BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1513
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1513 (Allen)
As Amended April 17, 2012
Majority vote
HEALTH 13-5 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Monning, Ammiano, Atkins, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Bonilla, Eng, Gordon, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Hayashi, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, Bonnie | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Lowenthal, Mitchell, Pan, | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| |V. Manuel P�rez, Williams | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Mansoor, Nestande, |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| |Silva, Smyth | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Revises the California Retail Food Code (CRFC), which
governs all aspects of retail food safety and sanitation in
California, to include sanitation and safety requirements for
indoor and outdoor playgrounds on the premises of retail food
facilities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Clarifies that the existing requirement in the CRFC, for all
premises of a food facility be kept clean, fully operative,
and in good repair, applies to indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
2)Requires a playground on the premises of a retail food
facility to meet the same standard of cleanliness that exists
for all other areas of the facility, except food handling and
preparation areas, pursuant to existing law in 1) above.
3)Subjects a retail food facility with a playground to all of
the following requirements:
a) Develop a plan to ensure that indoor playground areas
are kept clean and free of hazardous conditions, including,
but not limited to, cracked or broken playground
structures;
b) Display, or furnish upon request, the retail food
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facility's playground maintenance policy and dates on which
the playground was last inspected and cleaned; and,
c) Post a sign prohibiting customers from taking food
directly on playground structures, including climbing
structures and slides, except that food may be taken to and
consumed within rest or observation areas in or near the
playground area.
4)Defines "playground," for purposes of this bill, to mean an
improved area designed, equipped, and set aside for children's
play that is not intended for use as an athletic playing field
or athletic court, and includes any playground equipment, fall
zones, surface materials, access ramps, and all areas within
and including the designated enclosure and barriers.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs associated with this bill would be minor and
absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS : The author states that indoor playgrounds offered by
restaurants can pose unique challenges for cleanliness and
safety due to their close proximity to food. The author
maintains that current law governing food safety and sanitation,
the CRFC, lacks clarity with respect to ensuring that
playgrounds that are a part of food establishments are
sufficiently clean and safe for use by California's children.
According to the author, this bill is intended to bring more
specificity to state and local regulation of the nonfood areas
in food facilities by clarifying that indoor and outdoor
playgrounds are to be treated as part of a food facility's
premises that must be kept clean, fully operative, and in good
repair; and, requiring a food facility with an indoor playground
to develop a plan to keep the playground areas clean and free of
hazards to children, including cracked or broken play
structures.
According to the author, a group called Kids Play Safe (KPS) was
founded by two mothers, one of whom is a child development
professor and the other a microbiologist, to raise awareness of
the potential health and safety risks that indoor play areas in
restaurants pose to children. The author notes that these women
have visited dozens of restaurants with playgrounds in 11
states, including California, in recent months to test them for
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cleanliness. The author states that their visits and the
results from lab analyses of samples they collected have
revealed the widespread presence of an array of pathogens, from
coliform (fecal) bacteria to staphylococcus, at levels that
indicate these playgrounds are not disinfected as frequently as
necessary.
The founders of KPS also report that they have identified
maintenance problems with these structures including broken
second-story windows, cracks in slides and tubes, torn netting,
missing bolts and screws, and graffiti. They also note that
they have received hundreds of stories from parents describing
their children's illnesses and injuries that have occurred as a
result of their experiences in these play areas. KPS states on
its Web site that there are currently no regulations at the
state or the federal level that require food establishments with
indoor playgrounds to keep them clean or safe, and, without
regulatory incentive, most facilities either do not have proper
corporate cleaning and maintenance procedures or they are not
being enforced. Moderate estimates indicate that there are more
than 15,000 of these facilities in operation nationwide, each
with an average of 50 children per day at play.
The California Restaurant Association (CRA) states that
restaurant playgrounds must be cleaned and maintained in
accordance with the cleaning standards in a facility's
operations manual. These standards include procedures for
stringent sanitizing that follow the manufacturer's
recommendations for daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning. Some
restaurant playgrounds are also required to be cleaned by a
professional cleaning service on a quarterly basis.
Additionally, the CRA notes that some food facilities provide
step by step cleaning instruction manuals with video training in
each of their locations and install hand sanitizer stations for
customers and employees to use.
The Consumer Federation of California writes in support that
adding indoor and outdoor food facility playgrounds to current
law requiring the premises to be kept clean, fully operative,
and in good repair will ensure that these playgrounds are safe
for use and protect children from the health and safety risks
associated with their wear and tear.
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Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097FN: 0003456