Food Safety in Schools
When food is made available at schools, the school is considered a food premise and is required to be inspected by Public Health in accordance with the Ontario Food Premises Regulation, 493/17.
Food safety is especially important in schools, as children are at a higher risk of acquiring a foodborne illness.
When is a school considered a food premises?
A food premises is a location where food or milk is manufactured, processed, prepared, stored, handled, displayed, distributed, transported, sold or offered for sale.
In a school setting, examples of food premises may include (and are not limited to):
- Cafeteria services
- Student nutrition programs (e.g., breakfast or snack programs)
- Food pantries
Food that is delivered to the school (e.g., pizza lunches and/or catered lunches) must be from an inspected source. Visit YorkSafe to look up the most current inspection reports.
York Region Public Health supports schools
York Region Public Health works together with school boards to ensure food is prepared, stored and served safely to reduce the risk of foodborne illness by:
- Inspecting food premises to ensure they meet the requirements of Ontario Food Premises Regulation, 493/17
- Providing information on safe food handling
- Supporting schools providing Food Handler Certification to students
- Working with schools who provide school nutrition programs
- Working with school boards on food safety matters including special events
When to notify Public Health
If you are adding a student nutrition program, opening a cafeteria or any other food service facility, you must notify York Region Public Health by:
- Submitting a New Food Premises Notification Form
or
- Contacting York Region Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 ext. 4
Public Health Inspectors visit schools in York Region to gain a better understanding of the current food programs that exist within each school and to conduct routine food safety inspections. If your school would like to schedule a food safety inspection in advance, please reach out to Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 ext. 4.
Special events
If you are inviting the public to a special event such as a fair, festival or carnival and are using the services of a food vendor(s), you are required to inform York Region Public Health and comply with applicable regulations and guidelines of the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
A public event is defined as a social gathering of the greater community outside of staff, students, employees, where anyone could attend or purchase a ticket for entry to the event. A private event is by invitation only, where an event is thrown for staff, students and their guardians, and/or a guest list. Examples of common private events include Parents’ Night at a school, an employee appreciation dinner, a staff only retirement party, or a wedding.
Before planning a public event, please submit the Organizer Application Event Form and Vendor Application Event Form to York Region Public Health.
York Region Public Health has developed guidelines to assist schools to prevent the risk of food-borne illness. For more information, visit Special Events, Farmers' Markets and Wild Game Dinner.
If you have questions regarding public or private special events at your school, please call Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653, ext. 4 or email @email
Food inspections
Public health inspectors are required to inspect all food premises located within York Region to make sure that they meet the requirements of the Ontario Food Premises Regulation, 493/17.
Each food premises in York Region is assigned a risk category of either high, moderate, or low based on an annual site-specific risk assessment done by a public health inspector. A food premises’ risk category will determine how many times they are inspected per year.
- High risk premises are inspected a minimum of three times a year
- Moderate risk premises are inspected a minimum of twice a year
- Low risk premises are inspected a minimum of once a year
What We Check for During Inspections
During inspections, public health inspectors check that proper food safety practices are followed in the areas of:
- Potentially Hazardous Food kept at an internal temperature of 4°C (40°F) and lower or 60°C (140°F) and higher
- Food is held in frozen state
- Thermometers used to verify potentially hazardous food storage temperatures (cold and hot holding)
- Food handler hygiene and handwashing
- Food protection from contamination and adulteration
- Maintenance/sanitation of food contact surfaces/utensils/equipment
- Maintenance/sanitation of non-food contact surfaces/utensils/equipment
- Pest control
- Sanitary maintenance and construction of establishment
- Certified Food Handler requirements
For more information, see a sample Food Safety Inspection Report.
Regulation exemptions
Food premises that prepare only low-risk, ready to eat, pre-packaged food items are exempt from some requirements under the Food Premises Regulation.
Low-risk food is food that is not potentially hazardous.
Ready-to-eat food is food that has no extra processing steps before eating.
Pre-packaged food is food that is packaged at a location other than where it is offered for sale.
Examples of low-risk, pre-packaged, or ready-to-eat foods include whole vegetables, whole fruits, crackers, etc.
Potentially hazardous food is food in a form or state that is capable of supporting the growth of microorganisms and which requires time and temperature control to limit such growth. Examples of potentially hazardous food include milk, yogurt, cheese, meat, eggs, cut fruits and vegetables, cooked rice and pasta, etc.
If your school prepares only low-risk and/or ready-to-eat food items, you may be exempt from some requirements under the Food Premises Regulation.
A food program preparing only low-risk and/or ready-to-eat food items will not require:
- A designated hand washing sink (but hand washing is still required)
- Compliance with commercial dishwashing (but cleaning and sanitizing dishes and utensils after each use is still required)
- A certified food handler (but is strongly recommended)
For a complete outline of the requirements and examples, please refer to Food Safety Inspections and School Food Service Programs.
If you are adding or changing foods offered at your student nutrition program, please notify York Region Public Health prior to making any changes.
If you have questions regarding the exemption from the Ontario Food Premises Regulation, please call Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653, ext. 4 or email @email
Cleaning and sanitizing
The Ontario Food Premises Regulation, 493/17 outlines the approved sanitizers to be used on food contact surfaces. Please check with your school board to confirm what approved sanitizer for food contact surfaces can be used in your school. Read and follow the instructions for its use.
Cleaning and Sanitizing in Schools
Keeping your food premises clean isn’t only about it looking good. It’s about cleaning and sanitizing to control microorganisms and keep your food and your students safe. Destroying all microorganisms is nearly impossible, but by cleaning and sanitizing it’s possible to reduce them to safe levels. To do this, both cleaning and sanitizing steps are needed and must be done properly to be effective.
How to clean
Cleaning is the first step and must be done before sanitizing. When you clean, you remove dirt and soil by using friction. Examples of this could be scrubbing the floor with a floor cleaner or washing dishes with dish soap.
The steps to cleaning are:
- Remove any obvious pieces of food, dirt or other debris
- Use cleaning chemicals and friction to remove the rest
- Rinse with hot water to remove cleaning chemicals
When it comes to food contact surfaces like counters, dishes, cutting boards or utensils, cleaning alone isn’t enough. A clean surface can still have unsafe levels of microorganisms. Once a food contact item is clean, the next step is to sanitize it.
How to sanitize
All food contact surfaces should be cleaned and sanitized between uses. This includes:
- Sanitizing dishes after cleaning them
- Sanitizing tables between students
- Sanitizing food preparation areas between preparing different types of food
When you sanitize, you reduce the number of microorganisms to safe levels. Examples of sanitizing include soaking cleaned utensils in an approved chemical sanitizer or using very hot water temperatures in the sanitizing cycle of a dishwasher.
The steps to sanitizing:
- Always clean before sanitizing
- Use very hot water, at least 77°C (170°F), or chemicals to remove microbiological contaminants
- Make sure the items you’re sanitizing are in contact with the chemical solution or hot water for at least 45 seconds
- Use test reagents, test strips or a thermometer to make sure your sanitizer or sanitizing solution is working
Follow the manufacturer’s directions when using chemicals to sanitize.
Please connect with your school board health and safety representative and/or your custodial staff for further information on the specific sanitizers approved for use in your school.
Types of chemical sanitizers
As outlined in the Ontario Food Premises Regulation, the approved chemical sanitizers for food contact surfaces are:
Chlorine-based products
There are many chlorine-based chemicals. The most common one is household bleach. Ensure the strength used is 100 mg per litre. To make 100 mg per litre chlorine sanitizer, mix 2 ml of (5 per cent strength) bleach per litre of water.
Quaternary ammonium-based products
Measure according to the manufacturer’s label to make a 200 mg per litre concentration. You may need to rinse any food contact surface after sanitizing with ammonium. Follow the manufacturer’s label instructions. These quaternary ammonium-based cleaning compounds are also referred to as “quats” or “quat sanitizers”.
Iodine-based products
Mix according to the manufacturer’s label instructions to make a 25 mg per litre concentration.
Other sanitizers
Other sanitizers may be used, but under the conditions that:
- They are approved by Health Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or the local medical officer of health for the intended purpose
- They are used in accordance with manufacturers’ directions; and
- They come with a test reagent to ensure the appropriate concentration when using
Make sure that these approvals and manufacturers’ directions are available for public health inspectors to ensure correct use.
Making sure it's sanitized
Make sure you use a test reagent or test strips to measure your sanitizing solution’s strength. Special test strips are available from your chemical or restaurant supplier. Solutions need to be mixed to the right strength. If the solution is too weak, it may not sanitize. If you sanitize with hot water, you need to check the water temperature with an accurate thermometer.
Dishwashing
There are three dishwashing methods that can be used in a food premises, depending on the type of dishes you have to clean and the equipment you use. These are:
- Manual dishwashing using three sinks
- Manual dishwashing using two sinks
- Mechanical dishwashing
If you have any questions about food safety, please call Health Connection 1-800-361-5653 ext. 4 or email @email
Pest control
York Region Public Health investigates complaints related to rodent infestations in food premises, including schools and institutions, hospitals and child care centres. It is responsibility of a food premises to protect the premises against the entry of pests or any conditions that can lead to the harbouring or breeding of pests.
The owner/operator of all food premises must keep records for pest control measures that have occurred within each school, including the actions taken by third-party operators for at least one year and have them available if requested by the Public Health Inspector as a part of their inspection.
For more information on preventing rats and rodent infestations, please visit Preventing Rats and Rodent Infestations.
Food Handler Certification requirement
Under the Food Premises Regulation, owners/operators of a food service premises must ensure that there is at least one Certified Food Handler onsite at all times.
A food service premises is any food premises where meals or meal portions are prepared for immediate consumption or sold or served in a form that will permit immediate consumption on the premises or elsewhere. An example may include a school cafeteria or a food program where food or milk is provided on an ongoing basis and involves food preparation (e.g., cutting cheese, cooking eggs, etc.).
Food premises that prepare and serve only low risk foods and/or prepackaged food items do not require a certified food handler onsite at all items.
Learn more about how to obtain Food Handler Certification.
Food Handler Certification for Student Nutrition Programs
The Safe Food Handling Training Course for Student Nutrition Programs by Student Nutrition Ontario meets the requirements for food handler training and certification. This online certification training course is free of cost and valid for 5 years.
Certification for this course will only be accepted by public health units within Ontario from individuals working and/or volunteering as part of a recognized student nutrition program. This certificate is not accepted for any other type of food service premises.
