Allen County adopts updated food safety ordinance to align with state code

Allen County Commissioners on March 14 approved an update to the county’s food safety ordinance, Title 10, Article 12, to align local language with recent changes in the state food code. Mindy Waldron, administrator of the Allen County Health Department, presented the update and answered commissioners’ questions.

Waldron said the county’s last comprehensive local food code update was in February 2004 and the changes before the commissioners are primarily alignment and clarifying edits rather than new local restrictions. “We are precluded from being stricter in our local ordinance than the State Code,” Waldron said, adding that most changes remove duplicative language and update terminology.

Why this matters: the Health Department regulates retail establishments — restaurants, grocery stores, schools, bars, mobile food trucks and temporaries — and enforces food-safety practices that help prevent outbreaks. Waldron told commissioners the department conducts roughly 6,000 food-related inspections a year and receives about 650 complaints annually, figures she said are likely underestimates because many people with probable foodborne illness do not seek medical testing.

Waldron also described common violations that lead to illness risk: failures in handwashing and temperature control, cross-contamination and improper storage or labeling of ready-to-eat foods. She noted that the ordinance references the state food code rather than repeating it locally and that most changes are terminological or clerical rather than substantive.

The Health Department staff for the food division includes the division director and eight total positions in the unit, Waldron said, with four to five inspectors working typical inspection days and others handling plan reviews, change-of-ownership reviews and specialty inspections such as tattoo facilities. “Those 6,000 are on the backs of only a handful of people,” she said, noting Allen County’s food-division staffing is low compared with counties of comparable size.

Commissioners asked technical questions and accepted Steve Shum, director of the Food and Consumer Protection Division, as a resource for detailed operational questions. The board voted to adopt the ordinance and requested an effective date of July 31 so the county change would align with the statewide effective schedule.

The ordinance as presented makes no local rules stricter than the state code, and Waldron said the amendment removes obsolete language, fixes minor typos and updates terminology used for violation classifications. The commissioners approved the ordinance by motion; the Health Department recommended July 31 as the effective date to match the statewide implementation.

The approval was procedural and did not create new enforcement powers beyond those in the referenced state code.

Ending: County staff said they will publish the ordinance with the effective date and continue outreach and education to food operators before the change takes effect.