SECTIONS 113947-113948 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 113947-113948

113947. (a) The person in charge and all food employees shall have
adequate knowledge of, and shall be properly trained in, food safety
as it relates to their assigned duties.
(b) For purposes of this section, "person in charge" means a
designated person who has knowledge of safe food handling practices
as they relate to the specific food preparation activities that occur
at the food facility.

113947.1. (a) Food facilities that prepare, handle, or serve
nonprepackaged potentially hazardous food, except temporary food
facilities, shall have an owner or employee who has successfully
passed an approved and accredited food safety certification
examination as specified in Sections 113947.2 and 113947.3. There
shall be at least one food safety certified owner or employee at each
food facility. No certified person at a food facility may serve at
any other food facility as the person required to be certified
pursuant to this subdivision. The certified owner or employee need
not be present at the food facility during all hours of operation.
(b) Food facilities that are not subject to the requirements of
subdivision (a) that prepare, handle, or serve nonprepackaged,
nonpotentially hazardous foods, except temporary food facilities,
shall do one of the following:
(1) Have an owner or employee who has successfully passed an
approved and accredited food safety certification examination as
specified in Sections 113947.2 and 113947.3.
(2) Demonstrate to the enforcement officer that the employees have
an adequate knowledge of food safety principles as they relate to
the specific operation involved in their assigned duties.
(c) On and after July 1, 2007, temporary food facilities that
prepare, handle, or serve nonprepackaged food shall have an owner or
person in charge who can demonstrate to the enforcement officer that
he or she has an adequate knowledge of food safety principles as they
relate to the specific food facility operation.
(d) (1) For the purposes of this section, multiple contiguous food
facilities permitted within the same site and under the same
management, ownership, or control shall be deemed to be one food
facility, notwithstanding the fact that the food facilities may
operate under separate permits.
(2) This subdivision shall not apply to the premises of a licensed
winegrower or brandy manufacturer utilized for wine tastings
conducted pursuant to Section 23356.1 of the Business and Professions
Code of wine or brandy produced or bottled by, or produced and
prepackaged for, that licensee when use is limited to wine tasting.
(e) A food facility that commences operation, changes ownership,
or no longer has a certified owner or employee pursuant to this
section shall have 60 days to comply with this subdivision.
(f) The responsibilities of a certified owner or employee at a
food facility or an owner or person in charge of a temporary food
facility described in subdivision (c) shall include the safety of
food preparation and service, including ensuring that all employees
who handle, or have responsibility for handling, nonprepackaged foods
of any kind, have sufficient knowledge to ensure the safe
preparation or service of the food, or both. The nature and extent of
the knowledge that each employee is required to have may be
tailored, as appropriate, to the employee's duties related to food
safety issues.
(g) The food safety certificate issued pursuant to Section
113947.3 shall be retained on file at the food facility at all times,
and shall be made available for inspection by the enforcement
officer.
(h) Certified individuals shall be recertified every five years by
passing an approved and accredited food safety certification
examination.
(i) A food safety program that was not in effect prior to January
1, 1999, shall not be enacted, adopted, implemented, or enforced,
unless the program fully conforms to the requirements of this part.

113947.2. The food safety certification examination for purposes of
Section 113947.1 shall include, but need not be limited to, all of
the following elements of knowledge:
(a) Foodborne illness, including terms associated with foodborne
illness, micro-organisms, hepatitis A, and toxins that can
contaminate food and the illness that can be associated with
contamination, definition and recognition of potentially hazardous
foods, chemical, biological, and physical contamination of food, and
the illnesses that can be associated with food contamination, and
major contributing factors for foodborne illness.
(b) The relationship between time and temperature with respect to
foodborne illness, including the relationship between time and
temperature and micro-organisms during the various food handling,
preparation, and serving states, and the type, calibration, and use
of thermometers in monitoring food temperatures.
(c) The relationship between personal hygiene and food safety,
including the association of hand contact, personal habits and
behaviors, and food employee health to foodborne illness, and the
recognition of how policies, procedures, and management contribute to
improved food safety practices.
(d) Methods of preventing food contamination in all stages of food
handling, including terms associated with contamination and
potential hazards prior to, during, and after delivery.
(e) Procedures for cleaning and sanitizing equipment and utensils.
(f) Problems and potential solutions associated with facility and
equipment design, layout, and construction.
(g) Problems and potential solutions associated with temperature
control, preventing cross-contamination, housekeeping, and
maintenance.

113947.3. (a) Food safety certification required pursuant to
Section 113947.1 shall be achieved by successfully passing an
examination from an accredited food protection manager certification
organization. The certification organization shall be accredited by
the American National Standards Institute as meeting the requirements
of the Conference for Food Protection's "Standards for Accreditation
of Food Protection Manager Certification Programs." Those food
employees who successfully pass an approved certification examination
shall be issued a certificate by the certifying organization. The
issuance date for each original certificate issued pursuant to this
section shall be the date when the individual successfully completes
the examination. Certificates shall be valid for five years from the
date of original issuance. Any replacement or duplicate certificate
shall have as its expiration date the same expiration date that was
on the original certificate.
(b) (1) By July 20, 2008, the department, in consultation with the
California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health,
representatives of the retail food industry, and other interested
parties, shall develop and implement a program for the purposes of
demonstrating adequate knowledge for operators of temporary food
facilities.
(2) At least one of the accredited food safety certification
examinations shall cost no more than sixty dollars ($60), including
the certificate. However, the department may adjust the cost of food
safety certification examinations to reflect actual expenses incurred
in producing and administering the food safety certification
examinations required under this section. If a food safety
certification examination is not available at the price established
by the department, the certification and recertification requirements
relative to food safety certification examinations imposed by this
section shall not apply.
(3) At least one of the accredited food safety certification
examinations shall be offered online.

113947.4. Except as provided in Section 113947.5, no city, county,
or city and county may enact, adopt, implement, or enforce any
requirement that any food facility or any person certified pursuant
to this section do any of the following:
(a) Obtain any food safety certificate or other document in
addition to the certificate required by Section 113947.1.
(b) Post, place, maintain, or keep the certificate other than as
specified in subdivision (e) of Section 113947.1.
(c) Pay any fee or other sum as a condition for having a
certificate verified, validated, or otherwise processed by the city,
county, or city and county.

113947.5. Certification conferred pursuant to this part shall be
recognized throughout the state. Nothing in this part shall be
construed to prohibit any enforcement agency from implementing or
enforcing a food handler program that took effect prior to January 1,
1998, but only in the form in which the program existed prior to
January 1, 1998.

113947.6. Notwithstanding Section 114395, a violation of any
provision in Sections 113947.1 to 113947.5, inclusive, shall
constitute an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than one
hundred dollars ($100) for each day of operation in violation.

113948. (a) (1) Subject to the exceptions described in subdivision
(d), a food handler who is hired prior to June 1, 2011, shall obtain
a food handler card from a food protection manager certification
organization described in Section 113947.3 on or before July 1, 2011.
Food handlers hired on or after June 1, 2011, shall obtain a food
handler card within 30 days after the date of hire. Each food handler
shall maintain a valid food handler card for the duration of his or
her employment as a food handler.
(2) Food handler cards shall be valid for three years from the
date of issuance, regardless of whether the food handler changes
employers during that period.
(3) A food handler card shall be recognized throughout the state,
except in jurisdictions described in subdivision (e).
(b) A food handler card shall be issued only upon successful
completion of an approved food handler training course and assessment
that meets at least all of the following requirements:
(1) The course provides basic, introductory instruction on the
elements of knowledge described in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d),
(e), and (g) of Section 113947.2.
(2) The course and assessment is designed to be completed within
approximately two and one-half hours.
(3) The assessment consists of at least 40 questions regarding the
required subject matter.
(4) A minimum score of 70 percent on the assessment is required to
successfully complete the assessment.
(c) The food handler training course and assessment may be offered
through a trainer-led class and assessment or self-training and
assessment. For purposes of this section, "self-training and
assessment" means a process where the individual trains, and takes an
assessment, without the presence or intervention of a trainer or
instructor, and includes, but is not limited to, training and
assessment through the use of a computer program or the Internet.
(d) This section shall not apply to a food handler who is employed
by any of the following:
(1) Certified farmer's markets.
(2) Commissaries.
(3) Grocery stores, except for separately owned food facilities to
which this section otherwise applies that are located in the grocery
store. For purposes of this paragraph, "grocery store" means a store
primarily engaged in the retail sale of canned food, dry goods,
fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh meats, fish, and poultry and
any area that is not separately owned within the store where food is
prepared and served, including a bakery, deli, and meat and seafood
counter. "Grocery store" includes convenience stores.
(4) Licensed health care facilities.
(5) Mobile support units.
(6) Public and private school cafeterias.
(7) Restricted food service facilities.
(8) Retail stores in which a majority of sales are from a
pharmacy, as defined in Section 4037 of the Business and Professions
Code.
(9) A food facility that provides in-house food safety training to
all employees involved in the preparation, storage, or service of
food if all of the following conditions are met:
(A) The food facility uses a training course that has been
approved for use by the food facility in another state that has
adopted the requirements described in Subpart 2-103.11 of the 2001
edition of the model Food Code, not including the April 2004 update,
published by the federal Food and Drug Administration.
(B) Upon request, the food facility provides evidence satisfactory
to the local enforcement officer demonstrating that the food
facility training program has been approved for use in another state
pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(C) The training is provided during normal work hours, and at no
cost to the employee.
(10) A food facility that is subject to a collective bargaining
agreement with its food handlers.
(e) The requirements of this section shall not apply to a food
handler subject to an existing local food handler program that took
effect prior to January 1, 2009.
(f) Each food facility that employs a food handler subject to the
requirements of this section shall maintain records documenting that
each food handler employed by the food facility possesses a valid
food handler card, and shall provide those records to the local
enforcement officer upon request.
(g) At least one food handler training course and assessment shall
cost no more than fifteen dollars ($15), including a food handler
card. If a food handler training course and assessment is not
available at that cost, the requirement to obtain a food handler card
imposed by this section shall not apply.