Health and Safety Code section 113871
(a)
“Potentially hazardous food” means a food that requires time or temperature control to limit pathogenic micro-organism growth or toxin formation.(b)
“Potentially hazardous food” includes a food of animal origin that is raw or heat-treated, a food of plant origin that is heat-treated or consists of raw seed sprouts, cut melons, cut tomatoes or mixtures of cut tomatoes that are not modified to render them unable to support pathogenic micro-organism growth or toxin formation, and garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not acidified or otherwise modified at a food processing plant in a way that results in mixtures that do not support growth or toxin formation as specified under subdivision (a).(c)
“Potentially hazardous food” does not include any of the following:(1)
A food with an aw value of 0.85 or less.(2)
A food with a pH level of 4.6 or below when measured at 75°F.(3)
An air-cooled, hard-boiled egg with shell intact, or an egg with shell intact that is not hard boiled, but has been pasteurized to destroy all viable salmonellae.(4)
A food in an unopened, hermetically sealed container that is commercially processed to achieve and maintain commercial sterility under conditions of nonrefrigerated storage and distribution.(5)
A food that has been shown by appropriate microbial challenge studies approved by the enforcement agency not to support the rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic micro-organisms that may cause food infections or food intoxications, or the growth and toxin production of Clostridium botulinum, such as a food that has an aw and a pH that are above the levels specified under paragraphs (1) and (2) and that may contain a preservative, other barrier to the growth of micro-organisms, or a combination of barriers that inhibit the growth of micro-organisms.(6)
A food that does not support the rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic micro-organisms, even though the food may contain an infectious or toxigenic micro-organism or chemical or physical contaminant at a level sufficient to cause illness.
Source:
Section 113871, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=113871. (accessed May 4, 2025).