BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1067|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1067
Author: Huff (R)
Amended: 4/14/16
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE: 9-0, 4/6/16
AYES: Hernandez, Nguyen, Hall, Mitchell, Monning, Nielsen,
Pan, Roth, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Food facilities
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the food safety certification
examination, which must be completed by at least one person at
every retail food facility, to include major food allergens and
the symptoms that these allergens could cause in individuals who
have allergic reactions. Additionally, revises and recasts
provisions of law governing the serving of raw and undercooked
meat, and makes various other updates and minor changes to the
laws governing retail food facilities.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the California Retail Food Code (CalCode) to
regulate retail food facilities, which is enforced by local
environmental health officers.
2)Defines a food facility as an operation that stores, prepares,
packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human
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consumption, on or off the premises, regardless of whether
there is a charge, at the retail level.
3)Requires a food facility to designate a "person in charge" and
requires a person in charge to be present at the food facility
during all hours of operation. Among other responsibilities,
the person in charge is required to have knowledge of safe
food handling practices as they relate to the specific food
preparation activities that occur at the food facility.
4)Requires food facilities that prepare non-prepackaged
potentially hazardous food to have an owner or employee who
has successfully passed an approved and accredited food safety
certification examination, as specified, but specifies that
this certified person does not need to be present at the food
facility during all hours of operation.
5)Requires the food safety certification examination to include
specified elements of knowledge, including knowledge on
foodborne illness, the relationship between hygiene and food
safety, methods of preventing food contamination, and
procedures for cleaning and sanitizing equipment, among other
specified elements.
6)Defines "potentially hazardous food" as a food that requires
time or temperature control to limit pathogenic micro-organism
growth or toxin formation. Requires potentially hazardous food
to be maintained at or above 135 degrees Fahrenheit, or at or
below 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
This bill:
1) Defines "major food allergen" as all of the following:
a) Milk;
b) Eggs;
c) Fish, including, but not limited to, bass, flounder,
and cod;
d) Crustacean shellfish, including, but not limited to
crab, lobster, and shrimp;
e) Tree nuts, including, but not limited to, almonds,
pecans, and walnuts;
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f) Wheat;
g) Peanuts;
h) Soybeans; and,
i) A food ingredient that contains protein derived from
any of the foods listed above.
2) Excludes from the definition of "major food allergen" a
highly refined oil derived from one of the foods specified as
a major food allergen, and also excludes an ingredient that
is exempt under the petition or notification process
specified in the federal Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer
Protection Act of 2004.
3) Requires the designated "person in charge" at retail food
facilities to comply with both of the following:
a) Have adequate knowledge of major food allergens, and
the symptoms that a major food allergen could cause in a
sensitive individual who has an allergic reaction; and,
b) Educate the employees at the food facility regarding
major food allergens and the symptoms they could cause.
Permits this person in charge to accomplish this education
requirement by, among other methods, using a poster or job
aid to which the employee can refer.
4) Requires the food safety certification examination, which
each food facility is required to have at least one employee
pass, to include describing foods identified as major food
allergens and the symptoms that a major food allergen could
cause in a sensitive individual who has an allergic reaction.
5) Repeals provisions of existing law, in order to replace with
alternative disclosure requirements, which permit single
pieces of meat and fish, or a salad dressing or sauce
containing a raw egg, to be served raw or not cooked to the
otherwise specified temperature, if the consumer specifically
ordered the food to be individually prepared less than
thoroughly cooked, and the food facility notifies the
consumer, orally or in writing, at the time of ordering, that
the food is raw or less than thoroughly cooked.
6) Permits a raw or undercooked whole-muscle, intact beef steak
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to be served or offered for sale in a ready-to-eat form if
all of the following conditions are satisfied:
a) The food facility serves a population that is not a
highly susceptible population;
b) The steak is labeled to indicate that it meets the
definition of "whole muscle, intact beef," as specified;
and,
c) The steak is cooked on both the top and bottom to a
surface temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit or above and
a cooked color change is achieved on all external
surfaces.
7) Requires whole-muscle, intact beef steaks that are intended
for consumption in an undercooked form to satisfy the
following conditions:
a) Either the food has been obtained from a food
processing plant that, upon request by the purchaser,
packages the steaks and labels them to indicate that the
steak meets the definition of whole-muscle, intact beef,
or is deemed acceptable by the enforcement agency based on
other evidence; and,
b) If the food is individually cut in a food facility,
the food must be cut from whole-muscle intact beef that is
so labeled, the food is prepared so it remains intact, and
if packaged for undercooking in a food facility, relabeled
as a whole-muscle, intact beef.
8) Permits a raw animal food, such as raw egg, raw fish, raw
marinated fish, raw mulluscan shellfish, or steak tartare, or
a partially cooked food such as lightly cooked fish, soft
cooked eggs, or rare meat other than whole-muscle, intact
beef steaks, to be served upon consumer request or selection
in a ready-to-eat form if either of the following conditions
are satisfied:
a) The food facility serves a population that is not a
highly susceptible population, as defined; the food, if
served from a children's menu, does not contain comminuted
meat (i.e., ground meat); and the consumer is informed
that to ensure its safety, the food should be fully
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cooked; or,
b) The Department of Public Health grants a variance from
the required cooking temperatures based on a Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan that
documents scientific data showing that a lesser time and
temperature regimen results in safe food, and the plan has
been submitted and approved, as specified.
9) Requires a food facility, if an animal food is served or
sold raw, undercooked, or without otherwise being processed
to eliminate pathogens, to inform consumers of the
significantly increased risk of consuming those foods by way
of a disclosure, as specified, and a reminder, as specified,
using brochures, deli case or menu advisories, label
statements, table tents, placards, or other effective written
means.
10)Specifies, for purposes of the provision in 9) above,
"disclosure" means a written statement that clearly includes
a description of the animal-derived foods, such as "oysters
on the half shell (raw oysters)" or identification of the
animal-derived foods marked by an asterisk denoting a
footnote that states that the items are served raw or
undercooked.
11)Specifies, for purposes of the provision in 9) above,
"reminder" means a written statement that identifies the
animal derived foods by an asterisk that denotes a footnote
that includes either of the following disclosure statements:
"written information regarding the safety of these food items
is available upon request," or "consuming raw or undercooked
meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your
risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain
medical conditions."
12)Specifies, for purposes of requirements pertaining to food
facilities that package food, that a food facility is not
required to have an HACCP plan if the facility uses a
reduced-oxygen packaging method to package hazardous food
that always complies with the following standards:
a) The food is labeled with the production time and date;
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b) The food is held at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or lower
during refrigerated storage; and,
c) The food is removed from its package in the food
facility within 48 hours after packaging.
13)Clarifies that "juicing" is considered preparing a beverage,
and is therefore only subject to the more minor "limited food
preparation" requirements.
14)Contains other minor, technical updates and revisions to the
CalCode.
Comments
1)Author's statement. According to the author, in 2013, the
federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the "Model
Food Code." The Food Code is a model for safeguarding public
health and ensuring food is unadulterated and honestly
presented when offered to the consumer, and represents FDA's
best advice for a uniform system of provisions that address
the safety and protection of food offered at retail and in
food service. The author states that that California adopted
the Model Food Code in 2006, and because none of the Model
Food Code has been adopted in implementing regulations, all of
the updates needed to be incorporated into statute.
With regard to recent amendments that incorporated provisions
relating to food allergies (not part of the Model Food Code),
the author states that food allergies are an increasing food
safety and public health issue, affecting approximately 4
percent of the U.S. population. Restaurant and retail food
service managers and employees need to be aware of the serious
nature of food allergies, including allergic reactions,
anaphylaxis, and death; to know the eight major food
allergens; to understand food allergen ingredient identities
and labeling; and to avoid cross-contact during food
preparation and service. This bill will clarify that as part
of their duties, the Certified Food Manager will also now be
required to provide training on food allergy awareness
training to the "person in charge" and the food handlers, as
it relates to their assigned duties. Currently ServSafe and
the other approved testing providers already include food
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allergy awareness as part of the training curriculum.
Prior Legislation
AB 2130 (Pan and Gatto, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2014), repealed
provisions of law enacted last year that prohibits retail food
employees from contacting exposed ready-to-eat foods with their
bare hands, and replaces these provisions with the law that
existed prior to the enactment of these provisions, which
require food employees to minimize bare hand contact with
ready-to-eat foods.
AB 1252 (Committee on Health, Chapter 556, Statutes of 2013),
made numerous technical, clarifying, and non-controversial
changes to the CalCode, and prohibited bare hand contact with
ready-to-eat food without prior authorization from the local
environmental health department.
SB 144 (Runner, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2006), established the
CalCode in order to create uniformity between California's
retail food safety laws and those of other states, as well as to
enhance food safety laws based on the best available science.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified5/4/16)
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Retail Food Safety Coalition
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/4/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: This bill is supported by the California
Association of Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA),
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which states it will make several technical changes to CalCode
to ensure that California law is more consistent with the
nationally-adopted Model Food Code. CAEHA states that it is a
founding member of the California Retail Food Safety Coalition,
a collaboration of more than 60 federal, state and local
regulators and retail food industry representatives who have
been working for the past 15 years to improve our California
retail food safety laws and make them more consistent with the
Model Food Code which is periodically updated. CAEHA states that
in addition to establishing clear allergen awareness knowledge
for persons in charge of retail food outlets, the bill addresses
several other inconsistencies in CalCode, including those
pertaining to HACCP plans and health risk disclosure, and
provides for greater opportunities for juicing fresh vegetables.
Prepared by:Vince Marchand / HEALTH /
5/4/16 14:58:09
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