United States
Hong KongLighting: ten, twenty, fifty foot-candles
Ten foot-candles in walk-ins and dry storage measured 75 cm (30 inches) above the floor, 20 in handwashing, warewashing, toilet and buffet areas, and 50 where an employee works with utensils or equipment. Bulbs in food areas must be shielded or shatter-resistant.
Three numbers. Ten, twenty, fifty. One of the five facility questions almost always lands here, and the numbers are the entire answer.
| Where | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Walk-in refrigeration units, dry food storage, other areas during cleaning | 10 foot-candles at 75 cm (30 inches) above the floor |
| Handwashing, warewashing, toilet rooms, equipment storage, buffet and salad bars, and inside reach-in units | 20 foot-candles |
| Where an employee works with food, utensils or equipment such as knives and slicers | 50 foot-candles |
The logic behind them
How much light you need to do the task safely. A walk-in is a place you fetch things from; a prep station is a place someone uses a knife.
That reasoning also tells you where the borderline cases go. A displayed salad bar is 20, because customers need to see the food and staff need to see the shields. A slicer station is 50.
Shielding
Light bulbs in areas with exposed food, clean equipment, utensils, linens or unwrapped single-use items must be shielded, coated or otherwise shatter-resistant.
This is a physical hazard rule wearing a lighting label. A bulb that fails without a shield scatters glass across everything below, and glass is the physical contaminant with the worst outcome.
Shielding is not required for infrared or heat lamps as long as they are protected against breakage, or for bulbs in a display case with a shatter-resistant cover of its own. Both appear as options occasionally.
Measuring it
With a light meter, at the surface being worked on rather than at the ceiling. The 30-inch height in the first row is specified because storage light is measured where the food actually sits.
In practice a manager rarely owns a meter, and this is one of the few provisions where the inspector arriving with one is the first time it gets measured.
Practical failures
- A blown tube in a walk-in that nobody replaced, because the door light is enough to find things by.
- Grease-coated diffusers cutting output by half.
- A prep bench moved to a corner without lighting, so the number is fine at the old location and not at the new one.
- Unshielded bulbs above an open prep table.
None of them are dramatic, and all four appear in inspection reports constantly.
Common questions
How many foot-candles are required in a walk-in?
Ten, measured 75 cm (30 inches) above the floor. The same figure applies to dry food storage and to other areas during cleaning operations.
How much light is required at a prep station?
Fifty foot-candles where an employee is working with food, utensils or equipment such as knives and slicers. It is the highest requirement in the Code because it is the highest-risk task.
Do light bulbs need shields?
In areas with exposed food, clean equipment, utensils, linens or unwrapped single-use items, yes - shielded, coated or otherwise shatter-resistant. It is a physical hazard rule, since broken glass is the worst physical contaminant.
Are heat lamps exempt from shielding?
Infrared and heat lamps are exempt provided they are protected against breakage, as are bulbs inside a display case with a shatter-resistant cover of its own.
How is lighting measured?
With a light meter, at the surface being worked on rather than at the ceiling. Storage lighting is measured 30 inches above the floor, where the food sits.