Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Retail Food Safety Project
Project Summary/Abstract
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe's Retail Food Safety Project's main goal is to improve the
health, safety and welfare of residents and visitors of the Coeur d'Alene Reservation,
located in northern Idaho. This project will improve retail food safety through working
toward being verified for conformance with at least 4 of the 9 Food & Drug
Administration's Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards by the
end of the five-year project period.
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has approximately 30 retail food establishments on the Coeur
d'Alene Reservation. These retail food establishments include food programs for
children, seniors, the general public and thousands of visitors annually to the
Reservation. The Tribe has had an Environmental Health Specialist in the Tribe's
Environmental Programs Office of the Natural Resource Department since 1998. The
Tribe's food safety program utilizes the current FDA food code as an advisory document
for its compliance assistance, education and outreach to Tribal retail food
establishments.
The goals of the proposed project are to: 1) Increase the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's
consistency with FDA's Voluntary Retail Food Standards, and 2) Complete
conformance with at least 4 of the FDA retail food standards and potentially complete
conformance with up to 7 standards.
To reach the Tribe's goals, the Tribe's priorities for tasks are: 1) Complete the draft
Tribal Food Code and work to get it approved by the Tribal Council, 2) Complete all
training competencies by the Environmental Health Specialist, 3) Complete a Standard
Operating Procedures Manual for the Tribe's Retail Food Safety Program, and 4) Draft
a Memorandum of Agreement with Panhandle Health and work to get it approved by
Panhandle Health and the Tribal Council).
The Tribe does not currently have sufficient funding for staff to pursue its retail food
safety goals to the degree outlined above. Through providing funds for adequate staff
time to pursue these goals, the Tribe will be able to better protect public health through
increased retail food safety on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.