Food Code 2026
The Food Code is a model for safeguarding public health and ensuring food is unadulterated and honestly presented when offered to the consumer. It represents FDA's best advice for a uniform system of provisions that address the safety of food offered at retail and in food service.
This model is offered for adoption by local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal governmental jurisdictions for administration by the various departments, agencies, bureaus, divisions, and other units within each jurisdiction that have been delegated compliance responsibilities for food service, retail food stores, or food vending operations. Alternatives that offer an equivalent level of public health protection to ensure that food at retail and food service is safe are recognized in this model.
The 2026 Food Code reflects the agency’s continued commitment to maintaining cooperative programs with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.
The 2026 edition was developed with input from regulatory officials, industry, academia, and consumers that participated in the biennial meeting of the Conference for Food Protection (CFP). CFP and our partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency help ensure the Food Code establishes sound model requirements that help prevent foodborne illness and injury and aim to eliminate food safety hazards in retail and foodservice facilities.
The FDA encourages its state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to adopt the latest version of the FDA Food Code. Complete and widespread adoption of the 2026 Food Code as statutes, codes, and ordinances helps:
- Reduce foodborne illness risk within food establishments, protecting consumers and industry from potentially devastating health consequences/financial losses;
- Create uniform standards for retail food safety that reduce complexity and better ensure compliance;
- Eliminate redundant processes for establishing food safety criteria; and,
- Establish a more standardized approach to inspections and audits of food establishments.
Members of the FDA’s Office of Retail Food Protection staff are available to assist regulatory officials, educators, and the industry in their efforts to adopt, implement, and understand the provisions of the FDA Food Code. Please refer to the Directory of FDA Retail Food Specialists.
Printing the Food Code
Finished size: 5.5″ × 8.5″: Print on: 8.5″ × 11″ paper, duplex (front and back)
In the PDF print dialog, select the Booklet option, to produce a finished 5.5″ × 8.5″ sized book. The printer automatically arranges pages so that each sheet of 8.5″ × 11″ paper, when folded in half, produces a booklet page that is 5.5″ × 8.5″. Below is how to calculate the number of sheets of 11” x 8.5” paper needed:
- Duplex Printing - each sheet of paper has a front side and a back side.
- One side holds 2 booklet pages - left page and right page.
- 1 sheet = 2 sides × 2 pages per side = 4 PDF pages per sheet.
- Divide the total number of PDF pages by 4 - booklet printing requires page counts in multiples of 4, the printer will automatically add blank pages at the end if needed to reach the next multiple of 4.
Example: A 244-page PDF ÷ 4 = 61 sheets of paper exactly. A 121-page PDF would be rounded up to 124 pages (the next multiple of 4), requiring 31 sheets.
PDF Page Map
The table below shows the PDF page number range for each section of the 2026 Food Code. These ranges were used to calculate the sheet counts for each printing option or for a custom printed booklet.
Section | PDF Page Range | PDF Page Count |
| Cover, Preface, Table of Contents | 1 – 28 | 28 |
| Chapters 1–8 | 29 – 194 | 166 |
| Index | 195 – 244 | 50 |
| Annex 1: Compliance and Enforcement | 245 – 264 | 20 |
| Annex 2: References | 265 – 344 | 80 |
| Annex 3: Public Health Reasons/Admin. Guidelines | 345 – 560 | 216 |
| Annex 4: Management of Food Safety Practices | 561 – 596 | 36 |
| Annex 5: Conducting Risk-Based Inspections | 597 – 628 | 32 |
| Annex 6: Food Processing Criteria | 629 – 660 | 32 |
| Annex 7: Model Forms, Guides, and Other Aids | 661 – 714 | 54 |
| Summary of Changes | 715 – 732 | 18 |
| TOTAL | 1 – 732 | 732 |
General Setup (Applies to All Options)
Follow these steps each time before printing any of the three options below.
- Open the 2026 Food Code PDF attachment.
- Open the print dialog (Ctrl+P on Windows / Cmd+P on Mac).
- Apply the following print settings:
- Page Sizing & Handling: Select Booklet
- Booklet subset: Both sides (front and back)
- Paper size: 8.5″ × 11″
- Enable two-sided (duplex) printing if your printer supports it.
Test Print (Recommended for All Options)
Prior to a full print run, complete a quick test using just 4 pages:
- In the Pages field, enter 1–4 (instead of your full page range).
- Print — this will use 1 sheet of paper, printed front and back.
- Fold the sheet in half and check the layout:
- Outside front → Cover page
- Inside left → Blank page
- Inside right → “Food Code” with small page number i
- Outside back → “This is a print-ready…” with page number ii
- If the test looks correct, proceed with the full print run for your chosen option.
Option 1 — Full Food Code (Highly Encouraged)
Includes: Cover, Preface, Table of Contents, Chapters 1–8, Index, Annexes 1–7, and Summary of Changes
Pages to print: 1–732 (select All)
Calculation: 732 pages ÷ 4 = 183 sheets
Paper needed: 183 sheets
- Set Pages to Print to All.
- Load 183 sheets of 8.5″ × 11″ paper.
- Print the full document.
Tip: This is a large print job. Consider printing in batches if your printer has a limited paper tray capacity and check periodically that pages are feeding and printing correctly.
Option 2 —Chapters & Index Only
Includes: Cover, Preface, Table of Contents, Chapters 1–8, and Index ( Note: Table of Contents will include areas not printed )
Pages to print: 1–244
Calculation: 244 pages ÷ 4 = 61 sheets
Paper needed: 61 sheets
- In the Pages field, enter 1–244.
- Set Pages to Print to Pages.
- Load 61 sheets of 8.5″ × 11″ paper.
- Print.
Option 3 — Chapters, Index, Annex 1 & Annex 3
Includes: Cover, Preface, Table of Contents, Chapters 1–8, Index, Annex 1 (Compliance & Enforcement), and Annex 3 (Public Health Reasons/Administrative Guidelines). ( Note: Table of Contents will include areas not printed )
Important info: Since Annex 2 (pages 265–344) is skipped between Annex 1 and Annex 3 in the PDF, this option uses two separate page ranges. Therefore, it also requires two separate print jobs that are collated together for binding. Print Job 1 (pages 1–264) will be 66 sheets and Print Job 2 (pages 345–560) will be 54 sheets, totaling 120 sheets.
Pages to print: Two separate ranges: 1–264 and 345–560
Calculation: 264 + 216 = 480 pages ÷ 4 = 120 sheets
Paper needed: 120 sheets
Print Job 1 — Front matter through Annex 1:
- In the Pages field, enter 1–264.
- Set Pages to Print to Pages.
- Load paper and print.
- Set the printed pages aside in order.
Print Job 2 — Annex 3 only:
- In the Pages field, enter 345–560.
- Set Pages to Print to Pages.
- Load paper and print.
Collating and Binding:
- Stack Print Job 2 directly behind Print Job 1, keeping all pages in order.
- Take the combined stack (120 sheets total) to a local office supply store and request spiral (coil) binding.
Tip: For any other custom printing that has non-contiguous page ranges in booklet mode, each print job is formatted as its own self-contained booklet. The binder will combine them into one bound booklet.
Binding
Take your printed pages to a local office supply store and request binding. A spiral (coil) bind is recommended for a clean, durable finish. The finished booklet will measure 5.5″ × 8.5″.