BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                                                                  AB 2130
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          Date of Hearing:  March 25, 2014

                            ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
                                 Richard Pan, Chair
                     AB 2130 (Pan) - As Amended:  March 20, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Retail food safety.

           SUMMARY  :  Repeals a prohibition on bare hand contact with  
          ready-to-eat food by food employees and replaces it with prior  
          law, which required food employees to minimize bare hand  
          contact.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires food employees to minimize bare hand and arm contact  
            with nonprepackaged food that is in a ready-to-eat form.

          2)Requires food employees to use utensils, including scoops,  
            forks, tongs, paper wrappers, gloves, or other implements, to  
            assemble ready-to-eat food or to place ready-to-eat food on  
            tableware or in other containers.  Allows food employees to  
            handle ready-to-eat food without the use of utensils if hands  
            are cleaned in accordance with current hand washing  
            requirements.

          3)Repeals existing law that prohibits bare hand contact with  
            ready to eat food, as detailed in 1) and 2) below.

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Prohibits food employees from contacting exposed, ready-to-eat  
            food with their bare hands and instead requires the use of  
            suitable utensils such as deli tissue, spatulas, tongs,  
            single-use gloves, or dispensing equipment.  

          2)Provides an exception to the prohibition in 1) above for a  
            food facility that obtains prior approval from the local  
            enforcement agency (LEA) and maintains the following written  
            procedures and documentation:

             a)   For each bare hand contact procedure, a listing of the  
               specific ready-to-eat foods that are touched by bare hands.

             b)   Diagrams and other information showing that hand washing  
               facilities are installed, located, and maintained in  
               accordance with current law.









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             c)   A written employee health policy that details the manner  
               in which the food facility complies with current law that  
               prevents employees with gastrointestinal illness from  
               handling food and requires reporting of employees who are  
               experiencing such illness to the LEA.  This policy is  
               required to include:

               i)     Documentation that food employees acknowledge that  
                 they have been informed to report information about their  
                 gastrointestinal symptoms and diseases, as specified;

               ii)    Documentation that food employees and conditional  
                 employees acknowledge their responsibilities to report  
                 gastrointestinal symptoms and comply with consequent  
                 exclusions from food handling, as specified;

               iii)   Documentation that the person in charge acknowledges  
                 his or her responsibilities to report sick employees to  
                 the local enforcement agency;

               iv)    Documentation that food employees acknowledge that  
                 they have received training in the risks of contacting  
                 the specific ready-to-eat foods with bare hands and in  
                 various requirements of current law, including proper  
                 hand washing techniques and requirements; where to wash  
                 hands; proper fingernail maintenance; prohibition of  
                 jewelry; and good hygienic practices;

               v)     Documentation that hands are washed before food  
                 preparation and as necessary to prevent  
                 cross-contamination by food employees during all hours of  
                 operation when the specific ready-to-eat foods are  
                 prepared;

               vi)    Documentation that food employees contacting  
                 ready-to-eat foods with bare hands use two or more of the  
                 following control measures to provide additional  
                 safeguards: double hand washing, nail brushes, a hand  
                 antiseptic after hand washing, incentive programs such as  
                 paid sick leave that assist or encourage food employees  
                 not to report to work if they are ill, or other control  
                 measures approved by the LEA; and,

               vii)   Documentation that corrective action is taken when  









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                 the requirements specified in (i) through (vi) above are  
                 not followed.

          3)Establishes the California Retail Food Code (CRFC), which  
            states the intent of the Legislature to occupy the whole field  
            of health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities  
            and makes standards set forth in CRFC exclusive of all local  
            health and sanitation standards relating to retail food  
            facilities, with specified exceptions.  Finds and declares  
            that the public health interest requires that there be uniform  
            statewide health and sanitation standards for retail food  
            facilities to assure the people of this state that the food  
            will be pure, safe, and unadulterated.

          4)Under the CRFC, contains comprehensive food safety provisions  
            related to management and personnel; general food safety;  
            cleaning and sanitizing of equipment and utensils; water,  
            plumbing, and waste; and physical facilities.

          5)Requires food employees to thoroughly wash their hands,  
            including detailed washing, rinsing, and drying procedures,  
            with particular attention paid to the areas underneath the  
            fingernails and between the fingers.  Requires hand washing  
            before engaging in food preparation; after touching body parts  
            other than hands; after using the restroom; after coughing,  
            sneezing, using a tissue, using tobacco, eating, or drinking;  
            when switching from working with raw to ready-to-eat food;  
            before dispensing or serving food; and after engaging in  
            various other activities that contaminate the hands.  Requires  
            hand washing to be carried out in sinks exclusively dedicated  
            to hand washing. 


          6)Requires food handlers to obtain a food handler card every  
            three years from an accredited provider, as specified.   
            Requires food handler cards to be issued only upon successful  
            completion of a training course that meets specified  
            requirements, including both of the following:

             a)   The course provides basic, introductory instruction on  
               the elements of knowledge related to food safety,  
               including: foodborne illness and toxins; time and  
               temperature control; personal hygiene, including the  
               association of hand contact to foodborne illness; methods  
               of preventing food contamination; procedures for cleaning  









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               and sanitizing equipment and utensils; and problems and  
               potential solutions associated with temperature control,  
               preventing cross-contamination, housekeeping, and  
               maintenance; and,

             b)   The course and examination are designed to be completed  
               within approximately two and one-half hours; the  
               examination consists of at least 40 questions regarding the  
               required subject matter; and a minimum score of 70% on the  
               examination is required.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal  
          committee.

           COMMENTS  :

           1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL  .  The author writes that, in 2013, the  
            Legislature passed a bill,   AB 1252 (Committee on Health),  
            Chapter 556, Statutes of 2013, that made many, mostly minor,  
            changes to the CRFC.  Like all Health Committee-authored  
            bills, AB 1252 was intended to be a consensus bill.  It had no  
            opposition, and it was agreed that if opposition to any of the  
            bill's provisions arose at any point in the process, those  
            provisions would be immediately removed from the bill.

          The author indicates that, since AB 1252 took effect on January  
            1, 2014, many small restaurants and bars have raised serious  
            concerns about a provision in the new law that prohibits bare  
            hand contact with ready-to-eat food.  Given these businesses'  
            concerns about the cost and public health value of this  
            prohibition, the author states that the Committee bill process  
            was not appropriate for this provision, which should have been  
            fully vetted and debated before being enacted.  This bill is  
            intended to give food facilities relief from the bare hand  
            contact prohibition, allowing businesses to follow 2013 law  
            until the value of prohibiting bare hand contact can be  
            assessed.

           2)BACKGROUND  .  The CRFC is largely a product of the  
            recommendations of the California Retail Food Safety Coalition  
            (CRFSC), a body of public health and food industry  
            representatives.  The CRFSC periodically sponsors bills to  
            update CRFC that contain provisions reached through its  
            consensus process.  In 2013, the CRFSC sponsored AB 1252, a  
            Health Committee-authored bill that contained numerous such  









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            provisions, including the restoration of the definition of hot  
            dog to state law, a clarification of the definition of service  
            animals to conform with federal regulations, and authorization  
            for 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.  However, among its  
            many noncontroversial, minor, and technical changes,    AB  
            1252 contained a prohibition on bare hand contact with ready  
            to eat food without prior approval from the local  
            environmental health department.  No opposition to any of       
                   AB 1252's provisions, including the bare hand contact  
            prohibition, was registered through the legislative process.   
            (It is the custom and practice of the Assembly Health  
            Committee, for Committee-authored bills, to immediately remove  
            any provision to which opposition arises.)  However, as local  
            environmental health departments began communicating with food  
            facilities in preparation for the bill's implementation, media  
            reports began to indicate that many small restaurants and bars  
            were surprised, frustrated, and confused about the bare hand  
            contact prohibition.  Three petitions on change.org gathered a  
            combined 20,000 signatures in favor of repeal of the bare hand  
            contact provision in AB 1252.

          Federal Food Code.  The federal Food and Drug Administration's  
            (FDA) Food Code is a model for local, state, and federal  
            jurisdictions that are responsible for ensuring food safety.   
            According to the FDA, the Food Code represents FDA's best  
            advice, updated every four years, for a uniform system of  
            provisions that address the safety and protection of food  
            offered at retail and in food service.  All 50 states have  
            adopted food codes patterned after the FDA Food Code;  
            California's food safety law, the CRFC, is patterned after the  
            FDA Food Code published in 2005.

          Although the CRFC is modeled on the FDA Food Code, there are  
            important differences between them.  For example, California's  
            food handler card law (created by SB 602, Padilla, Chapter  
            309, Statutes of 2010), requires all food handlers to complete  
            a course in food safety and obtain a food handler card within  
            30 days after hire at a food facility.  There is no comparable  
            requirement in the FDA Food Code.

          Foodborne illness.  According to the federal Centers for Disease  
            Control and Prevention (CDC), foodborne illness is a common,  









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            costly-yet preventable-public health problem.  The CDC  
            estimates that each year roughly one in six Americans (or 48  
            million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000  
            die of foodborne diseases.  According to CDC's 2011 estimates,  
            the most common foodborne illnesses are caused by norovirus  
            and by the bacteria Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, and  
            Campylobacter.  Since 1996, CDC has documented various trends  
            in foodborne illness; overall, the incidence of infection with  
            six key foodborne pathogens (Campylobacter, Listeria,  
            Salmonella, an Escherichia coli strain, Vibrio, and Yersinia)  
            has declined by 22%.

          Equivocal evidence on glove use and food safety.  The National  
            Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods  
            (NACMCF), within the United States Department of Agriculture's  
            Food Safety and Inspection Service, provides impartial  
            scientific advice to federal agencies to use in developing  
            integrated food safety systems from farm to table and to  
            ensure food safety in domestic and imported foods.  In 1999,  
            the NACMCF issued a set of recommendations on bare hand  
            contact with ready-to-eat foods.  The NACMCF found, based on  
            the evidence, that bare hand contact can contribute to the  
            transmission of foodborne illness and recommended three  
            measures to counter this risk: a) the exclusion of ill workers  
            from contact with ready-to-eat foods and food contact  
            surfaces; b) proper handwashing; and c) minimizing bare hand  
            contact with ready-to-eat foods.  The NACMCF found that  
            available scientific data was insufficient to support a  
            blanket prohibition of bare hand contact with ready-to-eat  
            foods.

          Since the NACMCF recommendations were published, a number of  
            studies have investigated the connection between bare hand  
            contact and foodborne illness.  These studies have had mixed  
            conclusions.  Some studies have shown that proper glove use  
            can decrease the transfer of pathogens to food.<1>,<2>  Yet  
            despite evidence that proper glove use, in combination with  
          ---------------------------
          <1> Michaels, Barry, Cheryll Keller, Matthew Blevins, Greg  
          Paoli, Todd Ruthman, Ewen Todd, and Christopher J. Griffith.  
          "Prevention of food worker transmission of foodborne pathogens:  
          risk assessment and evaluation of effective hygiene intervention  
          strategies." Food Service Technology 4, no. 1 (2004): 31-49.
          <2> Montville, Rebecca, Yuhuan Chen, and Donald W. Schaffner.  
          "Glove barriers to bacterial cross-contamination between hands  
          to food." Journal of Food Protection 64, no. 6 (2001): 845-849.








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            hand washing, can reduce food contamination, some studies  
            suggest that the use of gloves in food service environments  
            may provide food workers with a false sense of security and  
            increase the risk of cross contamination by reducing hand  
            washing and leading workers to wear gloves too long.  One  
            study found that attempted and appropriate hand washing rates  
            were significantly lower when gloves were worn (18% and 16%)  
            than when gloves were not worn (37% and 30%).<3>  Another  
            study analyzed tortillas purchased from fast food restaurants  
            for the presence of various pathogens; coliform bacteria were  
            found in 9.6% of samples handled by gloved workers and 4.4% of  
            samples handled by bare hands, although this difference was  
            not statistically significant.<4>

           3)SUPPORT  .  Supporters of this bill argue that AB 1252's bare  
            hand contact prohibition will require bars, bakeries, and  
            restaurants to buy and discard thousands of disposable gloves,  
            imposing a significant financial burden and environmental  
            impact, and that glove changes will result in a loss of  
            operational efficiency.  These businesses indicate that they  
            were not involved in the discussion surrounding AB 1252.  Many  
            of these supporters from the food service industry express the  
            opinion that the use of gloves is no safer than a thorough  
            hand washing, as it creates a false sense of comfort that  
            hands need not be washed.

           4)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION  .

             a)   AB 1252 (Committee on Health) makes numerous technical,  
               clarifying, and noncontroversial changes to the CRFC and  
               prohibits bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food without  
               prior authorization from the local environmental health  
               department.

             b)   SB 309 (Padilla), Chapter 309, Statutes of 2010,  
             --------------------------
          <3> Green, Laura R., Carol A. Selman, Vincent Radke, Danny  
          Ripley, James C. Mack, David W. Reimann, Tammi Stigger, Michelle  
          Motsinger, and Lisa Bushnell. "Food worker hand washing  
          practices: an observation study." Journal of Food Protection 69,  
          no. 10 (2006): 2417-2423.
          <4> Lynch, Robert A., Margaret L. Phillips, Brenda L. Elledge,  
          Sridhar Hanumanthaiah, and Daniel T. Boatright. "A preliminary  
          evaluation of the effect of glove use by food handlers in fast  
          food restaurants." Journal of Food Protection 68, no. 1 (2005):  
          187-190








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               requires a food handler to obtain a food handler card  
               within 30 days after hire date at a food facility, and  
               every three years thereafter, upon successful completion of  
               a food safety training course.

             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 144 (George Runner), Chapter 23, Statutes of 2006,  
               repealed and reenacted the California Uniform Retail Food  
               Facilities Law as the CRFC.
           


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :  

           Support 
           
          Biba Restaurant, Sacramento
          Bits, Bites, and Boxes, Loomis
          Citizen Hotel, Sacramento
          de Vere's Irish Pub, Sacramento
          Der Biergarten, Sacramento
          Eden Vale Inn, Placerville
          Freeport Bakery, Sacramento
          Grange Restaurant and Bar, Sacramento
          Mulvaney's B&L, Sacramento
          River City Brewing Company, Sacramento
          River City Saloon, Sacramento
          Three individuals

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Ben Russell / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097