A new rule enacted earlier this year may require anyone in the state who works with food in any sort of way to hold a food handler’s card — including fundraising groups and nonprofit organizations that cook for their members.
The New Mexico Environment Department rule began on March 1 of this year, with a one-year grace period to allow those without a food handler’s card to acquire one — meaning the law will go into effect fully on March 1, 2017.
According to the department’s field guide to the changes, any “employee” handling food must either have a permit or have someone on-site with a certified food protection manager certificate.
Under the guide, an “employee” is defined as “the permit holder, person in charge, food employee, person having supervisory or management duties, person on the payroll, family member, volunteer, person performing work under contractual agreement, or other person working in a food establishment.”
Allison Majure, the New Mexico Environment Department’s communications director, said that these changes bring the state in line with Food and Drug Administration policies that other states follow across the U.S. She said that those selling food for fundraising purposes have always had some kind of regulations to follow, and will now have to follow these guidelines a little more closely. Such food sales will still be possible, but groups will need to seek out a commercial kitchen in a community center, nonprofit organization or a church that has been cleared and approved for small-scale producers.
“Usually those kitchens have been through the proper certification process,” she said.
Silver City Education Association President Katrina Bustillos said that for the most part, she does not see the new regulations being an issue, but the few problems there are could affect many functions.
“As far as school functions go — especially the big ones like the enchilada dinners — they happen most of the time at the school cafeteria. In order to use the cafeteria, there has to be a school food service worker there. As far as I know, that person would qualify,” she said. “The only time I see it being a problem is when someone donates some red chile that has been prepared at home. Is that something that’s going to have to be done at school? It’s something that’s going to have to be talked about in the community.”
According to Silver City Elks Lodge No. 413 Exalted Ruler Andrew Housley, the new rule will drastically affect his organization, because now anyone who cooks food for any fundraising event will have to have a food handler’s card, and there will have to be someone with a food service program manager’s certificate on-site during any event where food handling is involved — like during the lodge’s weekly fundraising dinner, which is cooked by volunteers with proceeds dedicated to paying off the organization’s mortgage.
“These new regulations, while we want to protect the safety of consumers as well, it’s going to make it very difficult for volunteer organizations to operate and fundraise,” he said. “It’s going to have an effect on softball leagues and people doing these enchilada dinners and using these facilities to fundraise. I get why they’re doing it, but at the same time it’s like, you gotta be kidding me.”
Housley said he did not even know about the change to the law until the New Mexico Restaurant Association accidentally listed the Elks Lodge as the location of a food handler card class, instead of the building of a different organization. He said that the association contacted him because of this mistake, and he decided that hosting the class would be fine, and coincidentally, the restaurant association told him of the changes.
“It’s not very well advertised, and that’s the problem,” Housley said.
According to Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard, the change will also affect his students’ club fundraisers.
“We’ve got the Native American Club, and they like to raise money serving Navajo tacos and whatnot. Simply selling brownies out on the sidewalk could be affected by that,” he said. “Even if you have to set up a lemonade stand, you’d have to have a food handler’s license, is my understanding of the law.”
However, according to the frequently-asked-questions page about the new rule on the NMED’s website, participants in such groups would still not need a food handler’s card — although there is a stipulation.
It states that those exempted include “food employees or volunteers working as food employees for charitable organizations serving the need, as long as there is a person in charge during all hours of operation that has a valid certified food protection manager certificate.”
There is quite a price difference between just a food handler’s card and a certified food protection manager certificate, however. A food handler’s card costs on average about $10 through an NMED-certified program, while a manager’s certificate costs about $175 — an additional expense which could still greatly affect the bottom line of school clubs and individuals raising money from food sales, like those who sell lunch plates direct to offices around the county.
Silver Consolidated Schools Interim Superintendent John Carter said he was not aware of the most recent regulations, but says this issue has come up before.
“I know there have been similar kinds of things as far as restrictions for fundraisers or potlucks that have been thrown in at times, and then become kind of lax,” he said.
He said that about 10 years ago he remembers a similar push because of concerns over the sanitation at potluck dinners and who would be held liable if something were to happen.
Stewart McClintic may be reached at stew@scdailypress.com.