Food Safety – General Information

For information and guidance related to reopening your food business after closure due to COVID-19, CLICK HERE.

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The Food Safety Program’s primary goal is to protect the community against foodborne illnesses caused by poor food handling practices and unsafe food products.

Our agency licenses and inspects all facilities at the retail level that sell food. Examples are daycares, fairs, festivals, grocery stores, nursing homes, restaurants, school cafeterias and more.

Focusing on food safety education with the operator is critical during our inspection process. Click here to view local food inspection reports.

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What We Do To Protect Public Health

• • Complaint Response – food-related customer complaints. Click here to access the complaint form
  • Education – provide food safety classes to the food industry and the public. Click here to learn more about food safety classes
  • Emergency Preparedness – provide food safety guidance during power outages and other emergencies
    • Making Water Safe During an Emergency – CDC
    • How to Operate a Food Operation Safely During a Water Outage – ODH
    • Sewage Backup in a Food Operation – ODH
    • Reopening After a Flood – ODH
  • Food Safety Planning – monitor the flow of food. Click here to view how to monitor the flow of food through your facility.
  • Inspection – all licensed food shops, mobile operations, and temporary events to ensure compliance with the state’s food safety code.  Click here to view the 2019 Ohio Food Code Amendments.
  • Investigation – conduct food source trace-back investigations due to recalls. Click here to view our Food Recalls page with important links to both federal and state recall information.  Click here to view our epidemiology page.
  • Licensing – all retail food service and food establishment operations
  • Outbreak Response – investigate foodborne outbreaks, complaints and reports
  • Plan review – all retail food operations. Click here to view a Plan Review Application Form.
  • Special Event Inspection – inspect carnivals, chili cook-offs, fairs, festivals, and farmers’ markets. Click here to go to the Forms page for relevant Temporary Food and Temporary Park Camp applications.  

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health provides services in all communities throughout Cuyahoga County, except for the city of Cleveland.

The Foundations of Food Safety 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified risk factors that are the cause of foodborne illness in homes and restaurants. The information below will help you in avoid these risks and prepare your food safely, protecting your family and friends from foodborne illness.

The risk factors include:

• getting your food from an approved source or vendor
• maintaining proper cooking temperatures
• properly cooling food
• maintaining clean and sanitary equipment
• good personal hygiene

It is our goal to help improve the health of the community by providing information and advice about how to make food safely. Whether you represent a commercial business or are just making food for your family, please take advantage of the information available on our website. 

Avoid these Dangerous Food Safety Mistakes

Tips for preparing healthy and safe food

• Purchasing food at the peak of freshness locally (Local Farmers Markets) or from local grocery stores and markets that are inspected by CCBH or other local health departments.
  Click here to view local food inspection reports.
• Wash produce thoroughly to remove dirt which could contain pathogens (disease-causing germs).
  Download PDF-How to Clean Produce Using Vinegar

Follow these four easy steps to prepare food safely at home:

Step 1: Clean

Clean hands are a must! Food is only as safe as the hands that prepare it.

If hands are dirty, all of the food they touch becomes contaminated with pathogens (disease causing germs).

Wash hands thoroughly with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds and use a disposable towel to dry them.

Step 2: Separate

It is very important to keep kitchen surfaces like cutting boards, counter tops and food utensils clean and sanitary.

Wash these surfaces with warm soapy water, rinse them and let them air dry before beginning to work with food.

Never place clean food items on dirty surfaces because food will become contaminated (dirty) and could make you sick.

Step 3: Cook

ALWAYS monitor your cooking temperatures with a calibrated or digital metal-stem thermometer to make sure that your food is cooked to the right temperature.

ALWAYS stick the probe into the thickest or deepest part of the food to be sure food is cooked all the way to the center. Hold it there for 15 seconds to be sure it reaches the right temperature.

Under-cooked food can make you sick and possibly kill you.

For a list of proper cooking temperatures, please click here.

Step 4: Chill

Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold!

Never store foods between 42-134⁰F because this range is known as the DANGER ZONE!

Food stored in the temperature danger zone grows pathogens (disease-causing germs) quickly. You can become sick in a matter of hours.

ALWAYS monitor your refrigerator temperature by purchasing a small, plastic thermometer that easily fits on any shelf. Check it once or twice weekly to be sure it stays between 38-41⁰F .

Keep raw and ready to eat foods separate to prevent cross contamination.

Raw foods  can contain pathogens that can make you sick.

Store them below and separate from ready to eat foods.

Be sure to clean cutting boards, knives and other utensils used to prepare raw food with warm soapy water before using them.

For more information on CLEAN COOK CHILL SEPARATE, click here to go to the FDA’s food safety website.

• Kitchen Companion Booklet (PDF Download)
• Food Keeper App