Source: https://ecode360.com/14954351
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 08:30:34+00:00

Document:
§ 700-3 Price notice requirements.
§ 700-4 Enforcement; rules and regulations.
§ 700-5 Penalties for offenses; hearing.
§ 700-9 Notice on menus and menu boards.
§ 700-10 "Food Allergy Friendly" designations.
§ 700-11 Enforcement; rules and regulations.
§ 700-12 Penalties for offenses; hearing.
This Legislature hereby finds and determines that the key to effective consumer protection is ensuring consumers have access to all information necessary to make informed decisions.
This Legislature further determines that consumers have an absolute right to know the price of goods and services offered for sale by businesses operating in Suffolk County.
This Legislature also finds that certain restaurants in Suffolk County do not recognize this "right to know" when it comes to their policy for so-called "daily specials." Restaurants offer their patrons "specials" which do not appear on their regular menu but, in many cases, fail to voluntarily apprise their customers how much these specials cost.
This Legislature further finds that all too often consumers learn when their bill arrives that the special they ordered costs far more than they anticipated.
Therefore, the purpose of this article is to require all restaurants in Suffolk County to give their patrons adequate notice of the prices of all food items offered for sale, including those items known as "daily specials."
Any food item, other than beverages, that is not listed on a restaurant's regular menu and is offered for sale only on certain days.
An establishment that is open to the public in which the primary business is the sale of prepared food to consumers for consumption on premises.
The owner, operator or manager or any other person supervising the operations of a restaurant.
Restaurants shall notify their patrons of the price of all food items, other than beverages, served at their restaurant, including the price for desserts and daily specials.
The price of food items shall be set forth on a restaurant's regular printed menu, on a printed daily specials page and/or posted in a manner and location so the price of food items is readily observable by patrons.
This article shall be enforced by the Suffolk County Office of Consumer Affairs.
The Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement this article.
Any restaurant operator who violates the provisions of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each such violation.
No civil penalty shall be imposed under this article until after a hearing has been held before the Director, or his designee, upon at least seven business days' notice to the restaurant operator. Such notice shall be served either personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the restaurant and shall state the date, time and place of the hearing as well as enumerate the grounds constituting the alleged violation by the operator. The restaurant operator may produce witnesses in his or her own behalf. A record of the hearing shall be taken and preserved. For the purpose of such hearing, the Director or his designee may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses and compel the production of books, papers, records and other documents deemed pertinent to the subject of the hearing.
This article shall take effect on the 90th day immediately subsequent to filing in the Office of the Secretary of State.
As defined in Article 13, § 760-1300(3)(X), of the Suffolk County Sanitary Code, except this definition shall not include food service operations at public and private schools of primary and secondary education, colleges, summer camps, child-care facilities and other child-care programs, institutional settings in which food is prepared for a specific population and temporary food establishments operated by nonprofit organizations.
A printed or pictorial display of a food item or items and their price(s) that are available for sale from a food-service establishment, including menus published on an establishment's website.
Any list or pictorial display of a food item or items and their price(s) posted within or outside a food-service establishment.
Food-service establishments shall include on all menus and menu boards a notice that reads: "Before placing your order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy."
The Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services shall establish a program for food-service establishments to be designated as "Food Allergy Friendly" and shall maintain a listing of food-service establishments receiving such designations on the Department of Health Services' website.
Participation in the program shall be voluntary.
The Commissioner shall issue guidelines and requirements for food-service establishments to receive such designations, provided that such requirements to be designated as "Food Allergy Friendly" shall include, but not be limited to, prominently displaying in the staff area a poster that shall provide information regarding food allergy awareness, signs of an allergic reaction, and instructions for responding to an allergic reaction. The poster shall be developed by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services and approved by the Commissioner.
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.
The Commissioner of the Department of Health Services shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to the implementation of this article.
Any food-service establishment operator who violates the provisions of § 700-9 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each such violation.
No civil penalty shall be imposed under this article until after a hearing has been held, upon at least 15 days' notice, before the Commissioner, or his designee. Such notice shall be served either personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the food-service establishment and shall state the date, time and place of the hearing as well as enumerate the grounds constituting the alleged violation by the operator. The food-service establishment operator may produce witnesses on his or her own behalf. A record of the hearing shall be taken and preserved. For the purpose of such hearing, the Commissioner or his designee may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses and compel the production of books, papers, records and other documents deemed pertinent to the subject of the hearing.

References: § 700

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§ 700
 § 760
 § 700