Continue to Advance Conformance of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's Retail Food Safety Program with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards

Coeur d'Alene TribeRetail Food Safety ProjectProject Summary/AbstractThe Coeur d'Alene Tribe's Retail Food Safety Project's main goal is to improve thehealth, safety and welfare of residents and visitors of the Coeur d'Alene Reservation,located in northern Idaho. This project will improve retail food safety through workingtoward being verified for conformance with at least 4 of the 9 Food & DrugAdministration's Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards by theend of the five-year project period.The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has approximately 30 retail food establishments on the Coeurd'Alene Reservation. These retail food establishments include food programs forchildren, seniors, the general public and thousands of visitors annually to theReservation. The Tribe has had an Environmental Health Specialist in the Tribe'sEnvironmental Programs Office of the Natural Resource Department since 1998. TheTribe's food safety program utilizes the current FDA food code as an advisory documentfor its compliance assistance, education and outreach to Tribal retail foodestablishments.The goals of the proposed project are to: 1) Increase the Coeur d'Alene Tribe'sconsistency with FDA's Voluntary Retail Food Standards, and 2) Completeconformance with at least 4 of the FDA retail food standards and potentially completeconformance with up to 7 standards.To reach the Tribe's goals, the Tribe's priorities for tasks are: 1) Complete the draftTribal Food Code and work to get it approved by the Tribal Council, 2) Complete alltraining competencies by the Environmental Health Specialist, 3) Complete a StandardOperating Procedures Manual for the Tribe's Retail Food Safety Program, and 4) Drafta Memorandum of Agreement with Panhandle Health and work to get it approved byPanhandle Health and the Tribal Council).The Tribe does not currently have sufficient funding for staff to pursue its retail foodsafety goals to the degree outlined above. Through providing funds for adequate stafftime to pursue these goals, the Tribe will be able to better protect public health throughincreased retail food safety on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.