U. S. Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
FDA Prime Connection

FOOD SERVICE PILOT BEGINS - 02/18/93
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 FN93-03          FOOD SERVICE PILOT BEGINS          02-18-93
 
 
     The FDA and the NOAA have scheduled a Food Service Pilot
study for restaurants as part of the ongoing preparation toward
implementation of the Voluntary Seafood Program.
 
     The pilot is scheduled to begin on or after March 1, 1993
and will last approximately 10 weeks, ending in mid-May.
 
     As with the previously conducted Retail Food Store pilot
study, representation of a variety of establishments in various
geographical locations is planned.  A total of 11 restaurants in
9 states are participating in the pilot.  A listing of the
participants is as follows:
 
                                             REGION FDA/
                                             NOAA CONTACTS
          NEW HAMPSHIRE
 
          New England Center                 Ray Duffill/
          University of New Hampshire        Larry Biondo
          Durham, NH
 
          MASSACHUSETTS
 
          Legal Sea Foods, Inc.              Ray Duffill/
          Natick, MA                         Larry Biondo
 
          NEW YORK
 
          Culinary Institute of America      John Schrade/
          Hyde Park, NY                      Cynthia Yustin
 
          ARA Services (IBM                  John Schrade/
          Management Development Center)     Cynthia Yustin
          Armonk, NY
 
          GEORGIA
 
          Long John Silver's                 Chet Morris/
          Woodstock, GA                      Myron Crieder
 
          WISCONSIN
 
          Smith Brothers Restaurant          Chas. Phillips/
          Port Washington, WI                Larry Biondo
 
          TEXAS
 
          Marriott Dallas Quorum             Dennis Eastin/
          Dallas, TX                         Cooper Kimbrell
 
          CALIFORNIA
 
          Anthony's Fish Grottoes            Kermit McKemie/
          San Diego, CA                      Ray Lederer
 
          OREGON
 
          Pier 11 Restaurant                 Kermit McKemie/
          Astoria, OR                        Ray Lederer
 
          WASHINGTON
 
          Skipper's Inc.                     Fritz Fuchs/
          Bellevue, WA                       Roxie Tripplet
 
          Ivar's Inc.                        Fritz Fuchs/
          Seattle, WA                        Roxie Tripplet
 
 
     A formal Food Service Pilot training workshop for all
parties involved in the scheduled pilot was conducted in Dallas,
TX from January 13-15, 1993.
 
     Approximately 100 persons met at the Crown Sterling Suites
Hotel in Irving, Texas to discuss and coordinate the upcoming
activities, and to begin development of participant HACCP Plans
for submittal to and approval by the federal agencies, in
cooperation with the state and local food regulatory agencies.
 
     This workshop was sponsored by the New England Fisheries
Development Association (NEFDA) in cooperation with The National
Restaurant Association, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
 
     Featured speakers among others were John Marcello, Manager,
Technical Education, The Educational Foundation of the National
Restaurant Association who trained the participants in the
ServSafe approach to HACCP; and Dee Clingman, Assistant Director
for Quality Control, General Foods, Inc. who discussed the
applications and findings of the Red Lobster approach to HACCP.
 
 
     The FDA/NOAA Voluntary Seafood Program for the Food Service
industry (like the Retail Food Store program) is based on the
following program concepts:
 
 
          *    a HACCP-based inspection program (seafood safety,
               product wholesomeness and facility hygiene, and
               prevention of economic fraud).
 
          *    voluntary to the seafood industry
 
          *    requires a user-fee
 
          *    considered an enhanced program standards over
               current standards (includes an approved HACCP
               Plan, maximum refrigeration temperature of 40x F,
               and requires regular recording of Critical Control
               Point information for verification).
 
 
     Participants of this pilot have been encouraged to select
two (2) different recipes for testing during the pilot, one being
fairly simple and straight forward, and the other recipe being
more complex and for a high risk product.
 
     Pre-meetings have been taking place around the country by
the industry participants with the federal agencies, to confirm
that their HACCP Plans are progressing correctly in preparation
for the March 1 start-up.
 
     The intent of the pilot is several fold, with the primary
purposes being: to test whether HACCP principles can work in the
busy and complex restaurant environment, to test the evolving
HACCP inspection focus in food service, and to refine the food
service operation practices based on HACCP principles by the end
of the pilot.
 
     Key program documents currently in draft that will be tested
during the pilot are the Plan Submission Guide for Retail and the
evolving HACCP Inspection Form, as well as various record keeping
methods for verifying an establishment's operation.
 
     Following the pilot, another meeting of the Joint ISSC/CFP
Seafood Committee will be scheduled to review the pilot results
and to assist the federal agencies with proactive input into the
future design of the Voluntary Seafood Program for Retail.
 
 
     As this program continues to develop, this Fishnet
Conference on the FDA PRIME CONNECTION will be a primary source
of information exchange and program updates.  Also, watch for
other seafood information updates in the near future as submitted
by the Office of Seafood, the FDA Seafood Hotline, the Division
of Federal/State Relations, and other sources.
 
     Should you have questions regarding the pilot, the Voluntary
Seafood Program, and its application for retail, give Larry
Edwards a call at (202) 205-8140 or drop him a message on
Fishnet.