Chapter 11 — FOOD AND FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS

Footnotes:

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1. For state law as to authority of city to license and regulate restaurants, etc., see H. & S.C., § 28693. As to authority of city to issue permits to bakeries, see H. & S.C., § 28215. As to sanitation of restaurants, etc., see H. & S.C., § 28520 et seq. As to license fees for refreshment stands, see § 13-44 of this Code.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

Employee. Any person working in any food establishment who handles food, drink or ice during storage, preparation, distribution or serving, or who comes in contact with any cooking, eating or drinking utensil or who is employed at any time in a room or food establishment in which food, drink or ice is stored, prepared, distributed or served.

Food. Any article or ingredient, be it solid, liquid or otherwise, which is ordinarily taken or intended to be taken into the human mouth and chewed, or ingested, for the enjoyment of its taste or the pleasure of chewing, or for the growth, sustenance, energy operation and repair of the human body, or to preserve or restore its health, or to flavor or make food more pleasant and attractive, such as meat and meat products, milk and milk products, bread and bakery products, fruits and vegetables, berries, birds, fowl, animals, shell fish, fish, seafood, flavors, confections, condiments, water, ice drinks of all kinds and similar articles, products or ingredients.

Food establishment. Any building, room, stand, vehicle, enclosure, place, space, area or establishment where any cooked or uncooked article of food, drink, ice confection or condiment, or any ingredient thereof, used for or intended for human consumption, is stored, prepared, manufactured, processed, wrapped, canned, packed, bottled, distributed, served or otherwise provided for the public in any way, with or without charge, wholesale or retail, such as food warehouses or lockers, both refrigerated or

nonrefrigerated; food or drink manufacturing or processing establishments and bakeries; groceries and food markets; hotels, restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, luncheonettes, lunch stands, coffee houses, lunch rooms, hamburger or hotdog stands, box-lunch deliveries, ice cream parlors, soda fountains, candy kitchens or stores, fish and chips houses, sandwich concessions, bars, taverns, saloons, street vendors or stalls; private or public, railway, airplane or boat stations.

Health officer. The health officer of the county or his authorized representative.

Itinerant food establishment. A food establishment which operates in the city for a temporary period not to exceed thirty days and in connection with a fair, carnival, circus, public exhibition or other similar gathering.

Utensils. Any kitchenware, tableware, glassware, cutlery, utensils, containers or other equipment with which food or drink comes in contact during storage preparation, distribution or serving.

(Ord. No. 257, § 1.)

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any food establishment who does not possess an unrevoked permit issued by the public health officer and in whose place of operation or business such permit is not at all times posted and displayed in a conspicuous place designated by the health officer. Such permit shall expire on the first day of July following the date of issue. Upon violation, a permit may be suspended by the health officer, or may by him be revoked after the holder has been given an opportunity for a hearing before the health officer. Upon violation of any of the terms or provisions of this chapter or of any rule or regulation of the health officer issued pursuant thereto, an appeal may be taken to the city council from the order of the health officer revoking or suspending any such permit. Any appeal shall be taken within ten days from the issuance of the order by serving a copy of the written notice thereof on the health officer and filing the original with the city clerk. The city council shall determine and decide such appeal within thirty days from the filing thereof with the city clerk after five days notice to the appellant of the time and place of such hearing. The food establishment shall remain closed pending decision of the city council.

(Ord. No. 257, § 2.)

The period for renewing food vending permits shall be from July 1 to July 31 of each year.

(Ord. No. 257, § 2-1.)

At least once every six months, and more often if the health officer deems it necessary or advisable, the health officer shall inspect every food establishment and shall file a copy of the inspection report in the office of the health officer. One copy of the inspection report shall be posted by the health officer upon an inside wall of the kitchen of the food establishment; or, if there is no kitchen, then at the place therein designated by the health officer. Such inspection report shall not be defaced or removed by any person except the health officer. In case of a chain-owned food establishment or in the case of a food

establishment managed by a person other than the owner, a copy of the inspection report shall be sent by mail to the owner thereof.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3.)

The floors of all rooms in which food is stored or prepared, or in which utensils are washed, shall be of such construction as to be easily cleaned, shall be smooth, well drained and impervious to water and shall be kept clean, in good repair and dry except where ice, fish and shellfish are handled. Floors shall be of concrete, terrazo, tile, tight hard wood free from cracks or approved mastic finish resistant to grease. No wood floor shall be permitted in any food establishment in which the floor of the room is below the level of the street, sidewalk or adjacent grounds. If floor drains are used, they shall be provided with proper traps. Sawdust, shavings or other loose material shall not be used on any floor except when wet and then only for the purpose of cleaning or sweeping. Floors shall be repaired or resurfaced whenever the health officer shall deem it necessary to provide proper health protection and sanitation.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-1.)

Walls and ceilings of all rooms shall be kept clean, tight and in good repair. All walls and ceilings of rooms in which food or drink is stored, prepared, distributed or served, shall be painted in light color or calcimined or otherwise finished at frequent enough intervals to maintain the surface in a clean condition. The walls of all rooms in which food is prepared or in which utensils are washed shall have a smooth, washable impervious surface up to the levels reached by splash or spray. The minimum height of ceiling from the floor shall be eight feet, except establishments already operating on February 11, 1957.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-2.)

When required by the health officer as protection against flies and other insects, all openings into the outer air shall be effectively screened with not less than sixteen mesh screen, doors shall be self-closing and fans of sufficient power to prevent the entrance of flies shall be in use at all otherwise ineffectively screened openings.

Lunch stands where only orange, fruit, vegetable or soft drinks, or bottled drinks are sold or served, where milk and milk products are sold or served, without being poured or taken out of the original bottle or container, where all foods are wrapped in dust and fly-proof containers or papers and where only single service containers and utensils are used, may sell and serve such drinks, milk products and food without screen protection against flies. Where a protective covering on three sides and top of a red-hot cooker of a steam or other device is used for cooking meat, and where such meat does not have to be sliced or otherwise prepared or stored subsequently to cooking, it shall be permissible to sell red-hots and such meats in an unscreened lunch stand. However, stands having a large number of flies shall be completely enclosed with screens.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-3.)

All rooms in which food is stored or prepared, or in which utensils are washed, shall be provided with artificial light sources equivalent to at least ten foot candles at a distance of thirty inches from the floor or working surfaces, as measured by a suitable light meter, and such artificial light sources shall be in use, except when equivalent natural light is present. This requirement does not apply to dining rooms.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-4.)

All rooms in which food is stored, prepared, distributed or served, or in which utensils are washed shall be sufficiently well ventilated to prevent the accumulation of disagreeable odors and condensation upon interior surfaces. This requirement shall not apply to cold storage rooms.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-5.)

Adequate, conveniently located and plainly and appropriately marked toilet facilities shall be provided, conforming with all laws, rules and regulations and ordinances relating to toilets and plumbing.

Signs shall be posted in each toilet room set aside for or used by employees of food establishments directing employees to wash their hands before returning to work. Such signs shall be of a permanent nature, and shall be printed in letters not less than one inch in height.

The doors of all toilet rooms shall be self closing. Booths open at the top shall not quality as adequate toilet rooms. No toilet room containing a water closet or urinal shall open directly into any room of a food establishment, including drinking places such as taverns, where food or drink of any kind are stored, prepared, kept, sold or served, but such toilet room shall be entered through a separately ventilated and lighted vestibule, at least three feet square in size, except when not required by the health officer. Every such water closed, urinal and lavatory shall be easily accessible from such room.

Toilet rooms shall be kept always in a clean, and dry condition, in good re-repair, the walls free from defacement, well lighted and well ventilated to the outside air. Floors shall be impervious to water. Toilet fixtures shall always be kept clean, in good function and repair, and all new installations of toilet seats shall be the liftable type with the front edge split by several inches. Adequate supplies of paper, soap, individual towels or well-functioning mechanical dryers and hot and cold running water shall be maintained at all times for the use of persons using the toilet facilities.

Adequate and convenient hand-washing facilities, soap and sanitary towels approved by the health officer shall be provided. The use of a common towel or common drinking cup anywhere is prohibited. Dishwashing vats shall not be used as handwashing facilities. No employee shall resume work after using the toilet room without first washing his hands.

(Ord. No. 257, §§ 3-6, 3-7.)

All multiuse utensils and all show and display cases or windows, counters, shelves, racks, tables, proofboxes, refrigerating equipment, sinks, trays, buckets, pails, chutes, knives, slicing machines, saws, cleavers, scales and other equipment shall be so constructed as to be easily cleaned and other equipment or utensils used in connection with the operation of a food establishment shall be so constructed as to be easily cleaned and shall be kept clean and in good repair. All surfaces of multiuse utensils and equipment with which food or drink comes in contact, shall be free of breaks, corrosion, open seams, cracks and chipped places. Tin cans from which original contents have been removed shall not be used for cooking purposes nor the storing of cooked foods.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-8.)

All equipment, including display cases or windows, counters, shelves, tables, meat blocks, refrigerators, stoves, hoods and sinks, shall be kept clean and free from dust, dirt, insects and other contaminating material. All cloths used by waiters, chefs and other employees shall be clean.

All multiuse eating and drinking utensils shall be cleaned after each usage, and all multiuse utensils used in the preparation or serving of food and drink shall be thoroughly cleaned immediately following the day's operation in such a manner as to be clean to the sight and touch.

The cleaning may be accomplished by prerinsing, followed by washing in warm waters, one hundred ten degrees Fahrenheit to one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit, containing an adequate amount of an effective soap or other detergent to remove grease and solids.

After cleaning, all such utensils shall be effectively subjected to one of the following bactericidal processes:

(a)

Immersion for at least one minute in clean hot water, at a temperature of at least one hundred seventy degrees Fahrenheit, or for one half minute in boiling water. Unless actually boiling water is used, an approved thermometer shall be available convenient to the vat. The pouring of scalding water over washed utensils shall not be accepted as satisfactory compliance. Where this method is employed, there shall be provided a hot water heater, capable of maintaining a water temperature of at least one hundred seventy degrees Fahrenheit in the vat at all times during business hours. The heating device may be integral with the immersion vat.

(b)

Immersion for at least one minute in a chlorine rinse containing at least fifty parts per million of available chlorine, if hypochlorites are used; or a concentration of one hundred parts per million if chloramines are used. The rinse should be made up to double strength, and shall not be used after its strength has been reduced to below the specified concentration in parts per million. When this method is employed, a threecompartment vat shall be required, the first compartment to be used for washing, the second for plain rinsing and the third for chlorine immersion; provided, that for existing installations, the second or rinsing compartment may be omitted, if a satisfactory rinsing or spraying device is substituted.

(c)

When dishwashing machines are employed, utensils should be prerinsed before being placed in the dishwashing machine. The water temperature shall be not less than one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit and shall not exceed one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit. The period of exposure to rinse water shall be one minute and the temperature of rinse water shall be maintained at one hundred seventy degrees Fahrenheit, or fifteen seconds exposure to live steam.

The final test for cleanliness and satisfactory bactericidal treatment shall be freedom from bacteria, chemical reagent and other foreign matter as determined by standard laboratory tests.

If drying cloths are used, they shall be clean and shall be used for no other purpose.

Single service containers shall be used only once.

By approved bactericidal process is meant the application of any method or substance for the destruction of pathogens and all other organisms so far as practicable, and which, in the opinion of the health officer is effective and does not adversely affect the equipment or the food or drink or the health of the consumer.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-9.)

After bactericidal treatment, no utensil shall be stored, except in a clean, dry place, protected from flies, dust or other contamination, and no utensils shall be handled except in such a manner as to prevent contamination, so far as practicable. Single service utensils shall be purchased only in sanitary containers, shall be stored therein, in a clean, dry place until used and shall be handled in a sanitary manner.

Spoons, spatulas, dippers and utensils used for dispensing frozen desserts such as ice cream and sherbert, shall, when not in use, be kept in clean, fresh, frequently changed water, and such water shall not contain visible dirt or other contamination or have a bacterial content exceeding one million bacterial per cubic centimeter of water when examined at thirty-seven degrees centigrade, or show the presence of coliform organisms in two or five ten cubic centimeter test portions of the water.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-10.)

Sec. 11-14. - Disposal of garbage and wastes; overhead pipes, lines, etc., prohibited; garbage containers. All wastes shall be properly disposed of in such a manner as not to constitute a public health menace.

There shall be no exposed overhead pipes, wires, beams or structures in food establishments so located or constructed as to permit rodents and vermin to walk or run thereon so that any condensed moistures, sewage, contaminated matter, rat droppings, vermin or other undesirable substances might fall upon any food, drink or ingredient thereof, whether raw or cooked, in storage or otherwise, or upon any utensil used in connection with food or drink. Grease, dirt and other matter shall not be allowed to collect on overhead pipes, wires or other structures.

There shall be provided and maintained a suitable number of garbage containers of the kind approved by the county health officer. All offal, table or kitchen refuse, shells, swill and animal or vegetable matter commonly known and described as garbage shall be placed in such containers pending removal and

disposal. The covers of such containers shall be tightly applied at all times when filled, in storage or placed for collection to prevent entrance of flies, rates and animals.

Garbage containers shall be washed at frequent intervals. Filled garbage containers shall not be allowed to remain in any room where food is prepared or eaten. Garbage shall not be permitted to remain upon the premises except between collection periods.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-11.)

All readily perishable food or drink shall be kept at or below fifty degrees Fahrenheit at all times except when being prepared or served, and an indicating thermometer shall be provided. Waste water from refrigeration equipment shall be properly disposed of, and there shall be no direct connection to the sewer. Refrigerators shall be lined with impervious, nonabsorbent material.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-12.)

All food and drink shall be wholesome and free from spoilage, contamination or adulteration. It shall be unlawful for any person to have on the premises of any food establishment or in any vehicle food for any purpose, or to bring into such premises or vehicles, or to bring into the city, or offer for sale, exhibit for sale or sell, any food, drink, ice, confection or condiment which is or is potentially unclean, impure, unwholesome, tainted, spoiled, decayed, putrid, emaciated, adulterated, diseased, infected, poisoned, contaminated or in any other manner rendered unsafe, unhealthful, unwholesome or unesthetic for human consumption as food or drink, or any meat, fish, birds or fowl that died by disease, emaciation or accident, whether natural, raw or cooked, manufactured or otherwise prepared.

No food shall be bought, sold, held or offered for sale, labeled or any representation made in respect thereof, under a false name or quality, or under any false representation whatsoever, respecting its wholesomeness, soundness or safety for food.

It shall be the duty of every physician who attends or prescribes for, and every superintendent or person in charge of hospital admitting or caring for, any person suffering from food poisoning or infection either ptomaine, bacterial or metallic to at once make a report thereof by telephoning to the health officer, and to follow the same by a report in writing, giving the name and address of the person thus afflicted, the nature of the poisoning or infection and the source or probable source of the same, if known.

The health officer shall have the authority to enter any food establishment and open any barrel, can, container, vessel, box, jar or package of any kind, whether sealed, locked or otherwise, or whether in transit or otherwise, and to take samples or specimens thereof for examination, analysis or evidence. It shall be the duty of the health officer to forthwith seize, condemn and destroy or cause to be seized, condemned or destroyed, all unwholesome or potentially unwholesome or dangerous food; provided, that in case there is any doubt in the mind of the health officer as to the condition of any such food, he may affix or cause to be affixed to such food or to the containers in which it is enclosed, a tag, a stamp, seal or other device indicating that the food and its containers has been held for further investigation by the health officer.

It shall be unlawful for any person to alter, remove, deface or obliterate any tag, stamp, seal, placard or notice, or other device affixed by the health officer, or to remove the food held for investigation by the health officer from its container to any other place, or to instigate or permit the changing, removal, defacement or obliteration of such tag, stamp, seal, placard, notice or other mark, or the removal to any other place of such food, or the containers thereof so marked, without the permission of the health officer.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-13.)

Sec. 11-17. - Storage, display, etc., of food and drink; dustless cleaning; keeping of live fowl or animals prohibited; elimination of flies, rodents, etc.; sugar containers.

All food shall be stored, transported, conveyed, carried, handled and displayed so as to protect it from dust, flies, insects, vermin, rodents, animals, unnecessary handling, droplet infection, overhead leakage and droppings, sewage backflow and other contamination.

Dustless methods of floor and other cleaning shall be employed, and all except emergency floor cleaning shall be done during those periods when the least amount of food is exposed, such as after closing or between meals.

No live animal or fowl shall be kept or allowed in any room in which food is prepared, stored, distributed, sold or served, or in any basement under such room or in any attic above the same, or adjoining room or compartment so ventilated that odors therefrom permeate or enter the food establishment.

Such reasonable measures as the health officer shall prescribe shall be used for the elimination of flies, insects, vermin and rodents.

All food kept or exposed for sale or otherwise placed outside of buildings or in a part of the store, restaurant or lunchroom or other place to which the public has access shall be kept at least eighteen inches above the floor or sidewalk, unless such food is contained in tight containers or in containers the opening of which is at least eighteen inches above the level of such floor or sidewalk.

Sugar containers in food dispensing establishments shall be of the spout or pouring type so that a spoon cannot be dipped into the sugar and no contamination can drop therein; provided, that lump sugar may, if wrapped, be used in any type container.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the necessary exposure of food during the immediate processes of preparation, cooling, assortment or packaging in a building or place screened and free from flies, or during loading or unloading, or during the actual process of serving or selling.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-14.)

Employees shall be clean and shall handle food in a clean and sanitary manner.

Cooks shall at all times wear a cap or cap device to keep the hair neatly in place. Hair brushing or combined by any employees shall not be permitted except in the wash room, rest room or toilet. All female employees shall wear hairnets.

Employees shall keep their hands clean and nails trimmed while engaged in handling foods, utensils or equipment, so as to adequately prevent contamination of food.

Employees are prohibited from picking up butter or butter substitutes directly in their fingers. No employee shall wipe dishes or other kitchen or tableware or any food with soiled napkins or aprons or with napkins or aprons that were previously used for any purpose and not relaundered since last used.

(Ord. No. 257, § 3-15.)