In a move to help shelters feed the homeless, Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration issued an emergency exemption in 2007 allowing groups to prepare food for the needy without having to do it in state-certified kitchens.
Now that exemption is coming to an end, and some advocates are saying the new, tougher rules could have some unintended negative consequences for the homeless and those who prepare meals for them.
"It’s going to make it a lot more difficult to serve the homeless," said En Young, executive director of The Food Basket Inc., Hawaii island’s food bank.
State health officials don’t view it that way. Peter Oshiro, state environmental health program manager, said the new rules, signed into law by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, will go a long way to protect the citizens of Hawaii and the homeless from potentially deadly food- and water-borne illnesses.
Colin Kippen, state homelessness coordinator, agreed, saying the homeless deserve the same health protections the general public does.
"We need to be assured that we’re not adopting any practices that could harm someone," Kippen said.
The rules are part of a wide-ranging set of food safety regulations imposed on some 10,000 restaurants, lunch wagons and food establishments in Hawaii. But while they went into effect last month, the state Health Department will not begin enforcement until June. Inspectors are now meeting with permit holders to help familiarize them with the regulations.
Under the rules, anyone who makes food from scratch — and especially using raw beef, pork, chicken and fish — must now have commercial hoods for the stove, freezers and/or refrigerator; hot holding units; three-compartment sinks or commercial dishwashers; and multiple hand sinks in food-prep and washing areas.
In 2007 it was thought that such requirements were a deterrent to groups wanting to serve the homeless, prompting the exemption.
Young said he believes the tougher rules will act as a deterrent again, and especially on the neighbor islands, where there are fewer state-certified kitchens available to churches, transitional shelters, domestic violence shelters, clean-and-sober houses and other organizations serving homeless individuals.
Young said only 10 percent of the 35 soup kitchens and pantries on Hawaii island now have full-service kitchens. Few groups will be able to afford to upgrade their cooking facilities, he said, and a number of rural groups will find it difficult to travel the long distances required to reach certified kitchens and maintain the proper food temperatures on the way back home.
"I wish the Department of Health did a little more digging into the realities of serving the less fortunate," he said.
Oshiro, however, said groups without full-service kitchens will be allowed to cook hot meals for the homeless under the law. With a single hand sink, he said, groups can prepare soups and other canned foods, saimin, hot dogs, sandwiches and salads.
"You can make a very nutritious meal with minimal facilities," he said.
But Young countered that limiting the diets of the homeless and forcing them to eat mostly processed food is unfair.
"They’re treating the homeless like second-class citizens," he said.
Oshiro added that the rules allow his department to waive permit fees for entities seeking to feed the homeless. He said food safety education and menu evaluation services will be offered as well.
Kippen said he would monitor the regulations to see whether there is any impact on the homeless community.
The new rules, based on the 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration model food code and last updated in Hawaii 17 years ago, require everything from gloves for those who handle food to patron notification of the risk of eating raw and undercooked food.
