California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have required employees at meal-kit delivery companies, like Blue Apron, to obtain food-handler cards for dealing with unpackaged ingredients, reports the LA Times. The bill was sponsored by the companies’ competitors, including the California Grocers Assn. and United Food and Commercial Workers State Council.
Citing food safety, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, a Richmond Democrat, introduced the bill: “The emergence of food facility meal-kit subscriptions directly to consumers has raised serious concerns of public health and environmental safety with consumers and public health officials alike,” Thurmond said. “This is a preventative measure to help protect families and children from getting food poisoning and sick.”
Brown wrote in his veto that he was “not convinced … that the existing regulatory scheme for food facilities is suitable for this new industry,” but he encouraged the state assembly to work with stakeholders and the Department of Public Safety to discuss the issue further.