AB 831 — California Retail Food Code.

Summary

Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities for regulation by the State Department of Public Health, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce those provisions. A violation of the California Retail Food Code is generally a misdemeanor. Existing law defines "limited food preparation" and "limited service charitable feeding operation" for purposes of the California Retail Food Code. Existing law requires a proposed new or remodeled food facility to meet specified structural and other building requirements, but specifies that existing private school cafeterias and licensed health care facilities presumptively meet these requirements. Existing law limits the use of an outdoor wood-burning oven to the same premises as a permanent food facility. Under existing law, a remote food service operation located within a fully enclosed permanent food facility is not a satellite food service. Existing law exempts mobile food facilities from specified requirements, including the provision of clean toilet rooms for use by employees. Existing law requires a cottage food operation to label prepackaged foods with a notice that it was made or repackaged in a home kitchen. This bill would define "limited food preparation" to include holding, portioning, and dispensing foods prepared by a catering operation. The bill would expand the food service functions of a limited service charitable feeding operation to include, among other things, storage and distribution of commercially prepared and commercially packaged potentially hazardous cold or frozen foods, and would specify that an existing limited service charitable feeding operation facility is presumptively in compliance with structural and other building requirements for food facilities. The bill would expand the use of an outdoor wood-burning oven to additional facilities, including a temporary food facility or satellite food service. The bill would authorize a satellite food service to be temporarily located within a fully enclosed permanent food facility. The bill would authorize a local enforcement agency to exempt specified push carts operating outdoors from mechanical exhaust ventilation equipment requirements. The bill would require a cottage food operation that advertises to the public to indicate specified information on the advertisement, including that the food is made or repackaged in a home kitchen. Existing law requires food packaged using a reduced-oxygen packaging method in which Clostridium botulinum is identified as a microbiological hazard in the final prepackaged form to have a refrigerated shelf life of no more than 14 days from packaging to consumption. Existing law authorizes fish sold in a fishermen's market to be displayed whole or eviscerated, and authorizes a fishermen's market to provide a separate service to fillet, cut, or package fish for customers as a specified type of facility. This bill would extend the authorized refrigerated shelf life of food packaged using a reduced-oxygen packaging method in which Clostridium botulinum is identified as a microbiological hazard in the final prepackaged form to no more than 30 days from packaging to consumption. The bill would require a food facility that packages potentially hazardous foods using a cook-chill or sous vide process to meet specified requirements published by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The bill would authorize fish sold in a fishermen's market to be displayed packaged by an onsite permitted food facility or permitted food facility, and would authorize a fishermen's market to provide a separate service to fillet, cut, or package fish for customers at a fishermen's market booth. Existing law requires employees to thoroughly wash their hands and arms that come into direct food contact. Existing law requires single-use nonlatex gloves to be worn when contacting food and food-contact surfaces when specified criteria are met, and requires gloves to be changed, replaced, or washed as often as handwashing is required. This bill would authorize a food facility to incorporate an alternate double glove use procedure to handle raw animal proteins. By revising the standards that are enforced by local health agencies and by expanding the scope of existing crimes, the 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.

Bill Text

• Chaptered 08/31/21 - Chaptered Current pdf August 31, 2021
• Enrolled 08/17/21 - Enrolled pdf August 17, 2021
• Amended 07/07/21 - Amended Senate pdf July 07, 2021
• Introduced 02/17/21 - Introduced pdf February 17, 2021
• AB831 View text html

Action History

1. August 31, 2021

   Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 155, Statutes of 2021.

2. August 31, 2021

   Approved by the Governor.

3. August 20, 2021

   Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12 p.m.

4. August 16, 2021

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 2406.).

5. July 12, 2021

   In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after July 14 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

6. July 12, 2021

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1908.).

7. July 08, 2021

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

8. July 07, 2021

   Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

9. June 24, 2021

   Ordered to third reading.

10. June 24, 2021

    From Consent Calendar.

11. June 22, 2021

    Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

12. June 21, 2021

    From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar.

13. June 10, 2021

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 10). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

14. May 12, 2021

    Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

15. April 26, 2021

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

16. April 22, 2021

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1154.)

17. April 15, 2021

    Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

18. April 14, 2021

    From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 14).

19. March 24, 2021

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (March 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

20. February 25, 2021

    Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

21. February 18, 2021

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.

22. February 17, 2021

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Committee on Health · Primary

Votes

Subjects