Senate Bill No. 117
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Introduced January 14, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §16-6-22a
of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to food service establishments; and
requiring restaurants or other food service establishments to
advise their customers with printed notices when salad
crispers are added to the lettuce sold in the establishment;
and establishing penalties for noncompliance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-6-22a
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. PURE FOOD AND DRUGS.
§16-6-22a. Warnings for use of salad preservatives.
(a) Any restaurant or food service establishment regulated
pursuant to this article utilizing sulfites as a preservative on
salad bars shall prominently display a public notice in the
following words: "NOTICE TO PERSONS USING SALAD BAR: This establishment applies sulfites as a preservative on items in the
salad bar."
(b) Any restaurant or food service establishment, in this
state, which sells, or offers for sale, for consumption on the
premises of the establishment, lettuce that is treated with salad
crispers, shall provide on its premises the following printed
notice to customers and potential customers: "Notice: The lettuce
sold here has been treated with salad crispers."
(c) The state director of health is responsible for
administering this section. He may delegate the duties to any
county boards of health or combined local boards of health.
(d) The state health department shall publish standards, by
legislative rule, for such notices, assuring a uniform size and
color of the notices to be purchased by the owner of any such
establishment specifying a minimum size in area for signs and
requiring that notices, printed in menus, be in type no smaller
than twelve point.
(e) Any person found to have violated the provisions of this
section is subject for a first offense to a written reprimand and
warning. Any person found to have violated the provisions of this
section for a second or subsequent time is subject to a fine of up
to five hundred dollars and may be subject to revocation of license
to operate a restaurant or food establishment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require restaurants or other food service establishments to advise their customers with
printed notices when salad crispers are added to the lettuce sold
in the establishment. Penalties for violations are also provided
in the bill.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.