BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2539
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
AB 2539 (Ting) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Certified farmers' markets.
SUMMARY : Makes various changes to clarify current law and
improve food safety at certified farmers' markets.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires foods like nuts and dried fruits that are ordinarily
consumed without prior washing by the consumer, and that are
being sold in bulk, to be displayed and dispensed from covered
containers.
2)Creates requirements for meat products offered for sale at a
CFM, including: maintenance at a temperature of 41?F or
colder; storage containers sufficient to maintain safe product
temperatures; a prohibition on storage certain polystyrene
containers; a prohibition on meat products sitting or floating
in melted ice water; and a prohibition on mixed-species
coolers or freezers.
3)Clarifies that trimming whole produce for sale shall not be
considered food preparation.
4)Clarifies that samples must be kept in containers that are
intended for use with foods.
5)Prohibits consumer self-serving of samples.
6)Requires producers that dispense samples to maintain an
adequate supply of clean replacement utensils readily
available.
7)Clarifies that service dogs may be brought into farmers
markets when used in accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
8)Prohibits smoking within 25 feet of the common commerce area
of the CFM.
9)Narrows a current provision that allows mobile food facilities
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under the jurisdiction of CFM to store, display, and sell from
a table at a market to specify it does not apply to temporary
food facilities that engage in food preparation.
10)Allows an individually permitted and licensed vendor selling
bakery goods or prepackaged foods to be operated in
conjunction with, adjacent to, and under the auspices of a
CFM, provided the vendor obtains a specified permit and the
market is responsible for compliance with state food safety
law by the vendor.
11)Narrows a current provision that allows temporary food
facilities to operate at a separate community event in
conjunction with a farmers' market applies to apply only to
temporary food facilities engaging in food production.
EXISTING LAW :
1)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.
2)Under the CRFC, creates general food safety requirements for
the manufacture, production, preparation, compounding,
packing, storing, transport, sale, and serving of food.
Requires CFMs to comply with these general requirements.
3)Under the CRFC, requires potentially hazardous food to be
maintained at or above 135?F, or at or below 41?F, except
during preparation, cooking, cooling, transportation to or
from a retail food facility for a period of less than 30
minutes. Provides an additional exception for this
requirement if the food is marked to indicate the time it was
removed from temperature and is cooked and served or discarded
within four hours, as specified. Provides an exception to this
requirement for various foods, including live, unshucked
shellfish, and foods held for sampling at a farmers' market,
both of which may be held at temperatures up to 45?F.
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4)Under the CRFC, creates additional requirements for CFMs,
including the following: a) a requirement that all food shall
be stored at least six inches off the floor or ground, or as
otherwise approved; b) a prohibition on food preparation
except for samples; c) a requirement for samples to be kept in
approved, clean, covered containers and distributed in a
sanitary manner; d) a requirement for availability of toilet
and hand washing facilities; e) a prohibition on live animals
within 20 feet of food areas; f) garbage disposal
requirements; g) provisions related to selling from mobile
food facilities; h) provisions related selling from temporary
food facilities at community events adjacent to farmers'
markets; and i) requirements for storage and display of raw
eggs without refrigeration.
5)Under the CRFC, requires the person or organization
responsible for shared facilities at a community event or swap
meet to obtain a permit, in addition the permits issued to
each participating food facility.
6)Requires CFMs to be certified by the State of California
through the enforcement officers of the county agricultural
commissioners. Allows California farmers to sell
California-grown fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables that they
produce, directly to the public with an exemption from size,
standard pack, container, and labeling requirements at a CFM.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the California Federation
of Certified Farmers' Markets (CFCFM), the source of this
legislation, this bill is needed to update the CA Retail Food
Code sections governing CFMs regarding the safe handling and
display of food products sold at CFMs. The proposal was in
response to issues brought forward by CFCFM members. In
general, these provisions codify interpretations of existing
law and rules currently enforced by the CFAs. By placing these
provisions into the CRFC, this bill will require enforcement
by environmental health departments, with the intent of
creating consistency in enforcement across the state.
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a) Meat products. In light of an increase in the sale of
meat products offered for sale at CFMs (directly from the
ranch or farm that raised the animal) in recent years, this
bill creates standards for meat sold at farmers' markets.
CFCFM indicates that these standards were created in
response to a Los Angeles environmental health officer
stating that they did not have guidelines for meat product
sales at farmers' markets. CFCFM indicates that the
standards were modeled after guidelines developed for New
York State farmers' markets.
b) Nonagricultural products. Under current law, no
nonagricultural products may be sold in the "designated
area" of the CFM. The exclusion of nonagricultural products
is intended to maintain the intent of a CFM, which is the
direct sale of products produced solely by the producer.
Enforcement of the separation rule is the responsibility of
the local agricultural commissioner. However,
nonagricultural products may be sold adjacent to a CFM:
under current law, operators of mobile food facilities
selling food adjacent to and under the jurisdiction and
management of a CFM (meaning vendors who are selling on
property controlled by the CFM manager and who contract
with the CFM manager for a sales space) may sell from a
table apart from the vehicle, in a manner approved by the
local environmental health department.
CFCFM writes that the treatment of vendors selling baked
goods and other prepackaged items has changed in recent
years. CFCFM writes that, because baked goods sellers are
permitted in categories that also allow limited food
preparation, they are now required to obtain a community
event permit, even if they engage in no food preparation.
This bill is intended to allow these vendors, provided that
they engage in no onsite food preparation, to operate under
the community event permit that is obtained by the CFM
manager.
c) Covering of bulk nuts and dried fruits. Raw produce is
allowed to be displayed in the open because it is intended
to be washed prior to consumption, so any germs that may
get on it from the public would be addressed when washed by
the consumer. The law did not address nuts and dried fruit
that are not intended to be washed, and some producers
display these openly like they do produce. Other
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non-washable products intended for onsite consumption are
already required to be covered. This bill clarifies that
bulk food like nuts should also be covered.
d) No self-sampling. CFCFM indicates that most producers
currently distribute samples individually and directly.
However, CFCFM indicates that when tongs are provided at
self-service sampling station, they are frequently ignored,
with consumers using their fingers instead. This creates a
risk of contamination of foodborne pathogens. CFCFM
indicates that when covered containers are held behind the
stand display, people ask for a sample and a sales
conversation occurs, for the mutual benefit of the grower
and the customer.
e) Clean replacement utensils. CFCFM indicates that,
according to enforcement officers, if a producer uses
utensils to create samples or for distribution or for bulk
goods dispensing, a ware washing station, including
chlorinated water and a different type of soap, has to be
present in addition to a separate hand-washing setup.
CFCFM indicates that some enforcement officers have agreed
that if the grower brings extra clean cutting and
dispensing utensils, then they do not need to setup and
maintain a ware washing station. This bill's provision
requiring a producer to maintain a supply of clean
replacement utensils is intended to make this option
consistent statewide.
2)BACKGROUND .
a) CRFC. 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. The CRFC is patterned after
the federal Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Food Code,
which 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
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states have adopted food codes patterned after the FDA Food
Code. Although the CRFC is modeled on the FDA Food Code,
there are important differences between them. In
particular, no provisions that are specific to farmers'
markets are found in the FDA Food Code.
b) Foodborne illness. According to the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), foodborne illness is
a common, 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%.
3)RELATED LEGISLATION .
a) AB 654 (Hall), Chapter 409, Statutes of 2013, extends
the sunset date to January 1, 2018, for the collection of
CFM operator fees.
b) AB 996 (Dickinson) would have expanded CFM laws,
requirements, and fees, and increased penalties for
violations. AB 996 was held on the suspense file in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
4)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION .
a) AB 1252 (Committee on Health), Chapter 556, Statutes of
2013, 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 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.
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c) SB 144 (George Runner), Chapter 23, Statutes of 2006,
repealed and reenacted the California Uniform Retail Food
Facilities Law as the CRFC.
5)TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS .
a) Under the CRFC, "meat" is defined as the flesh of
animals used as food, including the dressed flesh of
cattle, swine, sheep, goats, game animal, and other edible
animals, except fish and poultry. Because this bill's
requirements for meat sold at farmers' markets is located
in the CRFC, these requirements do not apply to fish or
poultry. Therefore, this bill should be amended to apply
the provisions related to meat to also include fish and
poultry.
b) Due to a drafting error, this bill requires that a
community event permit be obtained for vendors not engaging
in food preparation, whereas this bill is intended to
exempt markets that have no vendors engaging in food
preparation from having to obtain a community event permit.
Therefore, this bill should be amended to clarify that
these markets are not required to have a community event
permit.
c) This bill modifies a current provision allowing mobile
food facilities to set up tables at farmers' markets and
creates a new, similar provision for vendors who sell baked
goods or prepackaged items. CFCFM indicates that this
provision is encompassed under the intent to exempt markets
from the community event permit, as laid out in b) above.
In light of this intent, the Committee may wish to amend
the bill to simply clarify that a market shall not be
required to obtain a community event permit for vendors who
are not engaging in food preparation and sell only
nonpotentially hazardous foods.
d) This bill requires all producers to maintain an adequate
supply of clean replacement utensils. CFCFM indicates that
this provision is intended to allow producers who dispense
samples to use replacement utensils as an alternative to
warewashing. Therefore, this bill should be amended to
reflect that intent.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Federation of Certified Farmers' Markets
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Russell / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097