BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1465
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 16, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    SB 1465 (Yee) - As Amended:  August 13, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              HealthVote:16 - 1 


          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          Current law requires that non-refrigerated Asian rice-based 
          noodles be sold within four hours of manufacturing. This bill 
          would exempt noodles from the four-hour limit that have a pH of 
          4.6 or below, a water activity of 0.85 or below, or that the 
          Department of Public Health has found to be a non-potentially 
          hazardous food.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          There are no significant costs associated with this legislation.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  This bill is intended as a follow up to SB 888 
            (Yee), Chapter 508, Statutes of 2010, which allows the sale of 
            Asian rice-based noodles that have been kept out of 
            refrigeration for no more than four hours and requires 
            manufacturers to label the product with a time and date stamp 
            and a statement indicating the noodles must be consumed within 
            four hours of manufacture.  

            The author contends that the four hour timeframe set by SB 888 
            creates problems for manufacturers in Southern California 
            because they transport their product to various buyers 
            throughout the region.  The author states that in order to 
            extend the shelf life of the product, some manufacturers add 
            sodium acid sulfate, a chemical food additive, to the product 
            for preservation.  As a result, the author argues that this 
            bill is needed to clarify that Asian rice-based noodles 
            formulated with sodium acid sulfate, or another 








                                                                  SB 1465
                                                                  Page  2

            nonanimal-based ingredient, that maintain the noodles at a pH 
            level of below 4.6 are not considered a potentially hazardous 
            food and therefore should not be subject to the four-hour 
            limitation. 



           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081