PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING
One of the charges assigned to the Bay Area Food Technical Advisory Committee (BAFTAC) for 2000-2001 is:
Develop a policy for ensuring that the Compendium of Information remains current by requiring that:
| § |
will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis, |
| § | annual editions on diskette will be make available to all jurisdictions, and |
| § | the website of the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health (CCDEH) will be updated annually to reflect changes. |
The Compendium of Food Program Information (Compendium) is a document that was added to the CCDEH website last year and contains the following:
|
§ |
Food Safety Notices (FSNs) from the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) |
| § | CCDEH Guidelines |
| § | Statewide Information Exchange Document (SIED) |
| § | Laws (CURFFL, Sherman Law, Food Sanitation Act) |
| § | Mechanical Exhaust Ventilation Exemption Letters from CDHS |
| § | Information Circulars from CDHS |
It became clear immediately following the creation of the Compendium and its placement on the CCDEH website that it would necessitate frequent updating so that information contained therein would be current. Out-dated information would not only prove to be confusing to users, but would detract from the overall quality and credibility of the website. BAFTAC was charged with developing a procedure to ensure that the Compendium (aka “Food CD—Distributed at CCDEH Conference”) is updated on an annual basis to reflect changes in existing documents, and to include the addition of new documents.
These procedures are intended to be utilized by CCDEH, its Food Technical Advisory Committees (FTACs) and other contributors, and its webmaster in conducting annual updates of the Compendium, and to ensure users of the website that information contained therein is up-to-date.
Representatives of the BAFTAC discussed the issue amongst themselves, with Tim Snellings, CCDEH webmaster, and Donna Fenton, Chair, Central Valley Food Technical Advisory Committee (CVFTAC--author of SIED), in an effort to establish procedures for ensuring that all new and existing documents in the Compendium will receive consistent, periodic review and updating.
BAFTAC has developed the following procedures for updating the Compendium to ensure that the CCDEH website always contains the most up to date information (each section of the Compendium is addressed separately):
1. Food Safety Notices (FSNs)
These are issued by the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) as needs arise for guidance from the State. CDHS determines the frequency of issuing new FSNs and updating existing ones, and posts additions and changes to the CDHS Food Safety Program website at http://www.dhs.ca.gov/fdb/HTML/Food/indexsafety.htm.
Updating: Rather than posting the FSNs directly on the CCDEH website, the “Food Safety Notices” section of the Compendium will now be linked directly to the corresponding section of the CDHS website.
2. CCDEH Guidelines
After being developed by the authoring FTAC, and reviewed and approved at CCDEH’s annual meeting in September, these documents are issued by CCDEH for use by all jurisdictions statewide.
Updating: All existing Guidelines will now be reviewed annually by the authoring FTAC, and the Guidelines will be updated as follows;
§ upon receiving a charge from the FPC; or
§ when deemed appropriate by the authoring FTAC during its annual review.
Changes and additions to Guidelines will be made following current established procedures, and will be posted directly to the CCDEH website in October of each year.
Additionally, a link will be established in the Guidelines section of the Compendium so that readers may submit comments to CCDEH regarding the Guidelines. These comments will then be forwarded to the authoring FTAC for consideration.
3. Statewide Information Exchange Document (SIED)
This document includes names of food program contacts for all local environmental health jurisdictions in California. The SEID was last updated in April, 2000, using information collected in 1999.
Updating: CVFTAC has agreed to provide an updated SIED in August 2001. Thereafter, CVFTAC will update the SIED in November of each year. Annual updates will include agency and food program contact information only; the questions at the end of the SIED were intended by FPC to be a one-time survey of local agencies. Any updating of this information will require assignment of a new charge from the FPC.
NOTE: To more easily facilitate transfer of updated information regarding local contacts to the webmaster, BAFTAC recommends that a mechanism be established that will allow agency representatives to contact CCDEH directly via the website.
4. Laws (CURFFL, Food Sanitation Act, Sherman Law)
These are the laws that govern retail food inspection activities in California.
Updating: Rather than posting the Laws directly on the CCDEH website, the “Laws” section of the Compendium will now be linked directly to the corresponding section(s) of the CDHS Food Safety Program website which is updated whenever changes are approved through the legislative process.
5. Ventilation Exemptions
These are issued by CDHS upon successful application by equipment vendors or manufacturers. The CDHS Food Safety Program website will soon have a section where the entire listing of exemptions will reside.
Updating: Rather than posting the Ventilation Exemptions directly on the CCDEH website, the “Ventilation Exemptions” section of the Compendium will now be linked directly to the corresponding section(s) of the CDHS website.
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
BAFTAC has developed a format for FAQs, and has created several as a voluntary charge this year. It was intended that FAQs become a new section in the Compendium this year. However, at recent meetings, concerns have been raised over which entity is most appropriate to issue FAQs, and whether they should instead be developed as Food Safety Notices by CDHS or as CCDEH Guidelines by the various FTACs. Further, the level of research needed to validate the answers was brought into question, addressing the conceivable need for laboratory assistance with some of the FAQs. As a result, inclusion of FAQs in the Compendium will not be recommended this year.
BAFTAC notes that FAQs most often arise as “Issues from Members” during roundtable discussions at FTAC meetings. These issues will be handled as follows:
a. Issues from Members that are resolved to the satisfaction of the FTAC will appear in the meeting minutes.
b. FAQs may be assigned to individual FTAC members for further study, and reported upon at a future meeting. Results of such reports will be documented in the meeting minutes.
c. Some FAQs may be complex and appropriate for development as CCDEH Guidelines, Food Safety Notices from CDHS, or through further research. Such issues will be documented in the meeting minutes and referred to FPC, DHS, or another entity as appropriate for resolution.
d. All such issues appearing in meeting minutes will be written in the “Issue-Discussion-Recommendation” format.
The Compendium is presently difficult to find on the CCDEH website, requiring moving between multiple links from the home page. It is also mislabeled as the “Food CD—Distributed at CCDEH Conference.”
The link to the Compendium will be relocated to the home or front page of the CCDEH website, and re-titled “Compendium of Food Program Information.”
Coordination of Updates
Peter Esko, member of BAFTAC, has volunteered, and made a commitment through December, 2002, to coordinate between Tim Snellings, webmaster, and the four FTACs to ensure that the updates are accomplished according to the annual schedule. Each time the Compendium is updated, the revision date will be changed on the website to reflect the year in which the revisions occurred.
Annual Distribution of Diskettes
In December of each year, after the webmaster incorporates approved additions and changes into the Compendium, he will make updates available to any jurisdiction desiring one in CD-Rom format. This time frame will allow for the latest information that was approved at the annual September conference, as well as the annual November update of the SIED by CVFTAC, to be included. All copies of such CDs will be entitled “Compendium of Food Program Information, revised November, 200x,” reflecting the year in which the revisions occurred.
compendium update final rpt to fpc 8-01