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Part 7 of Division 104 of the California Health and Safety Code (HSC) (sections 113700 et seq.), also referred to as the California Retail Food Code (CRFC), provides Statewide health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities. These sections allow a county to establish some local requirements for retail food facilities and their employees. These sections also provide that a local enforcement agency shall have primary enforcement responsibility for the State regulations in its jurisdiction. The purposes of this Division are to clarify and explain the CRFC for local implementation where necessary, to adopt additional regulations for retail food facilities and their employees to protect the public health and safety in San Diego County, to codify and amend a long-standing County program to regulate caterers, and to appoint the Department of Environmental Health and Quality to enforce State and County regulations for retail food facilities and their employees.
Because they are not based on the CRFC, the food facility grading and food handler requirements in this Division (at sections 61.107, 61.108, 61.114 and 61.115) are directly applicable only in the unincorporated portions of San Diego County. However, parallel provisions have been enacted in all of the incorporated cities in the County. Because private event catering is not retail food service as defined in the CRFC, requirements applicable to caterers when preparing and serving food at private events (in Chapter 3 of this Division) are based on County general powers in the unincorporated area (California Constitution, article 11, section 7), and on parallel city ordinances and on State-law health officer powers in incorporated cities. The substantive content of those requirements is based on the CRFC.
Because the Director is the environmental health officer in all incorporated cities in the County (as authorized by State law and by agreement with each city), parallel city ordinance provisions for food facility grading, food handlers and private event caterers are also administered and enforced by the Director. All other provisions of this Division, including all provisions applicable to direct-sales caterers, implement the CRFC and apply County-wide pursuant to the CRFC. All requirements in this Division are administered and enforced by the Director.
This Division does not override any local land use requirement or limitation, or any local regulation on where mobile food facilities may operate.
(Added by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10218 (N.S.), effective 8-24-12; amended by Ord. No. 10452 (N.S.), effective 1-13-17; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10766 (N.S.), effective 2-25-22; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
The following definitions shall apply to this chapter and to Chapter 3 of this Title:
"CFO" means "Cottage Food Operation" as defined in HSC section 113758.
"CMFO" means "Compact Mobile Food Operation," including the use of carts as defined in HSC section 113831(c).
"CRFC" means the California Retail Food Code, which is codified in the California Health and Safety Code.
"Department" means the County Department of Environmental Health and Quality.
"Director" means the Director of Environmental Health and any person appointed by the Director to enforce or administer this chapter.
"Equipment" has the same meaning as the term "equipment" in HSC section 113777.
"Expedited Plan Check Inspection" means plan check field inspection service that is provided within an accelerated time frame.
"Expedited Plan Review" means plan review service that is provided at an accelerated time frame.
"Food" has the same meaning as the term "food" in HSC section 113781.
"Food facility" has the same meaning as the term "food facility" in HSC section 113789, and also includes a "catering operation" or "catering facility" and a "catering host facility" as defined in Chapter 3 of this Title.
"Food handler" means a person who prepares, handles, packages, serves or stores food or handles utensils, or assists another person in any of those tasks at a food facility that requires a permit pursuant to this chapter.
"HSC" means the California Health and Safety Code.
"Imminent health hazard" has the same meaning as the term "imminent health hazard" in HSC section 113810.
"Limited beverage service" means for the purpose of section 65.107(a), a temporary food facility operation that only serves non-potentially hazardous beverages requiring no preparation other than dispensing from the approved container or draft, directly into the consumer's beverage container. Limited beverage service does not include any operation that requires the mixing of ingredients, addition of ice or garnishes to a beverage, or the addition of any potentially hazardous ingredients.
"Low-Risk Food Facility" means for purposes of section 65.107(a):
(a) A retail food facility that is operating as defined in HSC Section 113818 with the additional allowance of slicing of ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food for immediate service.
(b) A facility that only serves frozen milk products.
(c) A facility that holds an Alcoholic Beverage Control license type 42 or 48 facility, as long as the facility does not engage in slicing, chopping or grinding of raw potentially hazardous foods, reheating for hot holding, washing of foods, or cooking, baking, barbecuing, broiling, frying or grilling any food.
"MEHKO" means "Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation" as defined in HSC Section 113825.
"Minor remodel" means the installation of new equipment to an existing facility, or the construction, building, repair, or alteration of existing areas of the facility that does not exceed 300 square feet and includes, but is not limited to, structural, plumbing, mechanical, or electrical work.
"Miscellaneous Food Facility" means a facility with 25 square feet or more of food display and storage area (including Candy Stores, Concession Stands, Host Facilities, and Prepackaged Non-Potentially Hazardous Foods), and Catering Equipment Rentals and Retail Food Delivery (delivery of food made at a retail food facility to another location by a person other than an employee of the retail food facility where the food was prepared).
"Multiple Kitchen Complex Operation" means any establishment used as a place of business for the purpose of leasing, renting, or otherwise providing individual commercial kitchen space to independent retail food facility operations, where that space is not used or shared by another operator. Common shared infrastructure such as restroom facilities, janitorial facilities, dry food storage, and refrigerated and/or frozen food storage is provided for each individual tenant to use.
"Prepare" means to package, process, assemble, portion or engage in any operation that changes the form, flavor or consistency of food, but does not include trimming produce.
"Ready-to-eat food" has the same meaning as the term "ready-to-eat food" in HSC section 113881.
"Retail Food Processing" means for the purpose of section 65.107a, any food facility that has no on-site indoor or outdoor dining and processes and packages food for retail sales for delivery, pick-up, or take-out only, and does not have a prepackaged retail sales floor. Examples of this type of operation include but are not limited to the following:
(a) Facilities operating from shared permitted kitchens that produce pre-ordered individual retail sales (food/beverages) for delivery, pick-up, or take-out only.
(b) Facilities that process and package food for retail sales that may also have processed food registrations/licenses with the California Department of Public Health, California Department of Food and Agriculture, or the United States Department of Food and Agriculture.
(c) Facilities offering prepared food to-go that may require additional preparation or cooking.
(d) Sushi makers inside grocery stores.
(e) Tortilleria/Popsicle manufacturers.
(f) Commissary/Prep kitchens for delivery to the other locations (owned by same business).
"Revision" means any plan submittal required for corrections identified or minor changes to the initial submittal for any New, Major Remodel, or Minor Remodel project.
"School Auxiliary Facility" means an educational facility that is serviced by a School Food Processing Facility, or other permitted food facility, and conducts processes that include but are not limited to dispensing, reheating, and storage of potentially hazardous foods. Auxiliary Facilities may open prepackaged food as necessary to stock an onsite salad bar and rinse whole uncut produce. All other food preparation, including the slicing and processing of produce, must be conducted at a School Food Processing Facility.
"School Food Processing Facility" means an educational facility that conducts full processing including, but is not limited to, handling, preparing, assembling, cooking, cooling, and reheating of potentially hazardous foods; washing and slicing of produce. This site may be a stand-alone site, or a centralized location that services multiple auxiliary kitchens.
"Tableware" has the same meaning as the term "tableware" in HSC section 113926.
"Utensil" has the same meaning as the term "utensil" in HSC section 113934.
(Added by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10218 (N.S.), effective 8-24-12; amended by Ord. No. 10238 (N.S.), effective 1-4-13; amended by Ord. No. 10452 (N.S.), effective 1-13-17; amended by Ord. No. 10606 (N.S.), effective 7-1-19; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10733 (N.S.), effective 7-1-21; amended by Ord. No. 10766 (N.S.), effective 2-25-22; amended by Ord. No. 10786 (N.S.), effective 7-1-22; amended by Ord. No. 10848 (N.S.), effective 7-1-23; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
The Department shall be the local enforcement agency for the CRFC and the regulations adopted in this Division, and for parallel food facility grading, food handler, and caterer requirements adopted by cities within the County.
(Added by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10218 (N.S.), effective 8-24-12; amended by Ord. No. 10452 (N.S.), effective 1-13-17; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
(a) A person who is required to obtain a food facility permit pursuant to the CRFC shall submit an application for the permit to the Department on a form provided by the Department and pay all applicable permit fees. The permit shall be available on site for review upon request and shall not be defaced or marred. Restaurant operators with a food facility permit may cater private events without an additional permit. All other catering requires a catering permit. The application for a permit shall be accompanied by the annual permit fee, if any, required in Title 6, Division 5, Chapter 1. (See County Code section 65.107(a).) Where a plan check or plan consultation is required, the time-based fee specified in Title 6, Division 5, Chapter 1 must be paid before a permit or other approval to operate is issued. (See County Code section 65.107(m).)
(b) A person organizing a community event or swap meet at which any food vendor claims exclusion from "food facility" status pursuant to Health and Safety Code 113789(c)(4) (i.e., based on operation of the event for the benefit of a non-profit, and the absence of any monetary benefit to the for-profit food vendor other than that resulting from recognition from participating in the event) shall submit with the application for an organizer's permit for the event one of the following:
(i) A certification by an individual authorized to represent the organizer, sworn under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, identifying each vendor claiming this exclusion, and stating that the signatory has confirmed after reasonable inquiry that the organizer has procedures in place to collect all revenues received by those vendors in excess of each vendor's direct costs of participating in the event, and has procedures in place to remit those excess revenues, less any contractual fee retained by the organizer, to the non-profit beneficiary of the event.
(ii) Certifications by individuals authorized to represent each vendor claiming this exclusion, sworn under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, stating that the vendor had procedures in place to determine its event revenues in excess of its direct costs of participating in the event, and will remit those excess revenues if any either directly to the non-profit beneficiary of the event, or to the organizer for distribution to non-profit beneficiary.
(c) Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 114390(b)(1), the Director may require any food vendor doing business at an event without a temporary food facility permit or a statement as set out in subsection (b) on file with the Department to provide documentation of receipts, expenses, and remittances to the non-profit beneficiary of that event sufficient to show eligibility for exclusion for that event under Health and Safety Code section 113789(c)(4).
(Added by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10218 (N.S.), effective 8-24-12; amended by Ord. No. 10412 (N.S.), effective 2-26-16; amended by Ord. No. 10452 (N.S.), effective 1-13-17; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10733 (N.S.), effective 7-1-21; amended by Ord. No. 10786 (N.S.), effective 7-1-22; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
When the Department initiates an enforcement action against a person operating a food facility without a permit required by the CRFC the Department may recover its enforcement costs from the violator, up to a maximum of three times the cost of the permit. After the enforcement activity has been completed, the Department may send the violator a penalty assessment for its enforcement costs. The violator shall pay the assessment within 15 days from the date of the assessment or at the time the violator applies for the permit, whichever occurs first.
(Added by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10218 (N.S.), effective 8-24-12; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
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