What the 2026 FDA Food Code changes for restaurants

The FDA Food Code is a model code. FDA offers it for adoption by local, state and federal jurisdictions, and it is neither federal law nor federal regulation. It applies to your restaurant where your regulatory authority adopts it.

Pennsylvania and Mississippi take each new Food Code automatically. In every other state, ask your health department which edition it enforces.

FDA keeps a list of the jurisdictions that report their adoption status. FDA notes that the list is self-reported.

The permit holder must provide a written employee illness policy, available upon request (§2-501.11(A)). For the first time, the Food Code requires every food establishment to have one. FDA’s guidance in Annex 3 calls it “a new requirement in the 2026 Food Code for all food establishments.”

The policy covers three parts (§2-501.11(B)):

1. 1.Illness symptoms. Diarrhea, vomiting, sore throat with fever, jaundice, and infected wounds or cuts.
2. 2.Diagnosed illnesses. Norovirus, hepatitis A virus, Shigella spp., typhoid fever, non-typhoidal Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
3. 3.Exclusion, restriction and reinstatement. When an employee stays out of work or works away from exposed food and clean equipment, and when they come back after the symptoms or the disease resolve.

FDA’s model inspection form checks the policy under item 5, now titled “Illness Documentation.” FDA’s marking instructions in Annex 7 mark the item in compliance when a written employee health policy and a written procedure for vomiting and diarrheal events are available.

The employee illness policy template follows the three parts in the same order, with a staff acknowledgment and an illness log.

This duty was added since the 2022 Food Code (first published in FDA's 2024 Supplement), and the 2026 edition carries it.

Within four years of your regulatory authority adopting the Code, a written food safety management system must be developed and maintained, implemented in the establishment during all hours of operation, and made available to the regulatory authority upon request (§8-201.15(A)). The section does not apply to establishments the regulatory authority deems to pose minimal risk, based on the nature of the operation and the extent of food preparation (§8-201.15(B)).

The four years run from your authority’s adoption of the Code. Ask your health department whether and when that happens.

The Code does not list the contents yet. §8-201.16, “Contents of a Food Safety Management System,” reads “RESERVED.” The definition in §1-201.10 says the system includes written procedures, training plans and monitoring records to control the operational steps in a food establishment that contribute to foodborne illness.

The system also enters plan review. When you submit plans and specifications for review, the regulatory authority may ask for evidence that one is developed or being developed (§8-201.12(E)).

The FSMS starter template follows that definition, with written procedures, a training plan and monitoring records for one restaurant.

In the 2022 Food Code, §2-501.11 was the clean-up of vomiting and diarrheal events. In 2026 that text moved to a new §2-502.11, and §2-501.11 is now the employee illness policy. A procedure or poster written for an earlier edition may cite the old number.

Part 2-5 has a new title, “Policies and Procedures for Employee Illness Management.” It now covers both the employee illness policy and the procedures for responding to vomiting and diarrheal events.

FDA’s model inspection form moved with it. Item 5 was titled “Clean-up of Vomiting and Diarrheal Events” and now reads “Illness Documentation,” with §2-501.11 and §2-502.11 as its applicable sections.

FDA’s Summary of Changes lists the changes since the 2022 Food Code by section number, including the ones FDA first published in its 2024 Supplement. These are the entries closest to a restaurant kitchen.

• •Food defense. “Food Defense” is a defined term added since the 2022 Food Code (first published in FDA's 2024 Supplement) (§1-201.10). The person in charge’s areas of knowledge include the steps taken to prevent intentional adulteration (§2-102.11(C)(18)). Employees are to be aware of food defense as it relates to their duties and report suspicious activity to the person in charge (§2-103.11(R)).
• •Lab tests for reinstatement. Added since the 2022 Food Code (first published in FDA's 2024 Supplement): for Shigella spp., Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and non-typhoidal Salmonella, two consecutive negative laboratory test results from a validated test, using a laboratory accredited or certified to handle clinical specimens, replace “2 consecutive negative stool culture tests” (§2-201.13).
• •Jewelry. Food employees may not wear jewelry on their arms and hands while preparing food. A plain ring, such as a wedding band, is still allowed, as in the 2022 Food Code. New in 2026: an exception for a medically necessary device for individuals with disabilities covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (§2-303.11).
• •Gloves. A new exception allows a single-use glove over an interior single-use glove during food preparation, under certain conditions and when approved (§3-304.15(B)). The rule for discarding damaged or soiled gloves moved to its own paragraph (§3-304.15(C)).
• •Refilling returnables. Added since the 2022 Food Code (first published in FDA's 2024 Supplement): wording that says when containers may be refilled with food by a food employee or a consumer, and how, to prevent contamination of the food and the premises (§3-304.17).
• •Manufacturer’s cooking instructions. Packages with manufacturer’s cooking instructions that ¶3-401.15(A) and (B) do not cover need to be assessed and properly handled before they are offered as ready-to-eat food (§3-401.15(C)). §3-401.13 now points to §3-401.15 for cooking plant foods by the manufacturer’s instructions before hot holding.
• •Dehydrated food. A new section, “Instructions for Commercially Packaged Dehydrated Food,” says the manufacturer’s instructions should be followed for food dehydrated in a processing plant (§3-501.10).
• •Cooling methods. A new cooling method option, and a new paragraph that lets the regulatory authority approve an alternative method for cooling (§3-501.15).
• •Sanitizers and disinfection. New in 2026: chemical sanitizers other than chlorine, iodine or quaternary ammonium get a minimum temperature of 75°F (§4-501.114(E)). Added since the 2022 Food Code (first published in FDA's 2024 Supplement): test kits for disinfecting solutions (§4-302.14), a test kit used by the manufacturer’s label instructions (§4-501.116(B)), and Part 4-10 on disinfection of equipment and utensils (§4-1001.11 to §4-1003.11).
• •Toilet rooms. Covered waste receptacles are now required in all toilet rooms (§5-501.17).
• •Definitions. New in 2026: the term “Mobile food establishment”, and the definition of “Food Establishment” now names commissaries. Added since the 2022 Food Code (first published in FDA's 2024 Supplement): the term “Food Safety Management System”, and the definition of “Poisonous or Toxic Materials” now names disinfection, to make clear that disinfectants are poisonous or toxic materials (§1-201.10).

FDA’s Summary of Changes does not list §3-501.14 (Cooling) or §3-501.16 (Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food, Hot and Cold Holding). In that part of Chapter 3 it lists the new §3-501.10, an editorial update to §3-501.13 and the new cooling options in §3-501.15. For Chapter 6, Physical Facilities, it says “No changes.”

FDA adds that the summary “should not be relied upon as an absolute comparison that identifies each and every change.” Before you rely on a temperature or a time limit, check it in the 2026 Code text or ask your health department.

The person in charge must be a certified food protection manager (§2-102.12(A)), unless the regulatory authority deems the establishment to pose minimal risk (§2-102.12(B)). The Summary of Changes lists no change to §2-102.12.

1. 1.The written illness policy. The permit holder provides it upon request (§2-501.11(A)). FDA’s model inspection form checks it under item 5, “Illness Documentation,” with your written procedure for vomiting and diarrheal events (§2-502.11).
2. 2.The person in charge’s knowledge. During inspections and upon request, the person in charge demonstrates knowledge of foodborne disease prevention and the Code (§2-102.11). One way is answering the inspector’s questions correctly, including how staff comply with reporting and with exclusion or restriction (§2-102.11(C)(17)).
3. 3.Proof that staff know to report. The person in charge informs every food employee and conditional employee of their duty to report, in a verifiable manner (§2-103.11(P)). FDA’s guidance names a signed reporting agreement, such as the model Form 1-B in Annex 7, or training rosters as ways to show it. A signed acknowledgment is FDA guidance, not a general Code duty.
4. 4.Acknowledgments, where bare hand contact is approved. If your regulatory authority approved bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food, the Code does require documented acknowledgments from food employees and conditional employees, and from the person in charge (¶3-301.11(E)(3) and (4)).
5. 5.The food safety management system. Once it is due, the system must be available to the regulatory authority upon request (§8-201.15(A)(3)).