Food Waiver Policy

• The college’s food service provider, Sodexo, has been contracted to provide exclusive catering services to Monroe Community College and the MCC Association, Inc. Unless specific approval is obtained in advance from Sodexo and the Executive Director of the MCC Association, Inc., no other food vendors or food products may be sold or distributed on the MCC Campus.
  Food brought in from home for general public distribution/sale is absolutely prohibited.
• Individually pre-wrapped food items from an approved facility (a commercial/retail establishment or a restaurant with a Monroe County Health Permit) are always ok for meetings and distribution as long as they remain pre-wrapped. You are not required to obtain a temporary food permit if the food is individually pre-wrapped and never comes into contact with any sources of contamination. You are, however, required to obtain an authorized and approved Food Waiver Form.
• If you are purchasing items (take-out) from an area restaurant to be consumed immediately by a set group of individuals, no temporary food permit is required (such as at the Residence Halls, Office Party, or Club Meeting). Once again, however, you are required to obtain an authorized and approved Food/Catering Waiver Form. (Note: Since pizza cannot be prepared and/or served on the Downtown Campus, this item (pizza only) is allowed for any gathering, without completing a Food/Catering Waiver Form, as long as it is to be consumed immediately. A waiver will continue to be required to bring in pizza from an off- campus vendor on the Brighton campus and requestors will be encouraged to work with Sodexo before checking with an off- campus vendor.)
• Any off-campus restaurant providing and serving food to be consumed/distributed/sold to the MCC campus must also have the word “Catering” listed on its health certificate (usually hangs on the wall of the restaurant), e.g., Outback Restaurant and Catering Company. Again, you are required to obtain an authorized and approved Food/Catering Waiver Form.
• It is imperative that food brought on campus according to the guidelines above be kept at acceptable temperatures in accordance with safe-handling guidelines. In other words, cold foods must be kept refrigerated and hot items must be kept at minimally safe temperatures for hot items.

1. The first step in this process is to request this waiver form. The request to distribute off-campus food will be reviewed by the Director of Dining Operations, the Executive Director of the MCC Association, Inc. and when appropriate, the Director, Office of Student Life and Leadership Development. They will notify you of their acceptance by returning a copy of this form to you for your files. Please note, approval will only be granted if campus food service cannot provide the catering.
2. Anyone (other than our college-contracted food vendor, Sodexo) setting up a temporary food station, i.e., a place where food is prepared or handled and served to the public, with or without charge, and which operates at a fixed location in conjunction with a single event or celebration of not more than 14 consecutive days duration, for general distribution of food to the college community/outside community would need to do the following:

• Obtain a temporary food permit from the Monroe County Health Department (585-753-5553), Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm They are located at the MC Health Department, Food Protection Section, Room 1020, 111 Westfall Road, P.O. Box 92832, Rochester, NY 14692. A food permit must be obtained for each food booth in operation during an event. The cost^‡ of each permit varies depending on the timeframe of the event, i.e., 1-day event: $25; 2- to 3-day event: $40; 4- to 14-day event: $52.50; low-risk only: $25 for up to 14 days. An additional $16 is added for late requests (requests must be made 10 days in advance to avoid a late fee). When serving low-risk foods, as listed below, it is not necessary that a Certified Food Worker be present to distribute the food as long as a Temporary Food Permit is obtained. However, proper sanitation, maintaining correct temperatures and avoiding bare-hand contact with any ready-to-eat foods is urged to prevent contamination.
• A scan of the permit will be needed for upload to the Application for Food/Catering Waiver.
• A Certified Food Worker, i.e., someone who has taken the required course and holds the documentation card certified by the Monroe County Health Department, would need to be on the premises and be responsible for the oversight of any food booth relative to safe food handling. A Level II Certified Food Worker six-hour class is taught by the Monroe County Health Department. To register, please call (585) 753-5869. The cost for this certification is $95.^‡

^‡ Prices may change without notice.

Please email Justin Leenhouts (jleenhouts2@rpybbk.com) or call him at (585) 292-2547 if you have any questions or comments.

For your information, listed below are the foods that do not require a certified food worker (C1 or C2) when a Temporary Food Permit is obtained. They are listed as low-risk foods.

Note: All menu items are subject to review and approval by permit issuing official. While listed food items do not require a certified food worker, except where noted, care must still be taken to keep conditions sanitary and to avoid bare hand contact with any ready-to-eat foods.