STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DOH to establish uniform standards for retail food establishment health and sanitary evaluation placards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning retail food establishment health and sanitary evaluation placards and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with local health agencies, shall establish a uniform standard for health and sanitary evaluation placards that represent a health inspector's evaluation of the health and sanitary conditions of a retail food establishment and are posted by that establishment in a conspicuous place for view by the public.
The uniform standard shall include a three-tier, color-coded evaluation placard system indicating "satisfactory," "conditionally satisfactory," or "unsatisfactory" compliance by a retail food establishment subject to the State Sanitary Code, established pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1947, c.177 (C.26:1A-7), and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
b. This act shall supersede any municipal ordinance or regulation concerning health and sanitary evaluation placards posted in retail food establishments.
2. The Commissioner of Health shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Health may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with local health agencies, to establish a uniform standard for health and sanitary evaluation placards that includes a three-tier color-coded evaluation system to indicate a health inspector's evaluation of the compliance of a retail food establishment subject to the State Sanitary Code.
Currently, upon the conclusion of a retail food establishment's health inspection, the inspector issues one of three evaluation placards: "satisfactory," "conditionally satisfactory," or "unsatisfactory." These placards are posted by a retail food establishment in a conspicuous place for view by the public. There is no uniform color-coded standard in the State for visually distinguishing between the three evaluation placards.
The bill, requires the new uniform standard to include a three-tier color-coded evaluation placard system indicating "satisfactory," "conditionally satisfactory," or "unsatisfactory" compliance by a retail food establishment subject to the State Sanitary Code, and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder. The bill also explicitly states that the provisions under the bill would supersede any municipal ordinance or regulation concerning health and sanitary evaluation placards posted in retail food establishments.