Chapter 8.15
FOOD
Sections:
8.15.020 Unwholesome vegetables and food.
8.15.030 Regulation and control of sale of milk.
8.15.050 Food establishment permit required.
8.15.060 Permit fees for food establishments.
8.15.070 Individual health permits for employees and operations.
8.15.080 Sanitation requirements.
8.15.090 Temperature requirements.
8.15.100 Violations; enforcement.
Cross references: Businesses and business regulations, Ch. 18.
8.15.010 Unwholesome meat.
No person shall sell or offer for sale any blown, diseased, or bad meat or fish, or the flesh of any animal which was, when killed, sick or diseased, or the flesh of any animal which died a natural or accidental death, or the flesh of any calf which was killed prior to its attaining the age of four weeks.
(M.C. § 103; Code 1965, § 5300; Code 2002, § 38-101)
8.15.020 Unwholesome vegetables and food.
No person shall offer for sale, sell, or keep for sale any unsound, diseased, or unwholesome fruit, vegetables, or other market produce, or any adulterated article of food, except that the same be marked as required by law.
(M.C. § 104; Code 1965, § 5301; Code 2002, § 38-102)
8.15.030 Regulation and control of sale of milk.
The Health Officer is hereby authorized, empowered, and directed to regulate and control the traffic in milk in the city, and to provide for the inspection of milk, and for the inspection of dairies and dairy cows producing milk for sale or consumption.
(M.C. § 105; Code 1965, § 5302; Code 2002, § 38-103. Ord. No. 168)
8.15.040 Definitions.
Employee. Any person who with or without pay works or handles food in a food-handling establishment or who offers food for sale.
Food. Includes all articles used for food, drink, confectionery, or condiment, whether simple or compound, and all substances and ingredients used in the preparation thereof.
Food-handling establishment. Includes restaurants and food selling and processing establishments, except that this article shall not apply to meat, milk, and poultry processing establishments, frozen food lockers, canneries, and slaughterhouses inspected by federal or state agencies, nor to such other plants and establishments for the packing, treatment, and processing of agricultural products and crops of all kinds, including but without limiting the generality of the foregoing plants or establishments for the packing, treating, canning, freezing, dehydrating, and other processing and packaging of agricultural products and crops, and the manufacture or other processing of byproducts therefrom, where such plants or establishments and/or the products thereof are subject to inspection by federal and/or state agencies, to ensure that such products are in a good and sanitary state and condition and suitable for human consumption and which do not sell or deliver directly to the ultimate consumer.
Food selling and processing establishment. Any room, building, vehicle, facility, structure, or place or portion thereof, whether stationary, movable, permanent, or temporary, which is maintained, used, or operated for the purpose of commercially selling, storing, packaging, transporting, making, cooking, mixing, processing, bottling, canning, packing, slaughtering, or otherwise preparing or handling food or vendors servicing vending machines handling unwrapped, unbottled, or unpackaged or readily perishable food. This does not include restaurants, tank trucks, fresh produce trucks, farm trucks, or vehicles delivering only nonperishable food products in sealed, wrapped, or bottled containers, or vending machines dispensing only bottled beverages or wrapped candy.
Health Officer. Unless otherwise modified, means the Health Officer of the city, his medical deputies, his sanitarians, or his duly authorized representatives.
Itinerant food-handling establishment. One which operates for a temporary period in connection with a fair, carnival, circus, public exhibition, or other similar gathering.
Person. Any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, or association.
Restaurant. Any restaurant, coffee shop, cafeteria, short order cafe, luncheonette, tavern, sandwich stand, soda fountain, vehicle, and any other eating or drinking establishment which sells or offers food or drink for sale to the public, as well as kitchens in which food or drink is prepared on the premises for sale or distribution elsewhere.
Utensils. Includes kitchenware, tableware, glassware, cutlery, containers, machinery, implements, receptacles, supplies, or other equipment used for the storage, preparation, distribution, or serving of food or drink.
(Code 1965, § 5303; Code 2002, § 38-104. Ord. No. 402; Ord. No. 720)
Cross references: Definitions generally, § 1.05.100.
8.15.050 Food establishment permit required.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a food-handling establishment in the city without having a valid, unsuspended, unrevoked permit from the Health Officer, as provided herein. In any establishment where there are separate operations under separate management or ownership, each such operation is required to have a separate permit. Permits must be conditioned on compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to the subject person, premises or operation. Permits shall be issued only on written application, on forms provided by the Health Officer and containing such information regarding the applicant and the premises or operation involved as he deems necessary to facilitate enforcement of this article. Permits shall be dated and contain the name of the permittee and briefly describe or identify the licensed premises or operation.
(b) Such permits shall be valid to and including the last day of the calendar year in which issued unless sooner suspended or revoked.
(c) Such permits shall not be transferable from one establishment, location, or premises to another.
(d) The permit shall be posted and displayed in a conspicuous place.
(e) No permit is required for vehicles transporting food to food-handling establishments.
(f) No permit shall be issued by any city agency to any person proposing construction, reconstruction, or alteration of any structure for use as a food-handling establishment until such plans as relate to this article have been approved by the Health Officer.
(Code 1965, § 5304; Code 2002, § 38-105. Ord. No. 402; Ord. No. 720)
8.15.060 Permit fees for food establishments.
(a) The following fees are required for permits hereunder and are due and payable at the time of making application for said permit or renewal thereof, and if the renewal fee is not paid within 30 days after due, the permit becomes void:
(1) Food-handling establishments: $8.00 per year:
a. Restaurants;
b. Food selling and processing establishments.
(2) Exceptions from $8.00 per year fee:
a. 1. Incidental food selling: $2.00 per year;
2. Snack stand incidental to main business operation with less than $100.00 retail value of food in stock, including vending machines: $2.00 per year for each location;
b. Itinerant food-handling: $2.00 per booth or vehicle per year for carnivals and fairs, and for itinerant fruit and/or vegetable peddlers;
c. Delivery vehicles: $2.00 per vehicle per year. This applies to any vehicle delivering food products directly to the consumer;
d. Nonprofit temporary food stands: No fee. This applies to food-handling establishments for fairs, carnivals, or special events for nonprofit organizations.
(3) Upon sale or transfer of an establishment, the permit therefor shall be void until a renewal application is approved.
(4) Inspection fees for operations commencing between annual billing periods shall be prorated on a monthly basis.
(Code 1965, § 5305; Code 2002, § 38-106. Ord. No. 402; Ord. No. 720; Ord. No. 687)
8.15.070 Individual health permits for employees and operations.
(a) Every person working or handling food in any food-handling establishment, with or without pay, must secure a health permit from the Health Officer within 30 days of first employment in this city.
(b) Such health permit shall be the negative report of a county health department chest X-ray or a letter from the Health Officer to the same effect. It shall be valid for two years from date of issuance and must be replaced with a new permit prior to the expiration date. This permit must be in possession of such person and must be readily available for inspection by the Health Officer.
(c) It shall be the duty of each manager, operator, or owner of any food-handling establishment to employ only persons having a valid health permit. It shall be the employee’s duty to have the permit in his possession, or immediately accessible, during working hours.
(Code 1965, § 5306; Code 2002, § 38-107. Ord. No. 402; Ord. No. 543)
8.15.080 Sanitation requirements.
(a) All food-handling establishments must comply with all applicable statutes, ordinances, and rules and regulations of federal, state, and local agencies.
(b) Exemption from the permit or fee under this article does not constitute exemption from sanitary requirements set forth in this article.
(c) When food service openings to the outside are used in restaurants, they shall have an area not exceeding 270 square inches with a maximum width of 18 inches and a maximum height of 15 inches. Triangular wide-base openings with a height not exceeding 24 inches are allowed. Additional service openings must be separated by a minimum of three feet. Such openings shall be closeable, at least with a wire screen of not coarser than 16 mesh, when not in use. Each opening shall be further protected by overhead fans or internal positive pressure which would produce an outward air flow of at least 75 linear feet per minute as measured by a standard velometer or have a system of duct work such that the discharge of air produces this outward flow of air through the opening.
(d) (1) Every establishment where fresh meat is cut shall be provided with a two-compartment metal sink with metal drain boards located conveniently to the meat department, with an adequate supply of hot and cold water under pressure. Such sink is to be used exclusively for washing utensils commonly used by meat cutters.
(2) This subsection does not apply to those establishments in existence before the effective date of this article having a single-compartment sink which effectively meets the requirements of this article and any other applicable statutes, ordinances, and rules and regulations governing the sanitization of utensils. When such sink is replaced, it must meet the requirements of this article.
(e) If at any time a person working in any food-handling establishment is found by the Health Officer to be handling food in a manner dangerous to public health, the Health Officer shall have authority to require such person and/or his employer to attend a course of instruction which shall be provided free by the Health Officer, or to discontinue food-handling, or both.
(Code 1965, § 5307; Code 2002, § 38-108. Ord. No. 402; Ord. No. 720)
8.15.090 Temperature requirements.
(a) Readily perishable foods.
(1) All readily perishable cold foods must be maintained at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and all readily perishable hot foods must be maintained at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when in storage, on display, or in transit. Accurate Fahrenheit thermometers, suitable for measuring temperatures of food, shall be conspicuously affixed to food storage equipment, where possible, or shall be available at every establishment. Wastewater from refrigeration equipment in fixed establishments shall be disposed of into an approved sanitary sewage disposal system through an indirect connection. Except for properly handled game, only food intended to be sold or served to the public shall be kept in refrigerated storage cabinets.
(2) Readily perishable foods include, but are not limited to:
a. Custard- And cream-filled pastries, both real and synthetic; prepared salads with dressing; sandwiches using mayonnaise or salad dressing in the filling; and precooked meat, poultry, and fish products not hermetically sealed;
b. Fresh meats, fresh shellfish, fresh poultry, fresh fish;
c. All dairy products from sources not under inspection by other agencies;
d. Canned hams and canned picnics whose label indicates the product must be kept under refrigeration.
(b) Frozen foods. All frozen foods shall be kept at a temperature which will keep such food in a frozen state until ready for processing or preparation. No food which has been completely thawed shall be refrozen.
(Code 1965, § 5307; Code 2002, § 38-109. Ord. No. 720)
8.15.100 Violations; enforcement.
(a) Emergency action. Where the Health Officer, himself, or his medical deputy in charge makes a written finding that the public health is endangered by some act, omission, or condition regulated hereunder in connection with any premises or operation licensed hereunder, he may order the immediate cessation of such act or abatement of such condition or action to correct such condition, and may order the temporary emergency suspension of the permit applicable thereto and its removal from the said person or premises, and may post notice of such action in a conspicuous place. Such emergency suspension is in addition to, and not limited by, nor in derogation of any other authority or power which the Health Officer may have under present statutes or regulations. Such emergency suspension, as distinct from any other action authorized by law, is effective for a period of five days, including the first day upon which the permit is suspended. Any activity during that period which is regulated by this article is unlawful. At the end of that period, or sooner, if a similar finding is made that the public health is no longer endangered, the permit becomes valid again, unless a hearing is ordered pursuant hereto.
(b) Suspension of permit. Where a written complaint is filed with the Health Officer that some applicable law or regulation is being violated by any person, premises, or operation required to be licensed hereunder, he may order a hearing and after hearing may suspend said permit for not more than 90 days or until he is assured of compliance with said applicable laws or regulations, whichever is less, and may post notice of such action in a conspicuous place. At the end of said period, or when the Health Officer is satisfied of said compliance, the permit becomes valid again. Any activity during that period which is regulated by this article is unlawful.
(c) Revocation of permit. A permit may be revoked and confiscated where it has been suspended once and violation of this article or other applicable laws or regulations, or acts or omissions endangering the public health, continue, and where the Health Officer, himself, or his medical deputy in charge, makes a written finding that correction of the situation is impracticable and that the public health is endangered thereby, and the Health Officer may post notice of such action in a conspicuous place.
(d) Hearings. In the case of hearings under subsection (a) of this section, notice must be written and delivered to the person involved or in charge of the premises or operation at least 48 hours before the hearing. Other hearings must be preceded by written notice, personally delivered or mailed, to the person to whom the permit was issued at the latest address on file with the Health Officer not less than five nor more than 15 days prior to the hearing date. The hearings shall be held in the City Hall, unless some other location is specified in the notice. The hearings shall be conducted by the Health Officer himself or his medical deputy in charge. Hearings may not be continued or postponed for longer than ten days from the original date without the consent of the permittee.
(e) Appeal. Any person dissatisfied with the results of any hearing may appeal to the City Council in accordance with section 2.05.050 of this Code.
(f) Penalty. Any violation of the provisions of this article is a misdemeanor and constitutes a separate offense on each day committed.
(Code 1965, § 5308; Code 2002, § 38-110. Ord. No. 402; Ord. No. 845)
8.15.110 Severability.
If any provision hereof or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications hereof which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this article are declared to be severable.
(Code 1965, § 5309; Code 2002, § 38-111. Ord. No. 402)