CEHA 2024

A half day course exploring the HACCP process and requirements behind dried meats such as Beef Jerky, Carnesecca, and charcuterie meats at the retail food level.  This course plans to focus on the requirements required for retail food facilities planning to make dried meats. 

A half day course exploring the HACCP process and requirements behind dried meats such as Beef Jerky, Carnesecca, and charcuterie meats at the retail food level.  This course plans to focus on the requirements required for retail food facilities planning to make dried meats. 

This training will be a participant led dive into pervasiveness considerations in retail food facilities. This is intended for inspectors that inspect retail food facility and partake in the CDPHE Inspection Ratings program. This training is ideal for inspectors of all skill levels.

Have you come across items with interesting ingredients? Smoothie bars trying to add supplements to drinks? How do you know what is legal to add or where to cite it if it’s not? This presentation will walk you through the differences between food additives, GRAS ingredients, and supplements, cover some of the popular items we’re seeing at retail, and outline how to determine if a substance is legal to use in food.

This presentation will provide a review of a state-wide data analysis conducted using retail food inspection data from fiscal year 2024.

This presentation is designed to help environmental health specialists and plan reviewers understand the construction and performance testing requirements of NSF/ANSI 7 - the American National Standard for Commercial Refrigeration. With this knowledge, the labels placed inside certified refrigeration units such as, “for the storage and display of packaged products only”, can be better understood. Limitations on refrigeration and understanding its intended use can have implications for plan reviewed facilities and existing food establishments alike. As part of this presentation, the process of national consensus standard development, the value of standards and certification, and how regulators play a role will also be discussed.

The presentation includes:
1) Brief overview of who NSF is and how we work with health depts.
2) Brief explanation of what standards are, their development, and how they are used
3) Discussion on some of the design and safe material requirements for food equipment under the refrigeration unit standard (NSF/ANSI 7)
4) Discussion of the performance testing requirements for certified refrigeration
5) Explain the limitations placed on refrigeration (i.e. the interior labels) and their implications

This presentation will discuss what the conference is (the rulemaking process for the Food Code), how it works, and how to get involved in the conference in 2025 when the conference is in Denver.

A panel discussion with Retail Food Industry leaders to discuss how health departments and the food industry can better work together. This panel will be focused on the industry perception of health inspections and what we can do to make positive change for food safety compliance. Food industry leaders will tell their story on why they are in the food industry and their experiences/relationships with Health inspectors over the years.  They will offer their wisdom, share advice and answer questions.

Can relationships improve food safety? Temporary events are special situations and require their own rules, permits, and guidelines. This presentation will discuss Pueblo County’s Temporary Event application and inspection process and how the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE) develops and uses relationships with Event Coordinators to decrease infrastructural issues, improve enforcement procedures, and minimize the risk of a foodborne illness outbreak at a temporary event. 

This Presentation will provide a review of what changes from the adoption of the 2022 FDA food code apply to plan reviews.  

In August 2023, Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) received an initial phone report from a school nurse indicating that about 20 known individuals fell ill after attending a catered back to school event the night prior to report. Within hours of notification, the JCPH environmental health and epidemiology teams collaborated to initiate structured case interviews and an on-site NEARS investigation. Of 400 attendees, 136 complete surveys were returned, and 74 respondents fit the case definition, resulting in a 34% response rate among attendees and a 54% attack rate among respondents. No pathogen was clinically identified, since only 3 individuals (4%) agreed to submit stool samples, and only 1 sample was ultimately procured. However, when input into the FoodNet Pathogen Predictor, the combination of epidemiological data and environmental assessment findings indicated a 99.24% probability of Clostridium perfringens infection. Post-outbreak, notable actions included educational sessions with the event caterers that highlighted the need to implement actionable monitoring systems for temperature holding equipment, as well as communication with a legal firm seeking information regarding the outbreak. Main take-aways from the investigation included the importance of emphasizing rapid response to foodborne illness reports, promoting cross-divisional collaboration, and maintaining accurate documentation, as well as the need to identify methods to enhance stool sample submissions. 

Arapahoe County Public Health's approach to mobile regulations was heavily influenced by one mobile inspection day at La Plaza in Aurora, CO. A walkthrough of the compound was conducted with the owner of the property and the mobile operates were notified of the future inspections. The madness that ensued the day of the inspections resulted in 40% closures due to being unlicensed or having an immanent health hazard. Of the remaining mobiles 20% of the following inspections resulted in a re-inspection. There were 32 units on the lot.  This day opened the eyes of the inspectors at ACPH. It heavily influenced the mobile program moving forward.  This is our story.