(a) When a local health officer is notified of an illness that can be transmitted by food in a food facility or by an employee of a food facility, the local health officer shall inform the local enforcement agency. The local health officer or the local enforcement agency, or both, shall notify the person in charge of the food facility and shall investigate conditions and may, after the investigation, take appropriate action, and for reasonable cause, require any or all of the following measures to be taken:
(1) The immediate restriction or exclusion of any food employee from the affected food facility.
(2) The immediate closing of the food facility until, in the opinion of the local enforcement agency, the identified danger of disease outbreak has been addressed. Any appeal of the closure shall be made in writing within five days to the applicable local enforcement agency.
(3) Any medical evaluation of any employee, including any laboratory test or procedure, that may be indicated. If an employee refuses to participate in a medical evaluation, the local enforcement agency may require the immediate exclusion of the refusing employee from that or any other food facility until an acceptable medical evaluation or laboratory test or procedure shows that the employee is not infectious.
(b) For purposes of this section, “illness” means a condition caused by any of the following infectious agents:
(1) Salmonella typhi.
(2) Salmonella spp.
(3) Shigella spp.
(4) Entamoeba histolytica.
(5) Enterohemorrhagic or shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli.
(6) Hepatitis A virus.
(7) Norovirus.
(8) Other communicable diseases that are transmissible through food.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 571, Sec. 21. (SB 241) Effective October 11, 2009.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018