Amendments made to the Food Premises Regulation

Dear Colleagues,

 We are pleased to provide you with several updates in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and items related to the recent amendments made to the Food Premises Regulation, under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.

 Please find the attached (click the link):

 1.         COVID-19 Guidance for Food Premises Summary Sheet;

2.         Reference Document for Safe Food Donation;

3.         Safe Food Donation Supplemental Material;

4.         Food Premises Regulatory Amendments Training Webinar;

a)         Dogs in Food Premises Summary Sheet;

b)         Low-risk Food Exemption Summary Sheet; and

c)         Commonly asked Questions and Answers.

 In response to the recent Premier of Ontario’s declaration of State of Emergency, which includes closure of all bars and restaurants as well as facilities providing indoor recreational programs (listed below), The ministry has developed a COVID-19 Guidance for Food Premises Summary Sheet that outlines best practices related to precautions for food handlers and cleaning/disinfection in a food premises that offer takeout and delivery.          

 Closed facilities include:

•           All public libraries;

•           All private schools as defined in the Education Act;

•           All licensed child care centres;

•           All bars and restaurants, except to the extent that such facilities provide takeout food and delivery;

•           All theatres including those offering live performances of music, dance, and other art forms, as well as cinemas that show movies; and

•           Concert venues.

 Please be advised, the Ministry of Health has developed a Self Assessment available on the ministry’s website in addition to current information on COVID-19 in Ontario http://bit.ly/covid-19Ontario

 Furthermore, with the increased possibility of food donations impacted by the Covid-19 situation, the ministry is releasing the Reference Document for Safe Food Donation and the Safe Food Donation Supplemental Resources. These documents are also a deliverable under the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks’ (MECP) Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan. The Environment Plan commits to supporting food rescue and food donation activities to reduce unnecessary food waste. These resources, developed and consulted with stakeholders, also support consistent implementation of the recent amendments under the Food Premises Regulation to reduce regulatory burden for community meal programs that may rely on donated foods (i.e., student nutrition programs, food banks, food rescue etc.) as part of the ministry’s Burden Reduction initiative.

 The Safe Food Donation Guideline will be made available on the Ministry of Health’s website in both English and French shortly. For now, due to the large file size, these resources will also be provided to using the EATS file sharing program.

 Recent amendments made to the Food Premises Regulation under the Health Protection and Promotion Act came into effect January 1, 2020 in response to the government’s Open For Business initiative to reduce burden on small businesses. The recent regulatory amendments enable small businesses to remain competitive and sustainable through greater flexibility in their business models by allowing dogs on food premises and reducing structural requirements for premises that prepare low-risk food and serve low-risk and pre-packaged ready-to-eat foods.

 We recommend viewing the recorded Training Webinar prior to Tuesday, March 31, 2020. After this time, the webinar will be unavailable using the link provided.

 Recorded Webinar: Industry Food Premises Reg Changes 2020

 URL:                       http://bit.ly/2020MarchFPRIndustry

 Password:               fpr2020indus

Length of time:       20-mins

 External stakeholders must register your email to download the files

EATS Guide:   https://attachmail.ontario.ca/courier/1000@/custom_template/1000/Web_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf

Should you have any questions, please send inquiries to environmentalhealth@ontario.ca

Sincerely,

Carrie Warring, MA., BHSc., BASc., CPHI (C)

Senior Policy and Program Advisor

Environmental Health Policy and Programs

Health Protection and Surveillance Policy and Programs Branch

Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health

Ministry of Health

393 University Avenue, 21st Floor, Toronto ON M7A 2S1

P: 416-212-6394 E: carrie.warring@ontario.ca

Please note that voice mail is no longer available. For urgent matters during business hours, please contact me by email at the address noted above.