meanwhile, recently passed an ordinance similar to DBPR's, requiring restaurants to post essentially the same notice. The significance is that the ordinance gives the county the power to enforce restaurants to show their inspection reports to customers who ask for them. So even if the state changes its stance, Palm Beach County still has its own control of the topic.
DBPR says both ordinances are unnecessary, since consumers can simply go to its web site—www.myflorida.com/dbpr—to look up a restaurant's most recent report.
Ontario: Don't Let Waste Go To Waste
"Waste not, want not," the old saying goes. Better take it to heart if you operate in Ontario, Canada. The province is cracking down on businesses that don't comply with "waste diversion" rules passed in 1994. That means that Ontario restaurants may see more visits from provincial environmental inspectors, according to the Canadian Restaurant & Foodservices Association.
The rules, intended to encourage recycling and reduce the amount of waste headed for landfills, require large businesses with annual sales of more than $3 million ($2.7 million US) to separate recyclable materials, perform waste audits and develop a waste reduction plan.
Waste reduction plans have to be posted where employees can see them. Audits must include a detailed report of how much waste you produce and the extent to which you use recycled materials.
If your sales are under $3 million or your restaurant is located in a town of less than 5,000 people, you're exempt.
FDA Okays Germ Warfare To Fight Foodborne Illness
What better way to fight foodborne illness-causing germs than with more germs? The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of bacteria-eating viruses as a food additive to combat common food illnesses. The first of these viral bacteriophages to be approved is specifically targeted at Listeria.
The mix of six germ-killing germs can be sprayed on hot dogs and cold cuts to help prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes. Intralytix Inc., the Baltimore company that developed the spray, says it plans to produce bacteriophages that combat Salmonella and E.coli O157:H7 in the next year.
Initially concerned about potentially toxic by-products after the virus has killed the bacteria, the FDA has been testing the spray since 2002.
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