BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Deborah V. Ortiz, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2214
A
AUTHOR: Tran
B
AMENDED: May 30, 2006
HEARING DATE: June 28, 2006
2
FISCAL: Appropriations
2
1
CONSULTANT:
4
Patterson / ak
SUBJECT
Asian food: study
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Health Services (DHS)
to conduct a study on the effects of retail food facility
health and sanitation standards on the sale and consumption
of traditional Asian food.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1.Establishes the California Uniform Retail Food Facilities
Law (CURFFL) for the regulation of the health and
sanitation standards for retail food facilities by DHS.
2.Specifies that a violation of any provision of CURFFL is
a misdemeanor.
3.Defines "potentially hazardous food" as any food capable
of:
a. supporting rapid and progressive growth of
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2214 (Tran) Page
2
infectious or toxigenic microorganisms that may cause
food infections or food intoxications; or,
b. supporting the growth or toxin production of
Clostridium botulinum. Excludes from the definition
foods that have a pH level of 4.6 or below, foods that
have a water activity (Aw) value of 0.85 or less under
standard conditions, food products in hermetically
sealed containers processed to meet the commercial
sterility standard or food that has been shown by
appropriate microbial challenge studies approved by
the enforcement agency not to support the rapid and
progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic
microorganisms.
4.Requires all potentially hazardous food to be held at or
below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, or kept at or above 135
degrees Fahrenheit at all times. Allows potentially
hazardous foods to be held for up to four hours without
having to be temperature controlled.
This bill:
1.Establishes the Asian Traditional Food Act which finds
and declares that a process must be considered to allow
for foods tied to traditional Asian ceremonies be sold
and consumed according to those traditions, and that
requiring food retailers to follow health and sanitation
standards is necessary to preserve public health.
2.Requires DHS to conduct a study of the sale and
consumption of traditional Asian food, as a means of
finding methods that may permit the sale and consumption
of these foods while providing adequate health and
sanitation standards that protect public health.
3.Requires DHS to submit this study to the Legislature on
January 1, 2008.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to Assembly Appropriations Committee, there would
be a one-time General Fund cost of approximately $120,000.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2214 (Tran) Page
3
Purpose of the bill
According to the author, existing time and temperature
standards applied to foods exchanged and consumed during
traditional Asian festivals are preventing these foods from
being consumed in a traditional manner. The author points
out that a community of small bakeries which supply these
foods, including rice cakes (Banh Chung and Banh Tet) and
moon cakes, for consumption during the festivals are forced
to discard the food after only four hours due to time and
temperature restrictions. The author states that many
community businesses are prevented from selling and
allowing these foods to be consumed according to tradition
because of such strict health standards.
The author maintains Asian Americans come to California
with rich heritage and traditions that have withstood the
test of time, and that these traditions should continue.
The author contends that it is necessary for the state to
consider avenues to allow these traditional foods to be
consumed while balancing public health.
California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law (CURFFL)
CURFFL provides for uniform statewide health and sanitation
standards for food facilities to assure that food consumed
by individuals will be pure, safe, and unadulterated.
Primary responsibility of CURFFL enforcement lies with
local health agencies. Upon findings of CURFFL violations,
an enforcement officer may, among other things, impound
food that is found or suspected to be contaminated or
adulterated. Furthermore, any individual that is found to
have violated CURFFL may be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Under CURFFL, a potentially hazardous food shall be held at
or below 45 degrees Fahrenheit or at or above 135 degrees
Fahrenheit at all times. The food shall be cooked and
served, served if ready-to-eat, or discarded within four
hours after the time when the food is removed from
temperature control. Food in unmarked containers or
packages shall be discarded after the four-hour time limit.
CURFFL also provides for temporary food facilities which
operate on a temporary basis in conjunction with a single,
weekly or monthly community event. The requirements are
very similar to those of other retail food facilities, but
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2214 (Tran) Page
4
allow for the foods to be held at 45 degrees Fahrenheit,
rather than 41 degrees, and also allow for the foods to be
held at this temperature for up to 12 hours in a 24-hour
time period. Furthermore, food facilities are not required
to refrigerate foods during the 12 hours, as long as they
are held at 45 degrees or lower, which may be accomplished
with a portable ice chest. At the end of the 12-hour
period, the food must be held at or below 41 degrees or
discarded.
Traditional food project
The Orange County Health Care Agency established a
Traditional Foods Project (project) in September 2003. The
project brought together local Vietnamese restaurant and
market owners, community leaders, health educators,
academia, the United States Department of Agriculture and
the Orange County Health Care Agency to find creative
solutions to food safety within the Vietnamese community.
A Partnership Committee (committee) was established with
the goal of improving food safety without compromising the
food's taste or quality for consumers. The committee
reviewed the characteristics of the traditional Vietnamese
foods, identified specific foods for laboratory analysis,
and modeled food storage and handling procedures. A public
media campaign entitled "Fresh is Best" was also part of
the project.
Banh Chung and Banh Tet Chuoi, traditional Asian foods,
were tested to determine if such products were potentially
hazardous. Banh Chung is a square-shaped rice package of
sticky rice, mung bean puree and seasoned pork. Banh Tet
Chuoi is a traditional bundle of sticky rice, pork fat and
soy bean paste squashed into a banana leaf cylinder. The
testing included submission of the products for computer
projection testing for predictive microbiological modeling.
Water activity and acidity measurements were also
conducted. In addition, the two products were also
submitted to microbiological inoculation with pathogenic
organisms, including thermal treatment and post process
handling. The tests revealed the Banh Chung and Banh Chuoi
are deemed "potentially hazardous" and require temperature
control management. Moon Cake products were not selected
by the project for testing. However, according to the
project, moon cakes may be considered potentially hazardous
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2214 (Tran) Page
5
due to their ingredients which include foods considered
generally hazardous such as cooked green beans, eggs and
sausage.
Continued---
Related legislation
AB 187 (Liu, Chapter 204, Statutes of 2001) permits food
establishments to sell Korean rice cakes, as defined,
that have been at room temperature for less than 24
hours, and requires manufacturers of Korean rice cakes to
provide a date stamp indicating the date of manufacture
and a warning label that the rice cake must be consumed
within one day of manufacture.
AB 2763 (Diaz, 2004) would have allowed temporary food
facilities to keep sushi, teriyaki chicken, and manju at
room temperature for up to 24 hours, and would have
required that these foods be labeled with the time of
manufacture. This bill failed passage in the Senate
Health and Human Services Committee.
SB 144 (Runner, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2006) repeals and
reenacts the California Uniformed Retail Food Facilities
Law as the California Retail Food Code, including
potentially hazardous foods, effective July 1, 2007.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
1.Given the broad ethnic diversity within the Asian
population, there may be a wide variety of foods that
could be considered traditional Asian foods. Should the
bill define which traditional Asian foods are included in
the proposed study?
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor: 75 - 1 Pass
Assembly Appropriations:17 - 0 Do Pass as Amended
Assembly Health: 12 - 0 Do Pass
POSITIONS
Support: None received.
Oppose: None received.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2214 (Tran) Page
7
-- END --