The Division of Public Health (DPH) considers food safety to be a vital part of protecting the public. Basic knowledge about food storage, preparation, and handling is essential to the prevention of potential foodborne illness. DPH is committed to protecting the public through education, inspection and efforts like the Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) requirement.

On Friday, April 1, 2016, DPH will require that permitted food establishments have a minimum of one employee, the person in charge (PIC) at the time of inspection, who is a CFPM. A CFPM is someone who is certified in food safety knowledge in areas such as personal hygiene, cross contamination, time and temperature, receiving and storage and food safety management systems. This is accomplished through successful completion of an accredited program, such as ServSafe®.

Variances

Variances from the CFPM requirement are allowed under certain circumstances, based on the risk of causing or contributing to a foodborne illness outbreak. All food establishments are rated on their risk by DPH. Risk categorization is based on many factors and DPH reserves the right to re-evaluate any establishment’s rating in response to menu or equipment changes, ownership changes and compliance at any time.

• Permitted food establishments categorized as very low risk are eligible for a statewide variance from the CFPM requirement. To comply with this statewide variance a food establishment must be categorized by DPH as very low risk and meet one of the following minimum training standards:
  • Have a CFPM on-site during all hours of operation; or
  • Have a CFPM on staff to provide training to the other Persons in Charge (PICs) and be available by telephone; or
  • Have all PICs complete approved food safety training.
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• Permitted food establishments rated low risk or medium risk may request a variance. Individual variance requests will be evaluated on a case by case basis. All low and medium risk facilities that are granted variances must comply with one of the following minimum training standards:
  • Have a CFPM on-site during all hours of operation; or
  • Have a CFPM on staff to provide training to the other PICs and be available by telephone; or
  • Have all PICs complete DPH approved food safety training.
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• Permitted food establishments rated high risk are ineligible for a variance.

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