Under the New Inspection Standards that began August 2008, specifically “Management awareness, policy present and reporting” (sec 2-2A), the Person In Charge (PIC) must be aware of these code provisions and be able to verbally communicate the following information to the health department representative during a routine inspection:

• Food employees are required to report certain symptoms or diagnosed illnesses to the PIC and the PIC is then required to report certain symptoms or diagnosed illnesses of employees to the regulatory authority (health department).
• The PIC must convey knowledge of the employee health policy or have access to this policy.
• The employee health policy must reflect the current Food Code provisions.  Verbal communication of the employee health policy must be specific to the types of illnesses and symptoms that require reporting.

Answers for the above information required by the health department are:

Knowledge of symptoms related to excluding employees from work and the symptoms related to reportable diseases are:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Jaundice
• Sore throat with fever
• A lesion containing pus that cannot be covered

The employee health policy that meets the standards under the new Food Code can be found on pgs. 31-39 in the Food Code itself.  Post this and have available during inspection.

You must report the following five illnesses to the health department: 

• Norovirus
• Hepatitis A
• Shigella spp.
• Enterohemorrhagic or Shiga toxin-producing E-coli
• Salmonella Typhi.

You must report any Jaundice symptom to your health department, as is related to Hepatitis A.