(a) It shall be the duty of the Department of Health to adopt and enforce sanitation rules consistent with law to ensure the protection of the public from food-borne illness. These rules shall provide the standards and requirements for the storage, preparation, serving, or display of food in food service establishments as defined in this section.
(b) A food service establishment is subject to the sanitation rules adopted and enforced by the department. This section does not apply to a food service establishment permitted or licensed under chapter 500 or a public food service establishment licensed under chapter 509 unless the public food service establishment is a culinary education program licensed under chapter 509.
(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Culinary education program” means a program that:
1. Educates enrolled students in the culinary arts, including the preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, or provides education and experience in culinary arts-related businesses;
d. A charter technical career center as defined in s. 1002.34;
e. A nonprofit independent college or university that is located and chartered in this state and accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to grant baccalaureate degrees, that is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education, and that is eligible to participate in the William L. Boyd, IV, Effective Access to Student Education Grant Program; or
f. A nonpublic postsecondary educational institution licensed pursuant to part III of chapter 1005; and
3. Is inspected by any state agency or agencies for compliance with sanitation standards.
(b) “Department” means the Department of Health or its representative county health department.
(c) “Food service establishment” means detention facilities, public or private schools, migrant labor camps, assisted living facilities, facilities participating in the United States Department of Agriculture Afterschool Meal Program that are located at a facility or site that is not inspected by another state agency for compliance with sanitation standards, adult family-care homes, adult day care centers, short-term residential treatment centers, residential treatment facilities, homes for special services, transitional living facilities, crisis stabilization units, hospices, prescribed pediatric extended care centers, intermediate care facilities for persons with developmental disabilities, boarding schools, civic or fraternal organizations, bars and lounges, vending machines that dispense potentially hazardous foods at facilities expressly named in this paragraph, and facilities used as temporary food events or mobile food units at any facility expressly named in this paragraph, where food is prepared and intended for individual portion service, including the site at which individual portions are provided, regardless of whether consumption is on or off the premises and regardless of whether there is a charge for the food. The term includes a culinary education program where food is prepared and intended for individual portion service, regardless of whether there is a charge for the food or whether the program is inspected by another state agency for compliance with sanitation standards. The term does not include any entity not expressly named in this paragraph; nor does the term include a domestic violence center certified and monitored by the Department of Children and Families under part XII of chapter 39 if the center does not prepare and serve food to its residents and does not advertise food or drink for public consumption.
(d) “Operator” means the owner, operator, keeper, proprietor, lessee, manager, assistant manager, agent, or employee of a food service establishment.
(3) DUTIES.—
(a) The department may advise and consult with the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Department of Children and Families concerning procedures related to the storage, preparation, serving, or display of food at any building, structure, or facility not expressly included in this section that is inspected, licensed, or regulated by those agencies.
(b) The department shall adopt rules, including definitions of terms which are consistent with law prescribing minimum sanitation standards and manager certification requirements as prescribed in s. 509.039, and which shall be enforced in food service establishments as defined in this section. The sanitation standards must address the construction, operation, and maintenance of the establishment; lighting, ventilation, laundry rooms, lockers, use and storage of toxic materials and cleaning compounds, and first-aid supplies; plan review; design, construction, installation, location, maintenance, sanitation, and storage of food equipment and utensils; employee training, health, hygiene, and work practices; food supplies, preparation, storage, transportation, and service, including access to the areas where food is stored or prepared; and sanitary facilities and controls, including water supply and sewage disposal; plumbing and toilet facilities; garbage and refuse collection, storage, and disposal; and vermin control. Public and private schools, if the food service is operated by school employees, bars and lounges, civic organizations, and any other facility that is not regulated under this section are exempt from the rules developed for manager certification. The department shall administer a comprehensive inspection, monitoring, and sampling program to ensure such standards are maintained. With respect to food service establishments permitted or licensed under chapter 500 or chapter 509, the department shall assist the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services with rulemaking by providing technical information.
(c) The department shall carry out all provisions of this chapter and all other applicable laws and rules relating to the inspection or regulation of food service establishments as defined in this section, for the purpose of safeguarding the public’s health, safety, and welfare.
(d) The department shall inspect each food service establishment as often as necessary to ensure compliance with applicable laws and rules. The department shall have the right of entry and access to these food service establishments at any reasonable time. In inspecting food service establishments under this section, the department shall provide each inspected establishment with the food recovery brochure developed under s. 595.420.
(e) The department or other appropriate regulatory entity may inspect theaters to ensure compliance with applicable laws and rules pertaining to minimum sanitation standards. A fee for inspection shall be prescribed by rule, but the aggregate amount charged per year per theater establishment shall not exceed $300, regardless of the entity providing the inspection.
(4) LICENSES REQUIRED.—
(a) Licenses; annual renewals.—Each food service establishment regulated under this section shall obtain a license from the department annually. Food service establishment licenses shall expire annually and are not transferable from one place or individual to another. However, those facilities licensed by the department’s Office of Licensure and Certification, the Child Care Services Program Office, or the Agency for Persons with Disabilities are exempt from this subsection. It shall be a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 381.0061, s. 775.082, or s. 775.083, for such an establishment to operate without this license. The department may refuse a license, or a renewal thereof, to any establishment that is not constructed or maintained in accordance with law and with the rules of the department. Annual application for renewal is not required.
(b) Application for license.—Each person who plans to open a food service establishment regulated under this section and not regulated under chapter 500 or chapter 509 shall apply for and receive a license prior to the commencement of operation.
(5) LICENSE; INSPECTION; FEES.—
(a) The department is authorized to collect fees from establishments licensed under this section and from those facilities exempted from licensure under paragraph (4)(a). It is the intent of the Legislature that the total fees assessed under this section be in an amount sufficient to meet the cost of carrying out the provisions of this section.
(b) The fee schedule for food service establishments licensed under this section shall be prescribed by rule, but the aggregate license fee per establishment shall not exceed $300.
(c) The license fees shall be prorated on a quarterly basis. Annual licenses shall be renewed as prescribed by rule.
(6) FINES; SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSES; PROCEDURE.—
(a) The department may impose fines against the establishment or operator regulated under this section for violations of sanitary standards, in accordance with s. 381.0061. All amounts collected shall be deposited to the credit of the County Health Department Trust Fund administered by the department.
(b) The department may suspend or revoke the license of any food service establishment licensed under this section that has operated or is operating in violation of any of the provisions of this section or the rules adopted under this section. Such food service establishment shall remain closed when its license is suspended or revoked.
(c) The department may suspend or revoke the license of any food service establishment licensed under this section when such establishment has been deemed by the department to be an imminent danger to the public’s health for failure to meet sanitation standards or other applicable regulatory standards.
(d) No license shall be suspended under this section for a period of more than 12 months. At the end of such period of suspension, the establishment may apply for reinstatement or renewal of the license. A food service establishment which has had its license revoked may not apply for another license for that location prior to the date on which the revoked license would have expired.
(7) IMMINENT DANGERS; STOP-SALE ORDERS.—
(a) In the course of epidemiological investigations or for those establishments regulated by the department under this chapter, the department, to protect the public from food that is unwholesome or otherwise unfit for human consumption, may examine, sample, seize, and stop the sale or use of food to determine its condition. The department may stop the sale and supervise the proper destruction of food when the State Health Officer or his or her designee determines that such food represents a threat to the public health.
(b) The department may determine that a food service establishment regulated under this section is an imminent danger to the public health and require its immediate closure when such establishment fails to comply with applicable sanitary and safety standards and, because of such failure, presents an imminent threat to the public’s health, safety, and welfare. The department may accept inspection results from state and local building and firesafety officials and other regulatory agencies as justification for such actions. Any facility so deemed and closed shall remain closed until allowed by the department or by judicial order to reopen.
(8) MISREPRESENTING FOOD OR FOOD PRODUCTS.—No operator of any food service establishment regulated under this section shall knowingly and willfully misrepresent the identity of any food or food product to any of the patrons of such establishment. Food used by food establishments shall be identified, labeled, and advertised in accordance with the provisions of chapter 500.
History.—ss. 31, 59, 60, ch. 91-297; ss. 4, 5, ch. 91-429; s. 4, ch. 92-180; s. 14, ch. 93-53; s. 3, ch. 93-267; s. 41, ch. 94-218; s. 1034, ch. 95-148; s. 1, ch. 95-314; s. 39, ch. 97-101; s. 8, ch. 98-151; s. 3, ch. 98-283; s. 44, ch. 2000-139; s. 11, ch. 2000-242; s. 9, ch. 2004-350; s. 49, ch. 2005-2; s. 6, ch. 2006-227; s. 2, ch. 2010-28; s. 18, ch. 2010-161; s. 46, ch. 2011-213; s. 7, ch. 2012-147; s. 37, ch. 2012-184; s. 64, ch. 2014-19; s. 11, ch. 2014-150; s. 1, ch. 2016-120; s. 25, ch. 2018-4; s. 52, ch. 2019-3; s. 9, ch. 2020-6; s. 20, ch. 2024-180.
