GILROY
– When a county health inspector stopped food sales last April
at a long-running Morgan Hill Japanese cultural fair, it was a
wake-up call to other area nonprofit groups that host food-related
fund-raisers.
GILROY – When a county health inspector stopped food sales last April at a long-running Morgan Hill Japanese cultural fair, it was a wake-up call to other area nonprofit groups that host food-related fund-raisers.
“We did a little checking and discovered that we were supposed to have permits,” said Sue Howell, executive director of the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center. “It’s quite an eye-opener for us.”
Howell is organizing the wildlife center’s ninth annual barbecue this June in San Martin to benefit its work rehabilitating injured bobcats, birds of prey and other animals for release into the wild. The program relies entirely on private donations and heavily on the June barbecue.
Other years, the barbecue has raised $10,000. This year Howell hopes to raise twice as much, but she is finding that complying with the California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law (CURFFL) will cost about $500 extra – about 5 percent of past years’ take.
The fare is simple – hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and drinks, including wine – but the public safety rules are not.
“It is really adding to our costs with all the extra precautions we have to take,” Howell said. “We have to have tents now and flooring.
“I’m not objecting to it,” she emphasized. “It’s all common sense. … You don’t want anyone to become ill, … but it’s expensive.”
The consequences of not paying this price, however, could be huge: mass illness, lawsuits, fines or – even if no one gets sick – a shutdown by the Santa Clara County Environmental Health Department.
Many of those planning fund-raisers for the spring and summer are trying to dodge the bullet that hit the Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center last year.
At the Haru Matsuri festival April 13, a county health inspector ordered sales of teriyaki chicken and sushi box lunches to stop after finding they were being stored at room temperature instead of refrigerated below 45 degrees.
Instead of raising $30,000 from food sales, as expected, the Buddhist Community Center took an estimated $25,000 loss. The event was in its 43rd year, with no prior problems.
An organizer said the box lunches will be refrigerated at this year’s Haru Matsuri, on March 28, and that at least one food supervisor has taken a certified food-handling course over the past year.
For two decades or more, CURFFL has strictly regulated temporary food service, defined as any distribution of food or beverages to the general public – for sale or for free – that lasts no more than 25 days.
Among the requirements are:
• Food and drinks, prepackaged or not, must be served in booths, each with four walls, a ceiling and a floor.
• Floors must be smooth and cleanable, such as tile, smooth pavement, wood or canvas. Grass, dirt or sawdust are not allowed.
• Walls and ceilings must be made of wood, canvas, plastic or similar material, must have mesh fly screening (unless food is prepackaged and at a pre-approved facility) and must completely enclose the booth. Food service openings must have tight-fitting closures to minimize the entrance of insects.
• Open-air barbecues need not be in booths, but they must have perimeter fencing to prevent public entry.
• No food or beverage prepared or stored in a private home may be sold or given away.
• Any potentially hazardous food or beverage must be maintained at 45 degrees or lower if served cold and 140 degrees or higher if served hot.
• The person or organization in control of the event must submit a permit application and site plan to the county Department of Environmental Health at least two weeks before the event. This county’s department charges $47 for a non profit booth permit and $130 for a profit booth.
According to these rules, every bake sale in California is illegal unless the goods were baked, stored and sold in an approved facility and a county permit was obtained. Likewise, First Street restaurateurs and grocers who barbecue meat outdoors on covered but unfenced grills may be acting illegally.
“I was not aware that these regulations were out there,” Howell said.
She said she knows many other nonprofit event organizers who are still ignorant of these and put on their annual events without regard for them.
It is the county Environmental Health Department’s duty to uphold these and other CURFFL regulations, but Director Ben Gale says it is far too understaffed to check out every event.
“I’m sure there are opportunities going on a regular basis that we don’t have any control of or any knowledge of,” Gale said.
Because the county can’t afford more environmental health inspectors, Gale said his department hasn’t made any new effort since the Haru Matsuri incident to seek out violations at charitable events. When an event is brought to their attention and an inspector is available, he or she may follow up on it.
Otherwise, the department can rely on the permitting process to educate event organizers.
“The people at the Health Department have been very helpful and very friendly in answering questions,” Howell said.
