Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

Consumer access to a food facility through the food preparation area is permissible, at the discretion of the permitholder, if ready-to-eat foods are prepared in approved areas separated from sources of contamination by a space of at least three feet from the consumer and in area…

(a) Food shall be protected from cross-contamination by utilizing one or more of the following methods: (1) Separating raw food of animal origin during transportation, storage, preparation, holding, and display from raw ready-to-eat food, including other raw food of animal origin…

(a) Food shall be protected from contamination that may result from the addition of unsafe or unapproved food or color additives or unsafe or unapproved levels of approved food and color additives. (b) A food employee may not apply sulfiting agents to fresh fruits and vegetables …

Ice that has been used as a medium for cooling the exterior surfaces of food such as melons or fish, prepackaged foods such as canned beverages, or cooling coils and tubes of equipment, shall not be used as food.

(a) Produce shall be thoroughly washed in potable water to remove soil and other contaminants before being cut, combined with other ingredients, cooked, served, or offered for human consumption in ready-to-eat form, except as specified in subdivision (b) and except when intended …

(a) Except during preparation, cooking, cooling, transportation to or from a retail food facility for a period of less than 30 minutes, or when time is used as the public health control as specified under Section 114000, or as otherwise provided in this section, potentially hazar…

If it is necessary to remove potentially hazardous food from the specified holding temperatures to facilitate preparation, this preparation shall in no case exceed two cumulative hours without a return to the specified holding temperatures.

(a) Except as specified in subdivision (b), if time only, rather than time in conjunction with temperature, is used as the public health control for a working supply of potentially hazardous food before cooking or for ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food that is displayed or h…

(a) Whenever food has been prepared or heated so that it becomes potentially hazardous, it shall be rapidly cooled if not held at or above 135°F. (b) After heating or hot holding, potentially hazardous food shall be cooled rapidly from 135ºF to 41°F or below within six hours and,…

(a) The rapid cooling of potentially hazardous foods shall be accomplished in accordance with the time and temperature criteria specified in Section 114002 by using one or more of the following methods based on the type of food being cooled: (1) Placing the food in shallow pans. …

(a) Except as specified in subdivision (b) or (c), raw animal foods such as eggs, fish, meat, poultry, and foods containing these raw animal foods shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to a temperature and for a time that complies with the following methods based on the f…

Raw foods of animal origin cooked in a microwave oven shall meet all of the following requirements: (a) Be rotated or stirred throughout or midway during cooking to compensate for uneven distribution of heat. (b) Be covered to retain surface moisture. (c) Be heated to a temperatu…

Fruits and vegetables that are cooked for hot holding shall be cooked to a minimum temperature of 135ºF.

Except as specified in Section 114091, pasteurized eggs or pasteurized egg products shall be substituted for raw shell eggs in the preparation of foods such as Caesar salad, hollandaise or Béarnaise sauce, mayonnaise, eggnog, ice cream, and egg-fortified beverages that are not co…

Cooked and refrigerated food that is prepared for immediate service in response to an individual consumer order may be served at any temperature.

(a) Except as specified under subdivisions (b) and (c), potentially hazardous food that is cooked, cooled, and reheated for hot holding shall be reheated so that all parts of the food reach a temperature of at least 165°F for 15 seconds. (b) Except as specified under subdivision …

Frozen foods shall be stored and displayed in their frozen state unless being thawed in accordance with Section 114020.

Frozen potentially hazardous food shall only be thawed in one of the following ways: (a) Under refrigeration that maintains the food temperature at 41°F or below. (b) Completely submerged under potable running water for a period not to exceed two hours at a water temperature of 7…

(a) Food shall be obtained from sources that comply with all applicable laws. (b) Food stored or prepared in a private home shall not be used or offered for sale in a food facility, unless that food is prepared by a cottage food operation that is registered or has a permit pursua…

Food in a hermetically sealed container shall be obtained from a food processing plant that is regulated by the food regulatory agency that has jurisdiction over the plant, or from a cottage food operation that produces jams, jellies, and preserves and that is registered or has a…

(a) Liquid, frozen, and dry eggs and egg products shall be obtained pasteurized. (b) Frozen milk products, such as ice cream, shall be obtained pasteurized as specified in 21 C.F.R. 135–Frozen Desserts. (c) Fluid and dry milk and milk products complying with Grade A standard as s…

Ice for use as a food or a cooling medium shall be made from potable water.

Fish that are received for sale or service shall be commercially and legally caught or harvested.

(a) Molluscan shellfish shall be obtained from sources according to law or the requirements specified in the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, National Shellfish Sanitation Program Guide for the Control of …

(a) Game animals shall be received from an approved source. (b) A game animal shall not be received for sale or service if it is a species of wildlife that is listed in 50 C.F.R. 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants or is listed as an endangered or threatened animal b…

(a) Food shall be inspected as soon as practicable upon receipt and prior to any use, storage, or resale. (b) Food shall be accepted only if the inspection conducted upon receipt determines that the food satisfies all of the following: (1) Was prepared by and received from approv…

(a) Except as specified in subdivision (b), refrigerated, potentially hazardous food may be at a temperature of 45°F or below when received, if the potentially hazardous food is cooled within four hours of receipt to a temperature at or below 41°F. (b) If a temperature other than…

(a) Raw shucked shellfish shall be obtained in nonreturnable packages that bear a legible label that identifies the name, address, and certification number of the shucker-packer or repacker of the molluscan shellfish, and a “sell by” date or a “best if used by” date for packages …

(a) Shellstock shall be obtained in containers bearing legible source identification tags or labels that are affixed by the harvester or each dealer that depurates, ships, or reships the shellstock. Except as specified by subdivision (c), on the harvester’s or dealer’s tag or lab…

When received by a food facility, shellstock shall be reasonably free of mud, dead shellfish, and shellfish with broken shells. Dead shellfish or shellstock with badly broken shells shall be discarded.

(a) Except as specified in subdivisions (b) and (c), molluscan shellfish shall not be removed from the container in which they are received other than immediately before sale or preparation for service. (b) Shellstock may be removed from the container in which they are received a…

(a) Except as specified by subdivision (b), shellstock tags shall remain attached to the container in which the shellstock are received until the container is empty. (b) The identity of the source of shellstock that are sold or served shall be maintained for 90 calendar days from…

(a) Except as specified in subdivision (b), molluscan shellfish life-support system display tanks shall not be used to display shellfish that are offered for human consumption and shall be conspicuously marked so that it is obvious to the consumer that the shellfish are for displ…

(a) Shell eggs shall be received clean and sound. (b) Shell eggs shall not exceed the restricted egg tolerances for United States Consumer Grade B Standards.

(a) Adequate and suitable space shall be provided for the storage of food. (b) Except as specified in subdivisions (c), (d), and (e), food shall be protected from contamination by storing the food in a clean, dry location, where it is not exposed to splash, dust, vermin, or other…

Food shall not be stored in any of the following ways: (a) In locker rooms. (b) In toilet rooms. (c) In dressing rooms. (d) In refuse rooms. (e) In mechanical rooms. (f) Under sewer lines that are not shielded to intercept potential drips. (g) Under leaking water lines, including…

Working containers holding food or food ingredients that are removed from their original packages for use in the food facility, such as cooking oils, flour, herbs, potato flakes, salt, spices, and sugar, shall be identified with the common name of the food, except that containers…

(a) Prepackaged food may not be stored in direct contact with ice or water if the food is subject to the entry of water because of the nature of its packaging, wrapping, or container, or its positioning in the ice or water. (b) Except as specified in subdivisions (c) and (d), non…

(a) Products that are held by the permitholder for credit, redemption, or return to the distributor, such as damaged, spoiled, or recalled products, shall be segregated and held in designated areas that are separated from food, equipment, utensils, linens, and single-use articles…

(a) Potentially hazardous foods that are packed by the food facility in reduced-oxygen packaging or have been partially cooked and sealed in any container or configuration that creates anaerobic conditions shall be plainly date coded. The date coding shall state “Use By,” followe…

(a) A food facility that packages food using a reduced-oxygen packaging method and Clostridium botulinum is identified as a microbiological hazard in the final prepackaged form shall ensure that there are at least two barriers in place to control the growth and toxin formation of…

(a) Except for nuts in the shell and whole raw fruits and vegetables that are intended for hulling, peeling, or washing by the consumer before consumption, food on display shall be protected from contamination by the use of packaging, counter, service line, or sneeze guards that …

(a) Raw, nonprepackaged food of animal origin, such as beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and eviscerated fish, shall not be offered for consumer self-service. This subdivision does not apply to the following: (1) Consumer self-service of ready-to-eat foods at buffets or salad bars that …

Notwithstanding Section 114266, this section shall not be construed to require the enclosure, during operating hours, of consumer self-service nonpotentially hazardous bulk beverage dispensing operations that meet the following requirements: (a) The dispensing operation is instal…

(a) Satellite food service is restricted to limited food preparation. (b) Satellite food service shall only be operated by a fully enclosed permanent food facility that meets the requirements for food preparation and service and that is responsible for servicing the satellite foo…

Only prepackaged nonpotentially hazardous food or uncut produce may be displayed or sold outdoors by a food facility if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (a) Outdoor displays have overhead protection that extends over all food items. (b) Food items from the outdoor d…

Bulk milk container dispensing tubes shall be cut on the diagonal leaving no more than one inch protruding from the chilled dispensing head.

If tableware is preset, exposed, and unused, extra settings shall either be removed when a consumer is seated or cleaned and sanitized before further use.

(a) Except for refilling a consumer’s drinking cup or container without contact between the pouring utensil and the lip-contact area of the drinking cup or container, food employees shall not use tableware, including single-use articles, soiled by the consumer, to provide second …

Condiments shall be protected from contamination by being kept in dispensers that are designed to provide protection, protected food displays provided with the proper utensils, original containers designed for dispensing, or individual packages or portions.