MANCHESTER, N.H. – As 2025 concluded, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a long-awaited rewrite of the city’s zoning ordinance. However, another long-awaited change to the city’s ordinances that will also greatly impact Manchester’s residents was approved by the board with much less fanfare.
Although it might be overshadowed by Picklegate when it comes to topics of interest involving Manchester Health Department in 2025, one of the outgoing board’s final acts was to provide approval to update the city’s ordinance on food retail safety when it comes to food service establishments.
At the heart of the update is a shift in how food safety is regulated and enforced in Manchester. The proposal would replace the city’s current food code—largely unchanged since 2011—with the 2017 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code.
Health officials say the new code modernizes inspections by focusing less on technical violations and more on practices that pose the greatest risk to public health, such as temperature control, employee hygiene, and safe handling of foods most likely to cause illness.
While the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services uses the 2017 FDA Food Code as the basis for its rules, some of the state’s 15 self-inspecting municipalities such as Nashua and Exeter fully follow the code for its food safety rules.
These new rules will impact the 750 food establishments ranging from restaurants and cafeterias to grocery stores and food trucks as well as 300 temporary food operators that include events, such as Taco Tour.
“The 2017 FDA Food Code supports a more proactive approach to food safety by emphasizing risk-based practices that help identify and address potential food safety issues before they become problems,” said Manchester Health Department Director Anna Thomas. “Ultimately, this update strengthens food safety protections for residents and visitors while supporting a fair, consistent, and modern regulatory environment for local businesses.”
There are also other updates to Chapter 117 of the City of Manchester Code of Ordinances, which addresses food safety, but it does not impact Chapter 117.04, which addresses home-based food production that made up the core of the Picklegate debate.
A full copy of the changes can be found in a .pdf file attached below.