California AB-1276 (Health and Safety Code §42270 et seq.) prohibits full-service and takeout food facilities from providing single-use utensils, straws, or condiment packets unless requested by the customer. Santa Clara County DEH enforces locally.
AB-1276, signed October 2021 and codified at Health and Safety Code §§42270–42272, bans automatic provision of single-use food accessories statewide effective June 2022. Restaurants, cafes, ghost kitchens, and online ordering platforms must ask customers whether they want utensils, straws, stirrers, condiment packets, or napkins; bundles cannot be added by default to delivery or takeout orders. The Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health (DEH), as the local food-facility regulator under the California Retail Food Code, conducts compliance checks during routine restaurant inspections. The first violation is a written warning; second and subsequent violations within a year carry administrative fines up to $25 per day capped at $300 annually per location.
Repeated violations of AB-1276 by a Santa Clara County food facility result in administrative fines up to $25 per day, capped at $300 annually per location, with willful or systemic violations referred to the District Attorney for civil action.
See how Palo Alto's utensils-on-request rules stack up against other locations.
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