At a glance
Public and private worksites, hospitals, parks, community institutions, and other settings should include compliance requirements in their food service contracts and organizational policies. Sample language related to compliance is illustrated below.
![University serving line University-aged students going through cafeteria serving line.](/food-service-guidelines-toolkit/media/images/university-serving-line-16-9.jpg)
Introduction
A successful partnership with a food vendor requires a collaborative working relationship and ongoing monitoring of food service guidelines implementation. Including compliance checks in your policy, contract, or written agreement establishes a systematic method for assessing whether a contracted vendor meets agreed-upon requirements.
Organizations providing food service should establish a schedule of routine compliance checks with the vendor upfront. Consider additional periodic food environment audits to assess the vendor's adherence in real-time. Routine compliance checks identify any challenges or barriers the vendor is experiencing.
This page includes sample language for incorporating compliance standards into food service guidelines policies, written agreements, and related contracts. This language is for illustrative purposes only.
Sample language
The vendor must demonstrate compliance by:
- Meeting all minimum performance requirements, as stipulated in this policy.
- The vendor agrees to routine audits to ensure healthier food service guideline provisions are being followed.
- If determined the vendor is not adequately meeting performance requirements, the organization reserves the right to establish a vendor performance improvement plan that includes time-limited, incremental targets, by which the vendor can demonstrate meaningful progress towards achieving all minimum requirements as described in this issued food service contract.