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food safety and licensing

Promoting and maintaining safe food practices in our community to protect your health.

Our food protection program promotes and maintains food-safe measures and sanitary conditions at all licensed food establishments and events, lowering the risk and occurrence of foodborne illness. Licensed food establishments include restaurants, bars, schools, hospitals and long-term care facilities, grocery stores, delis, convenience stores, vending machines, mobile food units at festivals, and temporary food vendors.

Our food protection program offers the following services:

Complaint investigation
Plan review
Licensing
Inspections

Complaint Investigation

Our food protection program investigates illness and non-illness complaints within its jurisdiction.

For more information or to report a food complaint call 419-468-1075 x1265.

Plan review

Plans must be submitted to the health department for review prior to construction and development of a new facility, or prior to the substantial renovation of an existing facility. Plans and specifications for a proposed food facility shall be legible, be drawn reasonably to scale, and shall include the following:

Name and address of operation
Name, address and phone number of owner
The type of operation or establishment
The total area to be used for the food service operation or retail food establishment including square footage, and plans for all portions of the premises in which the food service operation or retail food establishment is to be conducted
Entrances and exits
Building materials and surfaces to be used
Plan of lighting, both natural and artificial, with light intensity indicated for critical surfaces; Location, number and types of plumbing fixtures, including all water supply facilities
A floor plan showing the layout of equipment
An equipment list with manufacturer and model numbers
A menu or list of foods to be sold.

The health department has thirty (30) days after receiving complete plans to review and respond to the plans. The plan review fee is 50% of the applicable license fee, which will be determined by the classification of the facility, and is payable at the time plans are submitted. Once plans are approved, construction and development must be done according to approved plans unless a plan revision is filed in writing. The owner/developer of a food facility must first obtain the appropriate zoning, building, electrical and plumbing permits. For more information contact the City Building/Zoning Office at 419-468-2642.

Licensing

The Galion City Board of Health licenses all food service operations and retail food establishments:

Permanent food service operations and retail food establishments
Mobile food service operations and retail food establishments
Vending machines offering prepared food or beverages
Temporary food service operations and retail food establishments.

For a list of Food Service Operation and Retail Food Establishment License Fees, click here.

For temporary licenses, you may complete a temporary food service operation license application. Please submit application at least ten (10) days in advance of the event. You will receive a follow-up phone call upon receipt of the application form. You may submit it any of the following ways:

Complete and hit submit form in the upper right hand corner.
Complete, print, and hand deliver.
Complete, print and post Mail to Galion City Health Department 113 Harding Way East Galion, Ohio 44833.
Complete, print and fax to 419-468-8618.

Inspections

The health department conducts inspections at all licensed food service operations and retail food establishments. Inspections and consultations with operators promote control over the five identified risk factors for foodborne illness identified in the FDA Food Code: poor personal hygiene, food from unsafe sources, inadequate cooking, improper holding temperatures, and contaminated equipment. The inspections are a service provided to protect public health. The frequency of inspections depends upon the type of food facility and the food preparation processes conducted.

A typical inspection includes:

Review of the menu for food safety risk factors, as well as any new food items
Review of the food preparation procedures and employee health policy
Assessment of the operator’s food safety knowledge
Review of the physical facilities and premises
Observation of employee practices and hygiene
Assessment of the different food processes (receiving, handling, cooking, cooling, reheating, hot/cold holding)