{"data":{"id":"us-ca/hsc-113871","jurisdiction":"us-ca","citation":"HSC § 113871","heading":"","body":"(a) “Potentially hazardous food” means a food that requires time or temperature control to limit pathogenic micro-organism growth or toxin formation.\n(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).\n(c) “Potentially hazardous food” does not include any of the following:\n(1) A food with an aw value of 0.85 or less.\n(2) A food with a pH level of 4.6 or below when measured at 75°F.\n(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.\n(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.\n(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.\n(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.","path":["Health and Safety Code - HSC","DIVISION 104. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH [106500. - 119406.]","PART 7. CALIFORNIA RETAIL FOOD CODE [113700. - 114437.]","CHAPTER 2. Definitions [113728. - 113941.]"],"source_url":"https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip","current_through":"2026-09-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T05:56:33Z","sha256":"568437ffe9760b7dcbc152a480994b31d3ee0e03f1344a6521c32023a95a8917","source_id":"us-ca","stale":false,"prev":"us-ca/hsc-113869","next":"us-ca/hsc-113873"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}