Restaurants, Grocery Stores, etc (Retail Food)

Man Checking Food Label at the Grocery Store

The state’s Retail Food Program is coordinated and overseen by the Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability. This program is administered statewide and helps ensure a safe food supply is available to and provided in the 20,000+ restaurants and grocery stores throughout Colorado. Administration of the program includes in part:

Ensuring an appropriate statutory and regulatory framework exists;
Promulgating regulations that are uniform to national guidelines;
Developing and implementing programmatic standards and guidelines for local public health agencies;
Developing and deploying training to ensure an appropriately trained statewide workforce is maintained, and
Providing uniform interpretation and application of all program laws, rules, regulations, guidelines and standards to local public health agencies and industry.

The division collaborates directly with 36 local public health agencies and 220 inspectors in the state to provide the programmatic services in their jurisdictional areas. Additionally, the department conducts the regulatory activities within ten (10) counties in the state that currently do not have the infrastructure to do so themselves. All these cooperative and collaborative efforts help maintain a safe food supply in Colorado. Below are helpful links to regulations and guidance documents.

Colorado Retail Food Rules and Regulations (Effective March 1, 2013)

Guidance on Colorado Cottage Foods Bill (UPDATED)

Additional Resources

Please contact us if you have any further questions