Ohio Department of Agriculture & Ohio Department of Health l LETTER  l
ODA Director Fred L. Dailey		ODH Director J. Nick Baird, M.D.

Ohio Revised Code section 3717.041 permits the Director of Agriculture and the Director of Health to jointly issue a “Letter of Opinion” when its’ issuance is recommended by the Retail Food Safety Advisory Council (RFSAC). A “Letter of Opinion” shall provide a detailed interpretation of the rules (Chapter 3717-1 of the Ohio Administrative Code, “Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code”).

On May 9, 2006 the RFSAC recommended during their meeting that the Director of Agriculture and the Director of Health issue the attached “Letter of Opinion #2006-01”. This Letter of Opinion serves to revise the date marking section of the Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code to include additional exemptions from date marking for certain deli salads, cheeses, dairy products, preserved fish products, and other shelf stable meat products.

Unless rules are adopted under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3717 that override the interpretation expressed in “Letter of Opinion #2006-01”, this interpretation shall be binding and applied uniformly throughout this state.

In order to provide additional guidance regarding the cheeses that are exempted, attached is an alphabetical listing of Hard and Semi-soft cheeses that do not require date marking. This list is subject to revision and will be updated as additional information is forthcoming.

Questions regarding this information or Letter of Opinion #2006-01 may be directed to either the Ohio Department of Agriculture at 614/728-6250 or foodsafety@agri.ohio.gov; or the Ohio Department of Health at 614/466-1390 or BEH@odh.ohio.gov.