BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1252
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Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
AB 1252 (Committee on Health) - As Introduced: February 22,
2013
SUBJECT : Retail food safety.
SUMMARY : Makes various technical, clarifying, and conforming
changes to the California Retail Food Code (CRFC), the state's
principal law governing food safety and sanitation in retail
food facilities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines the term "hot dog" in the CRFC and clarifies that the
reheating and selling of hot dogs constitutes limited food
preparation.
2)Conforms the definition of "service animal" to the definition
contained in the federal Americans for Disabilities Act.
3)Requires food handler employees to wash their hands before
initially donning gloves for working with food and when
changing tasks, as specified. Clarifies that handwashing is
not required between glove changes when no contamination of
the gloves or hands has occurred.
4)Specifies the circumstances under which single-use gloves must
be worn and prohibits these gloves from being re-used.
5)Requires an employee with a wound to take specified
precautions when contacting food and prohibits an employee who
has an open or draining wound from handling food.
6)Authorizes food facilities to use temporary alternative
storage methods, such as a trailer, for food storage during
holidays, emergencies, remodels or other circumstances, if
approved by the local environmental health department (LEHD).
7)Makes clarifying changes to provisions governing the cleansing
and sanitization of equipment and utensils.
8)Clarifies floor, wall, and ceiling surface requirements for
employee dressing rooms, dressing areas, or locker areas.
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9)Specifies potable water requirements for mobile food
facilities that operate at community events.
10)Clarifies adequate water heater capacity requirements for
mobile food facilities with dish washing sinks.
11)Specifies that existing law prohibiting the use of trans fats
in all food facilities and governing compliance and
enforcement applies to both temporary and mobile food
facilities.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the CRFC to govern all aspects of retail food
safety and sanitation in California and makes LEHDs primarily
responsible for enforcing the CRFC through local food safety
inspection programs.
2)Defines a food handler to mean an individual who is involved
in the preparation, storage, or service of food in a food
facility, other than an individual holding a valid food safety
certificate or an individual involved in the preparation,
storage, or service of food in a temporary food facility.
3)Requires all food employees to follow specified hygienic
practices, including handwashing and the use of gloves.
4)Requires food employees to report to the person in charge of a
food facility when a food employee has a wound that is open or
draining, unless specified conditions to cover or protect the
wound are met.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the sponsor, the
California Retail Food Safety Coalition, a broad-based
stakeholder group of government regulators and the retail food
industry, this bill is intended as a clean-up measure to make
several technical, non-controversial clarifications and
conforming changes to the CRFC. The sponsor states that the
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changes in this bill are needed to ensure the best and most
effective implementation of the state's principal retail food
sanitation law.
Specifically, among other things, this bill clarifies provisions
in the CRFC related to hand-washing procedures and glove use
when working with food and establishes sanitary precautions
that employees with wounds must take when coming into contact
with food in order to eliminate cross-contamination and
food-borne illness risk. The sponsor notes that the
definition of hot dog is also needed to provide vendors with
the legal parameters of what constitutes a hot dog and prevent
a raw item, such as bratwurst, from being considered a hot dog
because it requires more than limited food preparation and
could make consumers sick, if not handled properly with regard
to time and temperature controls. Lastly, the sponsor states
that refrigerated food trailers are commonly used by
restaurants and grocery stores during holidays, emergencies,
remodels, or other high sales volume times, but the CRFC does
not specifically authorize the use of any alternate storage
methods and, as a result, LEHDs lack the ability to approve
their use. This bill will allow LEHDs to authorize the use of
trailers and other temporary food storage alternatives under
these circumstances.
2)BACKGROUND . The CRFC is modeled after the federal Food and
Drug Administration's (FDA) Model Food Code (Food Code), which
is updated every four years to enhance food safety laws based
on the best available science. Between each four-year period,
the FDA makes available a Food Code Supplement that updates,
modifies, or clarifies certain provisions. The Food Code
assists food control jurisdictions at all levels of government
by providing them with a scientifically sound technical and
legal basis for regulating the retail and food service segment
of the industry, such as restaurants, grocery stores, and
institutions like nursing homes. Forty-eight states and
territories have adopted food codes patterned after the Food
Code, representing 80% of the US population.
3)SUPPORT . The sponsor writes in support that it has been
continuously reviewing and updating the CRFC since its
inception to make it more consistent with the FDA Food Code
and working to proactively address implementation issues
through an open, inclusive and collaborative process.
According to the sponsor, the changes in this bill, such as
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updating food-to-hand contact practices; conforming changes to
the definition of service animal; specifying handling
requirements for cured meats such as hot dogs; and, clarifying
requirements for employee dressing rooms and storage areas,
represent consensus language drafted by the sponsor. The
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators,
which represents all county environmental health departments,
notes in support that virtually all retail food safety
requirements are contained in statute and the largely
technical changes in this bill need to be done through
legislation. The American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees adds that this bill enhances requirements
for food preparation and sanitation and further protects all
Californians from food-borne illness.
4)TECHNICAL AMENDMENT . On page 11, line 32, delete
"nonresidential".
5)PRIOR LEGISLATION .
a) SB 359 (Ed Hernandez) of 2012 would have enacted
provisions substantially similar to this bill. These
provisions were subsequently removed and the bill was
amended to deal with a different subject.
b) SB 946 (Steinberg), Chapter 650, Statutes of 2011, also
would have included provisions substantially similar to
this bill. These provisions were deleted and the chaptered
version of SB 946 was amended to deal with health care
coverage for pervasive developmental disorder or autism.
c) SB 241 (George Runner), Chapter 571, Statutes of 2009,
makes a number of clean up changes to the CRFC and provides
for the regulation of temporary and mobile food facilities
under the CRFC.
d) SB 1359 (George Runner) of 2008, which was substantially
similar to SB 241, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger
who, in his veto message, stated that it was due to the
historic delay in passing the 2008-09 State Budget and the
bill did not meet the standard of the highest priority for
California.
e) SB 744 (George Runner), Chapter 96, Statutes of 2007,
makes numerous technical, clarifying, and nonsubstantive
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changes to the CRFC.
f) SB 144 (George Runner), Chapter 23, Statutes of 2006,
repeals and reenacts the California Uniform Retail Food
Facilities Law as the CRFC.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Retail Food Safety Coalition (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Retailers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097