§ 20-57-104 — Food safety - Definition

(a) Employees of food service establishments shall keep their hands and exposed portions of their arms clean in a manner approved by the Department of Health. (b) (1) Except when washing fruits and vegetables, employees of food service establishments shall avoid contact of exposed ready-to-eat food with their hands by use of suitable utensils such as deli tissue, spatulas, tongs, or single-use gloves, or they shall wash their hands and exposed portions of their arms utilizing a hand-washing program approved by the department. (2) Employees shall minimize bare-hand and bare-arm contact with exposed food that is not in a ready-to-eat form. (c) (1) Within thirty (30) days of August 13, 2001, the department shall initiate a full review of the current version of the United States Food and Drug Administration Food Code. (2) The department shall report its findings to the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor and the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor. (d) As used in this section, "food service establishment" means any: (1) Fixed or mobile restaurant, coffee shop, cafeteria, short-order cafe, luncheonette, grille, tearoom, soda fountain, sandwich shop, hotel kitchen, smorgasbord, tavern, bar, cocktail lounge, night club, roadside stand, industrial feeding establishment, school lunch project, private, public, or nonprofit organization or institution routinely serving the public, catering kitchen, commissary, or similar place in which the food or drink is prepared for sale or for service on the premises or elsewhere; (2) Grocery store, delicatessen, meat market, retail bakery, or other establishment which sells or otherwise provides food for immediate or on-premise consumption, regardless of whether serving food for immediate consumption is the primary activity of the business; and (3) Other eating and drinking establishment where food is served or provided for the public with or without charge.

Legislative History

Acts 2001, No. 1656, § 1.