The Press Democrat out of Santa Rosa, California, reported today that California will introduce new food safety rules on July 1, 2007.  The rules, which have been in the making for ten years, will improve current food codes regarding the following:

• Food worker personal hygiene, including updated hand washing guidelines.
• Hot and cold holding temperatures for food, specifically setting standards for heating, reheating, and cooling foods, and including the assurance that food is transported safetly, and at an appropriate temperature to prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria or viruses.
• Proper cooking.
• Equipment contamination, down to a specification that preset tableware must be covered or inverted, and unused table settings must be changed between customers.
• And obtaining food from safe sources.

Restaurant employees will also be required to notify a person in charge if they have an open or exposed wound, or are ill, and restaurants will be required to keep a person familiar with food safety regulations on-site while the restaurants are open.  After July 1, cooks will be able to make their own decision about whether to wear gloves or not while they’re cooking.