Food Protection

The Food Protection Program is a major program in the Division of Environmental Health. Throughout the Clark County Combined Health District, over 900 food locations are licensed and inspected by the Division's registered sanitarians.

The Food Protection program has incorporated a proactive educational approach to food safety while conducting inspections. This approach allows us to develop a working relationship with the operators, who in turn learn to understand the public health impact that their operation can have on the community. The Food Protection Unit provides individual or group training to all operators. The benefits of a well educated food handling workforce speaks for itself. Also, a national certification course in food handling is administered by our registered sanitarians and is recognized by the State of Ohio as fulfilling the requirements of a Food Handlers Certification.

It is the goal of the Food Protection Unit to protect the public from food borne disease caused by unsafe food products. The unit works closely with our other divisions, particularly the Division of Epidemiology and Surveillance and Division of Nursing to investigate illnesses associated with food and to prevent future occurrences.

A new Unified Food Safety Code has been adopted in Ohio. It provides one set of laws and rules for food service and retail food establishments across the State and it is implemented at the local level.  A copy of the code may be obtained from the Ohio Department of Health website at: www.odh.ohio.gov.

To review a summary of the major changes in the new Food Safety Code go to ODH Food Safety.

Food Program Components

The following is a list of Applications for Food Service Operations, Vending Machines, Mobile Food Units, Retail Food Establishments, Temporary Events, etc., that are available for you to download and fill out prior to coming into the Clark County Combined Health District. This will help aid in the overall speed in which you will be served.

The following forms will soon be available online. Check back soon.
• Food Service Operations / Retail Food Establishments Application
• Mobile Application
• Vending Application
• Temporary Application
• Plan Review Application

For Serve Safe classes, please contact us for a current schedule at 937-390-5600.

Food Fact Sheets and Quality Assurance Program
• Fundamentals of Food Safety.
• Indications of food spoilage or contamination.
• Consumer Advisory Requirements & Examples
• Food Tampering, What to Do, Who to Contact - a FDA-FSIS link.
• How to Handle Foods During an Emergency - a USDA-FSIS link.

Other Food Safety Links

• Fight BAC ( www.fightbac.org )
• FDA , Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (www.cfsan.fda.gov )
• USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service ( www.fsis.usda.gov )
• CDC, Center for Diseases Control ( www.cdc.gov )
• ODH, Ohio Department of Health ( www.odh.state.oh.us )
• ODA, Ohio Department of Agriculture ( www.state.oh.us/agr/ )
• National food safety Database ( www.foodsafety.gov )