§ 500. Special powers and duties of the department with respect to
retail food stores, food service establishments and food warehouses. 1.
Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:

(a) "Food service establishment" means any place where food is
prepared and intended for individual portion service, and includes the
site at which individual portions are provided, whether consumption
occurs on or off the premises, or whether or not there is a charge for
the food.

(b) "Retail food store" means any establishment or section of an
establishment where food and food products are offered to the consumer
and intended for off-premises consumption. The term does not include
establishments which handle only pre-packaged, non-potentially hazardous
foods, roadside markets that offer only fresh fruits and fresh
vegetables for sale, food service establishments, or food and beverage
vending machines.

(c) "Zone" means an administratively determined geographic portion of
the state to which inspectors are assigned by the department.

(d) "Food warehouse" shall mean any food establishment in which food
is held for commercial distribution.

2. Each retail food store shall post a copy of the date and results of
its most recent sanitary inspection by the department in a conspicuous
location near each public entrance, as prescribed by the commissioner.
Such copies shall also be made available to the public upon request.

3. (a) The department shall assign at least one retail food specialist
to each inspection zone. Such specialists shall assist retail food
stores in remedying chronic deficiencies and shall ensure that effective
pest control and other sanitary measures are properly implemented.

(b) Such specialists shall be given additional training to that
normally provided to sanitary inspectors to qualify them for their
duties under this section, with particular emphasis on the problems
unique to retail food stores and pest control measures.

4. The department shall inspect each retail food store at least once
in every twelve month period. Any store that fails two consecutive
inspections shall be inspected at least once in every six month period
until it has passed two consecutive inspections. In the event that a
retail food store fails three consecutive inspections, the department
may, in its discretion, order such establishment to cease all retail
operation until it passes inspection or suspend or revoke any license
issued to such establishment pursuant to article twenty-C of this
chapter.

5. Licensure. No person shall maintain or operate a retail food store,
food service establishment or food warehouse unless such establishment
is licensed pursuant to the provisions of this article, provided,
however, that establishments registered, permitted or licensed by the
department pursuant to other provisions of this chapter, under permit
and inspection by the state department of health or by a local health
agency which maintains a program certified and approved by the state
commissioner of health, or subject to inspection by the United States
department of agriculture pursuant to the federal meat, poultry or egg
inspection programs, shall be exempt from licensure under this article.
Application for licensure of a retail food store, food service
establishment or food warehouse shall be made, upon a form prescribed by
the commissioner, on or before December first of every other year for
the registration period beginning January first following. Upon
submission of a completed application, together with the applicable
licensing fee, the commissioner shall issue a license to the retail food
store, food service establishment or food warehouse described in the
application for two years from the date of issuance. The license fee
shall be two hundred fifty dollars provided, however, that food
warehouses shall pay a license fee of four hundred dollars.
Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the commissioner shall, upon
submission of a completed application for a new license by an applicant
that is a chain store, as defined by subdivision five of section two
hundred fifty-one-z-two of this chapter, issue such license for a period
ending on the same date as the licenses of the other chain stores that
are a part of the same network.