2007 California Health and Safety Code Article 2. Employee Knowledge

CA Codes (hsc:113947-113947.6)

113947.  All food employees shall have adequate knowledge of, and
shall be properly trained in, food safety as it relates to their
assigned duties.


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 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 shall be achieved by
successfully passing an examination from an accredited food
protection manager certification organization. The certification
organization must 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) Within 12 months after the effective date of this part,
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 (), 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.



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 (0) for each day of operation in violation.