California’s short-lived law requiring food service workers to wear disposable gloves or use utensils when handling ready-to-eat food is about to be repealed and a less-restrictive law put in its place. The California Senate voted 32-0 on Thursday to approve AB-2130, the legislation repealing the so-called “glove law,” which had just gone into effect on Jan. 1. The California State Assembly already passed a repeal this spring. The bill is now on its way to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. Although 41 states have “no-bare-hands” food code rules to help reduce the transmission of foodborne or other illnesses, members of the California restaurant and bar industry objected to the new law because they found it confusing, ineffective, cumbersome and expensive. California Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician who sponsored both the original law and the repeal legislation, said he wants to focus on food safety but also be responsive to food service workers’ concerns. “It’s not about whether you wear gloves or not,” Pan reportedly said. “It’s about how clean the surfaces (touching food) are. We need to have the conversation go back to, ‘This is about food safety.’” The state’s food safety code will now revert to earlier language encouraging workers to “minimize” any direct contact with food using their bare hands. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infected food service workers touching food with their bare hands is a common way to transmit Norovirus and other illnesses.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
Romanian authorities have claimed there were no recorded cases of food poisoning during the winter holidays.
The National Sanitary, Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) said surveillance and control activities
Mahrousa brand tahini is being recalled in Canada because of Salmonella contamination.
The implicated tahini is sold in jars with Arabic writing on the labels. The labels do not have
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded a warning about oysters from Canada because of contamination with norovirus.
Previously the FDA warned of oysters harvested only on Dec.
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or
Registration is now open for the 2026 Food Safety Summit, taking place May 11–14 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.
Recognized as one of the
