As used in this section and sections 19a-36h to 19a-36o, inclusive:

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(1) “Catering food service establishment” means a business that is involved in the (A) sale or distribution of food and drink prepared in bulk in one geographic location for retail service in individual portions in another location, or (B) preparation and service of food in a public or private venue that is not under the ownership or control of the operator of such business;

(2) “Certified food protection manager” means a food employee that has supervisory and management responsibility and the authority to direct and control food preparation and service;

(3) “Class 1 food establishment” means a retail food establishment that does not serve a population that is highly susceptible to food borne illnesses and only offers (A) commercially packaged food in its original commercial package that is time or temperature controlled for safety, or (B) commercially prepackaged, precooked food that is time or temperature controlled for safety and heated, hot held and served in its original commercial package not later than four hours after heating, or (C) food prepared in the establishment that is not time or temperature controlled for safety;

(4) “Class 2 food establishment” means a retail food establishment that does not serve a population that is highly susceptible to food-borne illnesses and offers a limited menu of food that is prepared or cooked and served immediately, or that prepares or cooks food that is time or temperature controlled for safety and may require hot or cold holding, but that does not involve cooling;

(5) “Class 3 food establishment” means a retail food establishment that (A) does not serve a population that is highly susceptible to food-borne illnesses, and (B) offers food that is time or temperature controlled for safety and requires complex preparation, including, but not limited to, handling of raw ingredients, cooking, cooling and reheating for hot holding;

(6) “Class 4 food establishment” means a retail food establishment that serves a population that is highly susceptible to food-borne illnesses, including, but not limited to, preschool students, hospital patients and nursing home patients or residents, or that conducts specialized food processes, including, but not limited to, smoking, curing or reduced oxygen packaging for the purposes of extending the shelf life of the food;

(7) “Cold holding” means maintained at a temperature of forty-one degrees Fahrenheit or below;

(8) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Public Health or the commissioner’s designee;

(9) “Contact hour” means a minimum of fifty minutes of a training activity;

(10) “Department” means the Department of Public Health;

(11) “Director of health” means the director of a local health department or district health department appointed pursuant to section 19a-200 or 19a-242;

(12) “Food code” means the food code administered under section 19a-36h;

(13) “Food establishment” means an operation that (A) stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends directly to the consumer or otherwise provides food for human consumption, including, but not limited to, a restaurant, catering food service establishment, food service establishment, temporary food service establishment, itinerant food vending establishment, market, conveyance used to transport people, institution or food bank, or (B) relinquishes possession of food to a consumer directly, or indirectly through a delivery service, including, but not limited to, home delivery of grocery orders or restaurant takeout orders or a delivery service that is provided by common carriers. “Food establishment” does not include a vending machine, as defined in section 21a-34, a private residential dwelling in which food is prepared under section 21a-62a or a food manufacturing establishment, as defined in section 21a-151;

(14) “Food inspector” means a director of health, or his or her authorized agent, or a registered sanitarian who has been certified as a food inspector by the commissioner;

(15) “Food inspection training officer” means a certified food inspector who has received training developed or approved by the commissioner and been authorized by the commissioner to train candidates for food inspector certification;

(16) “Food-borne illness” means illness, including, but not limited to, illness due to heavy metal intoxications, staphylococcal food poisoning, botulism, salmonellosis, shigellosis, Clostridium perfringens intoxication and hepatitis A, acquired through the ingestion of a common-source food or water contaminated with a chemical, infectious agent or the toxic products of a chemical or infectious agent;

(17) “Food-borne outbreak” means illness, including, but not limited to, illness due to heavy metal intoxications, staphylococcal food poisoning, botulism, salmonellosis, shigellosis, Clostridium perfringens intoxication and hepatitis A, in two or more individuals, acquired through the ingestion of common-source food or water contaminated with a chemical, infectious agent or the toxic products of a chemical or infectious agent;

(18) “Hot holding” means maintained at a temperature of one hundred thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit or above;

(19) “Itinerant food vending establishment” means a vehicle-mounted, self-contained, mobile food establishment;

(20) “Permit” means a written document issued by a director of health that authorizes a person to operate a food establishment;

(21) “Temporary food service establishment” means a food establishment that operates for a period of not more than fourteen consecutive days in conjunction with a single event or celebration;

(22) “Time or temperature controlled for safety” means maintained at a certain temperature or maintained for a certain length of time, or both, to prevent microbial growth and toxin production; and

(23) “Variance” means a written document issued by the commissioner that authorizes a modification or waiver of one or more requirements of the food code.