Guidelines & Policies

There are a number of requirements that need to be completed before a food business can start operating from the Glacial Hills Food Center. Each of these is explained below.

• Liability insurance - Liability insurance of $1M with "Glacial Hills Resource Conservation & Development Inc." listed as additionally insured. While $1M sounds expensive, this might be available for only a few hundred dollars. Additionally, most wholesalers, retailers and event venues will require you to have this amount. 
• Serve-safe Food Handlers Certificate - This is a National Certificate involving 8 hours of classroom hours and a written exam. We require it for the lead person of your team. The certification needs to be updated every 3 years. If there is not a class starting soon, we will try to facilitate a class for you.
• A $50 deposit is required when you do your required kitchen training with the Kitchen Manager and sign the User Agreement. At this time, all equipment and Kitchen policies and procedures will be explained to you. This deposit will be held to offset any costs incurred by the Food Center in the event of non-compliance by a User with the sanitation procedures, damage of equipment, or cleaning fees.
• A $50 one time equipment fee (non-refundable) will be required. We will use these monies to keep all equipment in proper working order.

All persons using the kitchen under a food business contract must be listed. You are responsible for them and their actions while using the kitchen and a signed waiver for any and all injuries must be on file for each person.

Each customer is responsible for cleaning the kitchen as part of their kitchen use, including all equipment, tables, and floors. We'll supply all the necessary cleaning supplies and will take care of the periodic deep cleaning.

Finally, we strongly recommend you put all this paperwork together in a single folder and have it available any time that you use the kitchen. The Health Dept. in particular requires us to enforce these requirements very strictly - without all of the appropriate paperwork, we cannot allow you to start working in the kitchen.

Please be as respectful of our equipment and facility as you would your own things.

• All Kitchen users that are businesses must be a Licensed Food Processor and must display their license in the kitchen when they are using it.
• You are welcome to use any of the equipment within the kitchen as long as it is cleaned according to the cleanup rules.
• You may not remove any of our equipment, smallwares, etc. from the Food Center at anytime. This ensures that every client has access to all of the equipment at all times.
• Accidents do happen, if you damage any equipment, please let us know immediately.
• A very clean kitchen is what we all aspire to. Please make sure that all surfaces, including floors, are left spotless when you leave. We supply all cleaning equipment, trash bags, soaps, and cleaning supplies. Please let us know, when you arrive, if there is any sanitation problem. If you leave the Food Center in an unsatisfactory condition we will clean it and keep the $50.00 deposit as a penalty. If there is a second occurrence, we will terminate your use of the facility.
• Dishes & equipment must be returned to their original places when you leave.
• All boxes must be broken down flat and placed in outside garbage bin for collection. All other trash must be bagged and also placed outside in bin.

Please let us know immediately if there is a problem with any aspect of the facility so we can rectify the problem as soon as possible. This includes kitchen equipment, refrigeration, sinks, stoves, plumbing, bathrooms, garbage collection, electrical, etc.

CANCELLATION POLICY  Once you have booked kitchen time you are responsible for paying for those hours. While we understand that things come up, we have committed those kitchen hours to you and expect you to follow through with your financial commitment to the Glacial Hills Food Center.

Repeated (2) violations of Kansas Dept. of Agriculture Codes will result in revocation of your kitchen usage privileges.

Labeling Requirements

The FDA specifies requirements for labels on food packages. These include regulations

as to what you can call your product, as well as the contents and nutritional information.

You can find a Food Labeling Guide online at:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocume

nts/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/default.htm. There is an exemption for

the nutrition labeling for small businesses that may apply to you, but you must apply

annually. You can find details of the requirements and procedures at:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocume

nts/FoodLabelingNutrition/ucm053857.htm.

 
Kitchen User Checklist

Use this checklist as a convenient guide to the major points of becoming a food producer.

• Apply to the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture for Food Processor's License.
• Prepare HAACP plan (if required).
• Submit food products to K-State for process analysis.
• Take “Better Process” class, if required.
• Determine labeling requirements.
• Obtain product and general liability insurance policy naming GHFC as an additional insured.
• Pay required deposits.
• Schedule first work schedule with kitchen manager.