Retail Food

Starting a Retail Food Establishment Business

All prospective, converted, or remodeled food establishments must complete and submit a plan review application at least thirty (30) calendar days prior to operating. After the plans have been reviewed and approved, a pre-operational inspection is to be conducted at the conclusion of the construction process to ensure that the food establishment has been built in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. An application for food establishment registration will be completed during the pre-operational inspection. Note: All relevant plan review and registration fees must be paid before a food establishment registration can be issued. The owner or operator is responsible for submitting all Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans, variance requests, and written standard operating procedures before engaging in a specialized processing and/or packaging method.

Inspection Protocol

Inspection frequencies are assigned and prioritized based on the level of risk associated with the food establishment; the type of food processing, volume of product, target population and compliance history are all considerations used to assign risk categories. Unscheduled risk-based routine inspections are conducted to ensure compliance with current food safety rules and regulations. It is the policy of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food to obtain voluntary compliance regarding inspection violations. The Retail Food Regulatory Program has a follow-up inspection policy based on the type of violation observed: priority violations must be followed-up within seven (7) calendar days; priority foundation violations must be followed-up within fourteen (14) calendar days. A failure to implement appropriate corrective action in a timely manner, requiring more than one follow up inspection in order to achieve compliance, authorizes the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food to impose a follow-up inspection fee.