No Bare Hand Contact Repealed

Assembly Bill 2130 was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on June 28, 2014, and became effective on that same date. Assembly Bill 2130 repealed the previous No Bare Hand Contact law (AB1252) and added Section 113961 to the California Health and Safety Code, related to the requirement to have no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods.

This new law instead requires that food employees minimize bare hand and arm contact with non-prepackaged food that is in a ready-to-eat form. The bill requires food employees to use utensils,as specified, to assemble ready-to-eat food or to place ready-to-eat food on tableware or in other containers. The bill authorizes food employees to assemble or place on tableware or in other containers ready-to-eat food in an approved food preparation area without using utensils if hands are properly cleaned, as required by law. Please see the attachment below for a complete copy of this law.

With this change, there is no need for a retail food business to request a variance for using bare hand contact.