Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Personnel

The primary goal of a national food safety program is to prevent and reduce foodborne illness. To that end, the FDA provides a Standardization program for Food Safety Inspection Officers (FSIOs). This process allows regulatory personnel to apply their knowledge of Food Code provisions and risk-based inspection methods within a consistent, uniform measurement system. FDA’s Procedures for Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers manual outlines the process and criteria for demonstrating proficiency in required performance areas.

The procedures are based on the current FDA Food Code and include a refined focus on foodborne illness risk factors, public health interventions, and application of the Principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP).

It is essential that food safety personnel become standardized through this process to ensure that food at retail is safe, unadulterated, and honestly presented throughout the United States. The FDA Retail Food Specialists conduct standardizations with select State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial regulatory officials with the expectation that they will, in turn, standardize others with the same or similar procedure.  A certificate of standardization as an FDA standardized FSIO is issued to all candidates who successfully complete the standardization process.

• Procedures for Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers – Updated to the 2022 FDA Food Code (PDF: 2.29 MB)
• Procedures for Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers – Updated to the 2017 Food Code and the Supplement to the 2017 Food Code (PDF: 1.98 MB) 
  • Standardization Field Workbook – 2017 Food Code and Supplement (PDF: 1.72 MB)

Resources

• Food Code 2017
• Food Code Reference System
• Risk Assessment: Listeria monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens
• Retail Food Risk Factor Studies
• Retail Food Protection Industry Educational Materials
• Employee Health and Personal Hygiene Handbook