Beer Tasting Room Health Inspections
Governor Jerry Brown signed this legislation (AB 1014 Fletcher, Chesbro) into law on August 1st. It amends California’s Health and Safety Code to exempt beer manufacturers’ beer tasting rooms from the strict health and sanitation codes applied to food service locations. By definition, a “beer manufacturer” includes those holding a beer manufacture’s license, an out-of-state beer manufacturer’s certificate, or a beer & wine importer’s general license.
This type of legislation is nothing new for the wine industry which has enjoyed this same exemption for years. Since the health and safety codes are lengthy and expensive to comply with, previously many brewers nixed the idea of a tasting room simply because of the cost of compliance with the exhaustive and expensive requirements. Therefore, this new law relaxes the requirements of the health and safety codes, however, it is important to understand that the new exemption only applies if the only foods served on the premises are crackers and pretzels!
Article provided by Roger Hanney
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