San Juan Basin Health’s Environmental Division protects the public from foodborne illness with risk-based restaurant inspections and monitoring of special events with food service.
Many people do not think about food safety until a food-related illness affects them or a family member. While the food supply in the United States is one of the safest in the world, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die each year from foodborne illness. Preventing foodborne illness and death remains a major public health challenge.
Regulations
Colorado Retail Food Rules and Regulations
Forms
- Retail Food License Application
Please note: For mobile unit operators, caterers and temporary vendors a Commissary Agreement must be completed and signed by the commissary owner before you will be approved to use the commissary. - Plan Review Packet
Foodborne Illness: Causes, Symptoms, What to Do
Foodborne illnesses usually result from some combination of poor food handling practices during some phase of the food production or food preparation chain such as inadequate cooking, improper cooling or refrigeration, improper hot and cold holding, cross contamination, and inadequate hand washing by food handlers. Foodborne illness occurs in homes, schools and commercial food operations.
Remember, people usually believe that their illness may have been caused by the most recent meal. In actuality, the responsible food was often eaten at a previous time (12-24 hours before).
Talk with your doctor if you are severely ill, have a high fever, blood in your stool, or if your illness lasts longer than one or two days. If you have reason to believe that your illness was acquired from food at a restaurant or other commercial food source, call the health department in the county where the restaurant is located (La Plata County: (970)247-5702; Archuleta: (970)264-2409). The staff will collect information from you to try to determine what type of illness you may have, where you may have acquired it, and from what type of food. They may inspect a facility which is suspected to have caused illness.
Retail Food Inspection Reports
Recent Retail Food Establishment Inspection Findings:
- La Plata County
- Archuleta County
- San Juan County
Additional Resources
- Online Food Handler and Food Manager Training
- Guidance document – complying with Consumer Advisory requirements
- Guidance document – excluding/restricting food handlers with illness (flow chart)
- Example agreement for food handlers reporting illness to employer or person in charge
- Downloadable Food Safety Signs
- Starting a New Food Business or Remodeling
- Food Service Vendors at Special Events
- Colorado Farm to Market Website
- Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers (ICSSL) List
- Rules and Regulations Governing Child Care Facilities
- Emergency Action Plan
Guidance on Colorado Cottage Foods Bill
- Senate Bill 12-048 – Colorado Cottage Foods Bill
- Cottage Foods Fact Sheet
- Cottage Food Producer Brochure
For information about classes to meet the education requirement as a Cottage Foods vendor, please contact Wendy Rice at CSU Extension: 970-382-6461.
Recommended Links
- FoodSafety.gov
- Keep Food Safe in Emergencies
- Colorado Farm to Table
- FDA Foodborne Illness & Contaminants