ICE National Detention Standards 2019 — Standard 4.1 Food Service (Pest Control)

Citation

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, National Detention Standards, Revised 2019, Standard 4.1, “Food Service.” Published by ICE as a PDF at the primary source link above. Read on September 24, 2026. Section references follow the standard’s own numbering: Part II (Standards and Procedures), lettered sections, then numbered and lettered paragraphs.

What It Says (Verbatim)

I. Policy:

“The facility shall provide detainees with nutritious, attractively presented meals, prepared and served in a sanitary and hygienic food service operation.”

II.E.2 Preparation Guidelines:

“Food shall be prepared and served in compliance with the most recent version of the FDA food code and/or applicable local standards.”

II.E.3 Food Protection – General Requirements:

“Food and ice will be protected from dust, insects and rodents, unclean utensils and work surfaces, unnecessary handling, coughs and sneezes, flooding, drainage, overhead leakage, and other sources of contamination. Protection will be continuous, whether the food is in storage, in preparation/on display, or in transit.”

II.I.5 Environmental Sanitation and Safety, which opens “All facilities shall meet the following environmental standards,” includes:

“f. Hazard-free storage areas: … 2) No flammable material; no loose cords, debris, or other obvious accident-causers (stumbling, tripping, falling, etc.); no pest-harborage.”

“j. Garbage and other trash shall be collected and removed as often as possible. The garbage/refuse containers shall have sufficient capacity for the volume, and shall be kept covered, cleaned frequently, and insect and rodent proof. The facility shall comply with all applicable regulations (local, state, and federal) on refuse-handling and disposal.”

II.I.8 Pest Control:

“Good sanitation practices are essential to an effective pest control program. The facility is responsible for pest control in the food service department.”

II.J.2 Food Receipt and Storage:

“The following procedures apply when receiving or storing food: a. Inspect the incoming shipment for damage, contamination, and pest infestation. Rats, mice, or insects may be hiding in the middle of a pallet.”

What It Means in Plain Language

Standard 4.1 does not describe a pest control program. It assigns one. Section II.I.8 makes pest control in the food service department the facility’s responsibility, and ties it to sanitation in the same breath.

The other provisions fix where pests are expected to be stopped:

1. At the dock. Every incoming shipment is inspected for pest infestation (II.J.2(a)). The standard names the place to look: the middle of a pallet.
2. In storage. Storage areas are to have no pest harborage (II.I.5(f)(2)).
3. At the refuse containers. Containers are to be covered, cleaned frequently, and “insect and rodent proof” (II.I.5(j)).
4. Everywhere food is. Food and ice are protected from insects and rodents continuously, in storage, in preparation or on display, and in transit (II.E.3).

For the kitchen itself, Section II.E.2 points to the FDA Food Code. That is the federal model code whose Section 6-501.111 requires routine inspection, pest control when pests are found, and elimination of harborage. See the related Food Code page.

Who It Applies To

Standard 4.1 does not state its own scope. ICE’s overview of the 2019 standards does: it describes dedicated immigration detention facilities as “now largely covered by a separate set of standards – the Performance Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS),” and calls this version of the NDS “designed for non-dedicated facilities” (ICE, National Detention Standards 2019, overview, https://www.ice.gov/doclib/detention-standards/2019/overview.pdf, read September 24, 2026).

Which standard set applies to a particular facility is fixed by its agreement with ICE. The PBNDS 2011 food service standard, which names the Food Service Administrator and an outside exterminator, is on its own page.

Documentation Evidence

The standard does not prescribe a pest record. Records that show each provision was met:

• Receiving logs showing incoming shipments were inspected for pest infestation (II.J.2(a))
• Storage-area inspections showing no pest harborage (II.I.5(f)(2))
• Refuse container condition and cleaning records (II.I.5(j))
• Pest control service records for the food service department, showing the facility carried out its responsibility (II.I.8)
• Food Code inspection results for the kitchen (II.E.2)

Confidence Notes

HIGH confidence for every quotation. Each was read from the ICE PDF on September 24, 2026, and checked against a full text extraction of the document. The PDF’s text layer splits a few words across spaces (“accident -causers,” “co ntamination”); the quotations above give the words as printed.