Environmental Health's Food Safety Programs

The Orange County Board of Supervisors recently approved a plan to provide fee relief to Orange County restaurants as part of the settlement of a lawsuit. Under this plan, Orange County restaurants that were invoiced for inspection fees by the Environmental Health Division of the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) between March 17, 2020, and June 15, 2021 (the “Settlement Period”) will receive a credit or fee refund based on the amount of the fees that were invoiced to the restaurant during this period. The fee credits or refunds will be distributed as follows: 

1. If a restaurant has an outstanding balance of fees owed, then the restaurant will receive a credit against its outstanding balance.
2. If a restaurant is currently operating and has no outstanding balance of unpaid fees, then a credit will be issued against their 2023/2024 anniversary fee invoice.
3. If a restaurant is no longer operating and has no outstanding fee invoices, then a refund will be issued.

Restaurant Inspections

Search the inspection records for food establishments in Orange County within the last 2 years. 

Restaurant Closures

Search the inspection records for food establishments in Orange County that were closed within the last 60 days.

All food facilities that use a third-party delivery platform (eg. UberEats, GrubHub, etc.) must use tamper-evident methods to seal any ready-to-eat food sent for delivery. This regulation does not apply to food being transported as part of a charitable feeding program or food being donated to a food bank. (Law effective January 1, 2021, California AB 3336 

California retail food facilities shall use non-latex utensils, including scoops, forks, tongs, paper wrappers, gloves, or other implements when handling food. Approved materials include, but are not limited to, nitrile, polyethylene, or vinyl. (Effective January 1, 2020)

Some limited service charitable feeding operations are now exempt from the definition of food facility. This law is designed to make it easier for nonprofit charitable organizations to meet essential food safety rules while addressing food-insecure members of our community. (Effective January 1, 2019, AB 2178; More details on AB 2178 can be found here. )

Although the Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations Act authorizes local governing agencies to implement a program for the permitting of home kitchens for retail use, Orange County has NOT authorized the permitting of home kitchens for retail food operations at this time. Anyone who operates a retail home kitchen from their residence in Orange County is in violation of the California Retail Food Code. Violators are subject to closure and further enforcement actions.  

Orange County’s Health Care Agency, Environmental Health Division is the lead agency for retail food operations and is working with the local governing bodies of the County and cities on the implementation of AB 626. Please check back frequently for new details on implementation.  

(Effective January 1, 2019, AB 626. Full details on AB 626 can be found here.)

Click here for information from the California Department of Public Health on Industrial Help and Cannabidiol (CBD) in Food Products.