[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Township of Hanover 11-13-2024 by Ord. No. BH1-2024.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 318, Retail Food-Handling Establishments, adopted 5-11-1966 by Ord. No. BH4-66, as amended.
A. 
The purpose of this chapter shall be to safeguard public health and to ensure that food offered and served to consumers at food establishments operating within the Township of Hanover is safe and unadulterated.
B. 
This chapter shall apply to all retail food establishments, mobile retail food establishments, and temporary retail food establishments operating within the corporate limits of the Township of Hanover.
A. 
No person shall operate a retail food establishment, retail mobile food establishment, or retail temporary food establishment in the Township of Hanover, whether for compensation or not, without first complying with the requirements of this chapter as well as the regulations of the State of New Jersey governing the same, including N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.1 et seq., as the same may be from time to time amended and supplemented.
B. 
In all allied matters that are regulated by the laws of the State of New Jersey, such laws shall control where the requirements are more than this chapter. This chapter shall control in all cases where the state law requirements are less than herein contained.
A. 
No person, persons, firm, or corporation shall operate a retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment in the Township of Hanover unless a license is first obtained.
B. 
Licenses issued under this chapter shall be posted with the most current evaluation placard in a conspicuous location as required for said evaluation placards in this chapter. No portion of the license shall be obstructed from view during display.
C. 
It shall be unlawful for the any person to erase, cancel, deface, or alter a license once it has been issued by the Township Health Department.
D. 
Licenses, once issued, shall not be transferable to another person or entity or from premises to premises.
A. 
Any person desiring a license to operate a retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment shall apply, in writing, on forms promulgated and supplied by the Township Health Department. Such forms shall be duly verified by the applicant.
B. 
No initial license or renewal thereof shall be issued by the Township Health Department unless the premises to be licensed has been previously inspected and found to comply with the requirements of this chapter, as well as the regulations of the State of New Jersey, including the New Jersey Administrative Code at N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.1 et seq. as the same may be from time to time amended and supplemented.
C. 
Temporary retail food establishment license applications shall be submitted to the Township Health Department no later than 10 Township business days prior to the planned temporary event. Such forms shall be duly verified by the applicant.
D. 
Events for temporary retail food establishment with more than two food vendors shall require an event organizer who shall be responsible for submitting all license applications for food vendors along with other documentation as may be required by the Health Officer or his/her designee to determine regulatory compliance with this chapter and the N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.1 et seq., as the same may be from time to time amended and supplemented.
E. 
License applications shall include the required fee as set forth by the Code of the Township of Hanover, Part III, Board of Health Legislation. Applications submitted without the required fee shall be deemed incomplete.
F. 
A license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall expire annually on June 30 of each year, and applications for renewal thereof shall be submitted, together with the license required fee. License renewal applications for retail food establishments and mobile retail food establishments annual licenses which are received on or after June 15 shall be subject to a late fee as required by the Code of the Township of Hanover, Part III, Board of Health Legislation.
G. 
No license fee shall be charged to hospitals, religious institutions, schools not operated for profit, and non-profit organizations.
Mobile retail food establishments shall operate from a commissary or other fixed retail food establishment which is licensed and approved by a local health department within the State of New Jersey. The mobile retail food establishment shall report to the base of operations for all cleaning, disposal of wastewater, and servicing operations and for storage or to obtain food supplies. The base of operations shall operate in compliance with applicable public health regulations and shall be in such proximity to permit easy and immediate access by the mobile retail food establishment as may be needed during its operation in the Township of Hanover.
A. 
All mobile retail food establishments which prepare food shall have at least one hand-washing sink of adequate size and so located and maintained as to permit convenient and expeditious use by all food-handling personnel. Hand washing sinks shall be designed to provide hot and cold tempered water at temperatures required by N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.1 et seq. An adequate supply of hand-washing soap, disposable paper towels, and a hand-washing sign approved by the Township Health Department shall be provided at the hand-washing sink. The use of common towels for hand-drying is prohibited.
B. 
All mobile retail food establishments which prepare food shall have, in addition to a hand washing sink, a three-compartment sink. The sink shall be used, respectively, for the washing, rinsing, and sanitizing of utensils and equipment. Sink compartments shall be large enough to permit the complete immersion of equipment and utensils, and each compartment of the sink shall be adequately supplied with hot and cold potable tempered water at temperatures required by N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.1 et seq. Manual sanitization shall be accomplished through immersion in a clean solution containing a chemical sanitizing agent approved by the Township Health Department. Three-compartment sinks shall not be used for hand washing.
A. 
Every establishment must post the most current evaluation placard according to the following requirements. The evaluation placard must be posted in one of the following prominent locations clearly visible to the patron:
(1) 
The main entrance door from four to six feet off the ground or floor;
(2) 
A front window within five feet of the main entrance;
(3) 
A display case mounted on the outside wall within five feet of the main entrance;
(4) 
If there is no direct entrance from the street, the establishment must immediately contact the Health Department and request a determination as to an appropriate posting location in prominent viewing.
B. 
Mobile retail food establishments shall display evaluation placards and licenses conspicuously where it may be readily viewed by patrons.
Whenever additional inspections are necessitated by reason of classification of a retail food establishment as "conditionally satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory," the owner(s) shall be assessed the cost of such inspections at a rate as provided as set forth by the Code of the Township of Hanover, Part III, Board of Health Legislation. The fee shall be paid within 10 Township business days after issuance.
A. 
The Township Health Department shall provide food-handling training courses periodically to persons engaged in the business of preparing, handling, or processing of foods intended for human consumption.
B. 
A food-handling training course certificate shall be issued by the Health Officer to individuals upon successful completion of the food-handling training course. Certificates shall bear an expiration date of three years after issuance.
C. 
A food establishment owner or any food handler employed by him/her may be required, at the direction of the Health Officer, to complete the food-handling training course offered by the Division of Health or an equivalent food-handling training course.
D. 
A food establishment owner or any food handler directed by the Health Officer to complete food-handling training and fails to do so shall be subject to the general penalty provisions indicated in this chapter.
A. 
The Township-Health Department shall issue no license or approvals to operate any temporary food establishment if petting zoos, animal exhibitions, animal fairs, or similar venues involving live animals will be operated in conjunction with such an event unless:
(1) 
Adequate handwashing facilities are provided. Handwashing facilities shall be designed to provide hot and cold tempered water at 85° F. to 105° F. An adequate supply of hand-washing soap, disposable paper towels, and a hand-washing sign approved by the Township Health Department shall be provided at the hand-washing sink. The use of common towels for hand-drying is prohibited.
(2) 
Handwashing signs are conspicuously displayed at the entrance and exit of the location where live animals are displayed to the public which indicate that hands should be washed after petting animals, leaving animal enclosure areas, and before preparing food, eating, or drinking.
(3) 
Signage which is conspicuously displayed at the entrance and exit of the location where live animals are displayed to the public which indicates:
(a) 
Children aged under five years and individuals aged 65 or older along with individuals who are immuncompromised should not have contact with live animals.
(b) 
Individuals should refrain from eating or drinking while in contact with animals.
(c) 
Any additional information as may be recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and/or the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarian Compendium of Measures to Prevent Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings.
B. 
No person with any disease in a communicable form, or who is a carrier of such disease, shall work in a retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment in any capacity which brings him into contact with the production, handling, storage or transportation of food, beverages, ingredients, or equipment used in the operation of said establishment.
C. 
No owner, operator, or person in charge of a retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment shall employ in any such capacity any such person or any person suspected of having any disease in a communicable form or of being a carrier of such disease. Any operator among whose employees there occurs a communicable disease or who suspects that any employee has contracted any disease in a communicable form or has become a carrier of such disease shall notify the Township Health Officer immediately.
D. 
When suspicion arises as to the possibility of transmission or infection from any employee, the Health Officer is authorized to require any or all of the following measures:
(1) 
The immediate exclusion of the employee from retail food establishments, mobile retail food establishments, and temporary retail food establishments.
(2) 
The immediate closing of retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment operations in accordance with the provisions of revocation and reinstatement of licenses outlined in this chapter and until, in the opinion of the Health Officer, no further danger of disease outbreak exists.
(3) 
Adequate medical examinations of the employee and of his associates, with such laboratory examinations as may be indicated.
A. 
The Health Officer or his/her authorized designee may suspend licenses issued under this chapter and order discontinuation of operations of a retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment at any time and summarily order such establishment closed when, in the opinion of the Health Officer or his designee, such action is necessary to abate an existing or threatened menace to public health. In addition, the Health Officer and/or his/her authorized designee may revoke licenses issued under this chapter for one or more of the following reasons:
(1) 
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement in the application for the establishment license.
(2) 
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made while operating the licensed business in the Township.
(3) 
Conducting the licensed business within the Township in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a menace to safety and/or the general welfare of the public.
B. 
In summarily ordering a retail food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, or temporary retail food establishment closed, the Health Officer or his/her authorized designee may request assistance from the Township Police Department.
C. 
Immediate closure shall be in addition to and shall supplement any other penalty or remedy that may be authorized by this chapter and/or N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.1 et seq., as the same may be from time to time amended and supplemented.
D. 
A person whose license has been revoked shall close the establishment, discontinue serving food to patrons, and request all patrons to vacate the premises.
E. 
A person whose license has been revoked shall have the right to request a hearing to appeal the decision before the Township Board of Health. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing to the Health Officer. Upon receipt of said written request, the Health Officer shall serve the license holder with written notice detailing the time and place that the license holder shall appear and be heard before the Board of Health. Service of the notice of charges shall be made by personal service or by certified and regular mail at least 10 days prior to the hearing date.
F. 
The Township Board of Health may revoke or suspend the license after the hearing. If the license holder does not appear at the hearing, said nonappearance shall be considered acceptance of the charges and the license shall be suspended or revoked as detailed in the notice of charges.
A. 
The Health Officer or his/her designee may inspect all retail food establishments, mobile retail food establishments, or temporary retail food establishments as often as he deems necessary.
B. 
The owner, operator, custodian, or person in charge of establishments shall make provisions for the Health Officer to have access, either in company with an employee or otherwise, to all portions of the establishment.
C. 
The Health Officer or his/her designee acting under and by the authority of the Township Board of Health is authorized to enter in and upon any premises within the Township in the exercise of the powers or in the fulfillment of duties conferred or imposed by law, Township ordinance, and the rules and regulations thereunder.
D. 
Any person hindering, obstructing, delaying, resisting, preventing, or interfering with such right of access shall be deemed to violate the provisions of this chapter.
This chapter shall be enforced by Health Officer and his/her designee, specifically, the Registered Environmental Health Specialist appointed by the Township Board of Health.
Any person who violates any provision of or order promulgated under this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to a penalty up to $1,000. Each day that a particular violation remains unabated shall be deemed a separate offense.