ALFs and Dietary Guidelines

This week the Agency for Health Care Administration filed an amendment to s. 59A-36.012, FAC, with the Department of State which will update the dietary guidelines that must be used by ALFs in their meal planning for residents. The updated meal planning resources are:

• USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025

• Dietary Reference Intake Tables, 2019

Links to the meal planning resources are in the Resource Center under Nutrition.

Monitoring the quantity and quality of resident diets is one of the first responsibilities outlined in the Resident Care Standards at s. 59A-36.007, FAC.  Whenever a topic appears within Resident Care Standards, enforcement citations tend to be more serious as violations directly affect residents.

In addition to the meal planning standards, it’s beneficial to refresh our understanding of the Environmental Health side of food service. Environmental Health standards include a broad range of sanitary conditions that apply to food handling, storage, and sanitation guidelines, including sinks, warewashing, time and temperature controls and employee behaviors.

Because Environmental Health regulations differ, based on the number of residents an ALF is licensed to serve, it can be confusing to determine which regulations and parts of the U.S. Food Code apply to a specific ALF.  

Florida’s County Health Departments are great resources for learning about the inspection experience. Experienced Administrators also personally examine relevant statutes and rules to anticipate and verify the authority of our county and state regulators.

Laurel Senior Living Education’s latest resource, The Food Code and Assisted Living Facilities: Regulatory Authorities and Application in Florida is an overview of the regulatory chain of command that helps Executive Directors and ALF Managers better understand which part of the regulations and the Food Code apply to their specific ALF.  The new tool is paired with a short video that walks viewers through the flowchart; be sure to download the flowchart to follow along when watching the video.

The Food Code and Assisted Living Facilities: Regulatory Authorities and Application in Florida

Video Walkthrough