§ 35-7-123 — Establishment of food safety system

(a) The director of the department of agriculture shall
establish and maintain a food safety program located within the
department. The director shall carry out the provisions of the
food safety program and shall be assisted by the director of the
department of health. A local department of health, if
established according to law, may establish and maintain its own
local food safety program so long as the program meets the
requirements of this act. The director of the department of
agriculture or his designee shall:
(i) Gather food safety information and disseminate
the information to the public, food industry and to local
departments of health with a food safety program;
(ii) On a voluntary basis, provide food safety
training for the food industry in this state, work with other
state, local and federal agencies to coordinate food safety
educational efforts;
(iii) Regulate the safety of foods and work together
with the department of health to promulgate rules and
regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this act,
except that the director of the department of agriculture shall
not promulgate any rules which impose standards or requirements
related to meat processing which are more stringent than federal
law, rules or regulations. In any area which does not have a
local food safety program established pursuant to law, the
department shall issue licenses, conduct inspections, hold
hearings to enforce any legal provision or rule promulgated
under this act;
(iv) Maintain a statewide database of food licenses
and inspection results;
(v) Work with federal, state and local agencies to
coordinate food safety efforts and activities, and coordinate
with all other agencies to maintain consistency in inspection
and enforcement activities;
(vi) Establish food safety priorities for this state
based on risk and information provided by the department of
health;
(vii) Provide laboratory support for the analysis of
routine food and water samples used to support inspection
activities and to monitor safety;
(viii) Report each year to the department of health
on how the food safety activities have addressed the
epidemiological data provided by the department of health;
(ix) Assist the department of health, or any local
jurisdiction, when requested to investigate possible food borne
and water related illness;
(x) Establish and maintain a meat inspection program
for this state. However, nothing in this act shall be construed
to grant authority in the director of the department of
agriculture or his designee for the inspection or regulation of
live animal production or the processing and storage of meat by
a producer of live animals for nonprofit consumption.
(b) The director of the department of health or his
designee shall:
(i) Carry out the surveillance of food borne illness
with assistance from the department of agriculture and report
each year to the department of agriculture and local
jurisdictions on the leading causes of food borne illness;
(ii) Participate with the department of agriculture
in a joint food safety rulemaking process;
(iii) Ensure the department of health is the lead
agency for the investigation of possible food borne illness and
outbreaks and to request assistance from the department of
agriculture and local jurisdictions as determined to be
necessary by the department of health;
(iv) Provide laboratory support for and conduct
analysis of samples connected with disease outbreak
investigations;
(v) Provide support for local food safety programs as
authorized by the legislature;
(vi) Take appropriate action against any person
holding a food license for the purpose of protecting the public
health and preventing the transmission of infectious disease;
(vii) Provide consultation and advice on food borne
illness to local jurisdictions and to the department of
agriculture as requested.
(c) Duties of a local board of health shall include:
(i) Issuing licenses, conducting inspections, holding
hearings and taking enforcement actions as necessary to carry
out the provisions of the food safety program;
(ii) Promulgating rules containing provisions for
inspections which may differ from state food safety regulations
promulgated under this act so long as direct food safety and
disease transmission requirements including cooking
temperatures, hot and cold holding temperatures, reheating times
and temperatures, cooling times and temperatures, and such other
requirements as determined by the department of agriculture, do
not differ;
(iii) Coordinating activities with the department of
agriculture in order to provide for statewide consistency;
(iv) Providing the department of agriculture with a
quarterly report providing information on any food licenses
issued and the results of any food inspections;
(v) Reporting to the department of health any food
borne outbreak of illness and assist the department of health in
any outbreak investigations, if requested.
(d) A local jurisdiction may provide laboratory support
for food safety and drinking water inspection and accompanying
monitoring activities.