(Added by Ord. No. 153,436, Eff. 3/21/80.)
(a) Every person owning, operating, managing, leasing or renting any retail grocery store, grocery department within a general retail merchandise store, or liquor store shall cause to have a clearly readable price indicated on each packaged consumer commodity offered for sale. Each automatic checkout system store, participating in the test provided for concurrently with adoption of this section, will provide a means by which the customer may mark individual items. Automatic checkout system stores participating in said test shall cause to have a clearly readable price conspicuously displayed on a shelf tag where the item is shelved rather than indicated on each packaged consumer commodity offered for sale.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) Any unpackaged fresh food produce;
(2) Any consumer commodity which is under three cubic inches in size, weighs less than three ounces and is priced under thirty cents ($0.30);
(3) Any consumer commodity offered as a sale item or as a special;
(4) Any business which has as its only regular employees the owner thereof, or the parent, spouse, or child of such owner, or, in addition thereto, not more than two other regular employees;
(5) Identical items within a multi-item package;
(6) Items sold through a vending machine; and
(7) Any consumer commodity, not including packaged produce, which was not generally item priced as of January 1, 1977, as determined by the State of California Department of Food and Agriculture.
(c) The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this section:
(1) “Consumer commodity” means:
(A) Food, including all material whether solid, liquid, or mixed, and whether simple or compound, which is used or intended for consumption by human beings or domestic animals normally kept as household pets, and all substances or ingredients added to any such material for any purpose, but shall not include individual packages of cigarettes or individual cigars;
(B) Paper and plastic products, such as, but not limited to, napkins, facial tissues, toilet tissues, foil wrapping, plastic wrapping, paper toweling, and disposable plates and cups;
(C) Detergents, soaps, and other cleaning agents; and
(D) Pharmaceuticals, including non-prescription drugs, bandages, female hygiene products, and toiletries.
(2) “Grocery department” means an area within a general retail merchandise store which is engaged primarily in the retail sale of packaged food rather than food prepared for immediate consumption on or off the premises.
(3) “Grocery store” means a store engaged primarily in the retail sale of packaged food, rather than food prepared for consumption on the premises.
(4) “Sale item or special” means any consumer commodity offered in good faith for a period of seven days or less, on sale at a price below the normal price that item is usually sold for in that grocery store or grocery department.
(5) “Liquor store” means a store with an off sale liquor license, as defined in State law, engaged primarily in the sale of liquor Items.
(6) “Automatic checkout system” means an electronic system employing a scanning device combined with a computer and a register to read a universal product code or similar code on packaging and display and total the cost of the items purchased.
(d) Any person intentionally violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of an infraction, and upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to the fine for an infraction.