Retail food safety.

Under existing law, the California Retail Food Code, the State Department of Public Health establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities and local health agencies are required to enforce these provisions. A person who violates any provision of the code is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law requires food employees to wash their hands in accordance with specified provisions and prohibits food employees from contacting exposed, ready-to-eat food with their bare hands, except under certain conditions, including when washing fruits and vegetables and when not serving a highly susceptible population, as specified. This bill would instead require that food employees minimize bare hand and arm contact with nonprepackaged food that is in a ready-to-eat form. The bill would require food employees to use utensils, as specified, to assemble ready-to-eat food or to place ready-to-eat food on tableware or in other containers. The bill would authorize food employees to assemble or place on tableware or in other containers ready-to-eat food in an approved food preparation area without using utensils if hands are cleaned in accordance with specified provisions. The bill would require that food that has been served to the consumer and then wrapped or prepackaged at the direction of the consumer be handled only with utensils. The bill would require these utensils to be properly sanitized before reuse. By revising the standards that are required to be enforced by local health agencies and changing the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.