California AB 1276 prohibits Bakersfield food vendors from automatically including single-use foodware accessories like utensils, condiment packets, or stirrers. Customers must affirmatively request these items in person, by phone, or on delivery apps.
Assembly Bill 1276, codified at Public Resources Code section 42272, applies to Bakersfield restaurants, food trucks, ghost kitchens, and food delivery platforms. Single-use plastic utensils, chopsticks, condiment packets, and cocktail picks may not be bundled with takeout or delivery orders unless the customer requests them. Online ordering platforms must include a clear opt-in. Drive-through and dine-in operations have similar limits. Kern County Public Health enforces the rule alongside code enforcement. The intent is to reduce plastic waste, and the law follows AB 1884 on straws as part of California's broader move to opt-in single-use foodware delivery.
Two written warnings precede a 25-dollar-per-day fine capped at 300 dollars annually. Bakersfield code enforcement and Kern County Public Health share oversight.
See how Bakersfield's utensils-on-request rules stack up against other locations.
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