Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1314 By Senator Torres 25-01510-24 20241314__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to food allergy education; amending s. 3 509.039, F.S.; requiring the Division of Hotels and 4 Restaurants of the Department of Business and 5 Professional Regulation to develop a course for food 6 service managers that addresses issues surrounding 7 food allergies and actions to assist a person 8 experiencing an allergic reaction; amending s. 9 509.101, F.S.; requiring public food service 10 establishments to post notices in prominent places 11 that address allergic reactions and appropriate 12 actions to assist a person experiencing an allergic 13 reaction; providing specifications for such notices; 14 providing an effective date. 15 16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17 18 Section 1. Section 509.039, Florida Statutes, is amended to 19 read: 20 509.039 Food service manager certification.— 21 (1) It is the duty of the division to adopt, by rule, food 22 safety protection standards for the training and certification 23 of all food service managers who are responsible for the 24 storage, preparation, display, or serving of foods to the public 25 in establishments regulated under this chapter. The standards 26 adopted by the division shall be consistent with the Standards 27 for Accreditation of Food Protection Manager Certification 28 Programs adopted by the Conference for Food Protection. These 29 standards are to be adopted by the division to ensure that, upon 30 successfully passing a test, approved by the Conference for Food 31 Protection, a manager of a food service establishment shall have 32 demonstrated a knowledge of basic food protection practices. 33 (2) The division may contract with an organization offering 34 a training and certification program that complies with division 35 standards and results in a certification recognized by the 36 Conference for Food Protection to conduct an approved test and 37 certify all test results to the division. Other organizations 38 offering programs that meet the same requirements may also 39 conduct approved tests and certify all test results to the 40 division. The division may charge the organization it contracts 41 with a fee of not more than $5 per certified test to cover the 42 administrative costs of the division for the food service 43 manager training and certification program. 44 (3) All managers employed by a food service establishment 45 must have passed an approved test and received a certificate 46 attesting thereto. Managers have a period of 30 days after 47 employment to pass the required test. All public food service 48 establishments must provide the division with proof of food 49 service manager certification upon request, including, but not 50 limited to, at the time of any division inspection of the 51 establishment. The ranking of food service establishments is 52 also preempted to the state; provided, however, that any local 53 ordinances establishing a ranking system in existence prior to 54 October 1, 1988, may remain in effect. 55 (4) The division shall develop and incorporate a course 56 within its training and certification program for food service 57 managers which addresses common food allergies and the 58 appropriate actions to be taken in the event a person at a 59 public food service establishment experiences an allergic 60 reaction. 61 Section 2. Subsection (4) is added to section 509.101, 62 Florida Statutes, to read: 63 509.101 Establishment rules; posting of notice; food 64 service inspection report; maintenance of guest register; mobile 65 food dispensing vehicle registry.— 66 (4) Each public food service establishment as defined in s. 67 509.013(5) must post, in a sufficient number of prominent places 68 within the eating establishment, a notice developed by the 69 division which details common food allergies and the appropriate 70 actions to be taken in the event a person experiences an 71 allergic reaction. The posted notice must be at least 11 inches 72 by 15 inches, printed in an easily legible font and in at least 73 32-point type. 74 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.