BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1014|
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                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 1014
          Author:   Fletcher (R) and Chesbro (D)
          Amended:  6/15/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/8/11
          AYES:  Hernandez, Strickland, Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee, 
            De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 5/12/11 (Consent) - See last page 
            for vote


           SUBJECT :    Food facilities:  definition

           SOURCE  :     California Small Brewers Association 


           DIGEST  :    This bill exempts premises set aside by a beer 
          manufacturer, as defined, for beer tasting, from the 
          definition of a food facility, thereby, exempting beer 
          tasting premises from the provisions of the California 
          Retail Food Code.  This bill specifies that drinking 
          receptacles provided for "common use" must be cleansed and 
          sterilized thoroughly between uses.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law: 

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                                                               AB 1014
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          1. Establishes the California Retail Food Code (CRFC) to 
             govern all aspects of retail food safety and sanitation 
             in California and makes local environmental health 
             departments primarily responsible for enforcing CRFC 
             through local food safety inspection programs.
           
          2. Defines a retail food facility as an operation that 
             stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise 
             provides food for human consumption at the retail level, 
             including, but not limited to public and private school 
             cafeterias, restricted food service facilities, licensed 
             health care facilities, commissaries, temporary food 
             facilities, vending machines, certified farmers markets, 
             as specified, and, farm stands, as specified. 

          3. Exempts premises set aside for wine tasting from 
             regulation under the CRFC if no other beverage, except 
             for bottles of wine and prepackaged nonpotentially 
             hazardous beverages, is sold for onsite consumption and 
             no food, except for crackers, is served. 

          This bill:

          1. Exempts from the definition of a food facility and from 
             the provisions of CRFC premises set aside by a beer 
             manufacturer, as defined, for the purposes of beer 
             tasting, regardless of whether there is a charge for the 
             beer tasting, if no other beverage, except for beer and 
             prepackaged nonpotentially hazardous beverages, is 
             offered for sale for onsite consumption, and no food, 
             except for crackers or pretzels, is served.

          2. Specifies that drinking receptacles provided for "common 
             use" must be cleansed between consecutive uses.

           Background

          California Retail Food Code  .  SB 144 (Runner), Chapter 23, 
          Statutes of 2006, repealed the California Uniform Retail 
          Food Facilities Law and established the CRFC 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.  CRFC is 
          modeled on the federal Model Food Code, which was drafted 

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          by the United States Food and Drug Administration and is 
          updated every two years.  CRFC is substantially similar to 
          the Model Food Code in terms of its substantive food safety 
          and sanitation content.

          With the enactment of CRFC, local environmental health 
          departments have refocused their food facility inspections 
          to emphasize violations relating to federal Centers for 
          Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) identified foodborne 
          illness risk factors and public health interventions.  The 
          CDC has identified the following foodborne illness risk 
          factors:  food from unsafe sources, inadequate cooking, 
          improper holding temperatures, contaminated equipment, and 
          poor personal hygiene.  Public health interventions 
          identified by CDC include demonstration of knowledge, 
          employee health, time and temperature control, hands as a 
          source of contamination, and consumer advisories.

          CRFC violations are considered misdemeanors, unless 
          otherwise specified, and can be punishable by a fine of not 
          less than $25 or more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in 
          the count jail for up to six months, or by both fine and 
          imprisonment.  Local enforcement agencies can also charge 
          re-inspection fees and impose administrative penalties.  
          Additionally, local enforcement agencies can require that 
          retail food facilities establish a corrective action plan 
          with timelines to correct violations noted during 
          inspections.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/27/11)

          California Small Brewers Association (source)
          Island Brewing Company
          Monkish Brewing Company, LLC
          Stone Brewing Company

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The bill's sponsor, the California 
          Small Brewers Association (CSBA), states that tasting rooms 
          are being inspected for compliance with food facility 
          standards even when food is not being served.  Monkish 
          Brewing Company writes that beer tasting rooms have had to 

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          expend significant resources complying with regulations 
          written for restaurants and food preparation facilities 
          that have no relation to the health and safety of customers 
          in a tasting room.  CSBA further argues that this bill 
          helps to promote growth in California's beer manufacturing 
          industry.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 5/12/11 (Consent)
          AYES:  Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill 
            Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Chesbro, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, 
            Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, 
            Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, 
            Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, 
            Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, 
            Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, 
            Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, 
            Swanson, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, 
            John A. P�rez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alejo, Cedillo, Conway, Garrick, Gorell, 
            Roger Hern�ndez, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mitchell, Portantino, 
            Torres


          CTW:mw  6/28/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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