Manual of Naval Preventive Medicine
Chapter 1: Food Service Sanitation
Section IV: Inspection of Food Items

1-24. General Information

Department of the Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

1. All food items procured for Armed Forces general messes undergo rigid inspection and are subject to various Federal and military specifications and other purchase documents, e.g., Commercial Item Descriptions (CIDs) established to cover sizes, grades, appearances, and types.

2. Quality assurance inspection of subsistence supplies and services includes inspections performed in contractor's food plants, in transit, at destination prior to acceptance, in storage at government, contractor, or contracted facilities, and inspection at the time of issue.

3. Under the Federal Food Program, USDA has been designated as the executive agent responsible for Federal quality assurance and specification management of all Federal agency food acquisitions in the United States. Within this program the USDA will perform all in-plant quality assurance inspections except for USDC, which will be responsible for seafoods. U.S. Army veterinary/military medical food inspection personnel will be used to perform receipt, in-storage and prior-to-shipment inspections of all subsistence items received, stored or shipped at depots, supply points, posts, camps, stations and bases. Military inspection in contractor facilities will normally be limited to in-plant quality assurance actions in overseas locations and operational ration assembly. In the event of a general mobilization, the U.S. Army veterinary/military medical food inspection personnel may be used in contractor facilities located in the United States.

4. Within the Navy and Marine Corps, the medical officer/unit surgeon or representative is responsible for inspecting foodstuffs to determine fitness for human consumption and to ensure receipt from approved sources. Authority, instructions, and requirements are prescribed in the Manual of the Medical Department (NAVMED P-117), NAVSUP publications (e.g., Food Service Management-Enlisted Dining Facilities, (NAVSUP PUB 486)) and NAVSUP Instructions, (e.g., 4355.4, 4355.6 and 4355.10 Series).

5. Occasionally, food items are procured and received that have not been inspected by technically qualified personnel. All food items, including fresh bakery products, other than milk and milk products, which are delivered directly to the general messes by vendors, will be accepted by food service personnel and inspected as outlined in NAVSUP PUB 486. Food about which there is any doubt, e.g., packaged bakery products, must be rejected as unfit for human consumption. When in doubt, check it out further and contact medical department personnel as necessary for advice, consultation, and assistance with these inspections. Any risk of foodborne illnesses must be avoided.

6. Medical department personnel concerned with food inspections ashore should maintain liaison with local personnel of the U.S. Army Veterinary Services and/or USDA and USDC inspectors to avail themselves of general information and techniques involved in food item inspections.

7. Food inspections afloat should be made in the company of the supply officer or representative, thus a combination of knowledge and training can result in an effective inspection program. The exercise of intelligence and common sense is the keynote to determining what is fit and what is unfit. Usually, foul odor and unnatural appearance are causes for rejection.

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The listing of any non-Federal product in this CD is not an endorsement of the product itself, but simply an acknowledgement of the source. 

Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

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