What Do California Restaurants Need to Know about AB-3336 and Tamper-Evident Packaging?

Restaurant goers are increasingly using third-party food delivery services, such as Grubhub, Uber Eats, or DoorDash, to have food delivered to them from their favorite restaurants. Now, Assembly Bill 3336, or AB-3336, requires California restaurants to use tamper-evident packaging to keep their customers’ food safe when using a food delivery service.

How Does AB-3336 Affect California Restaurants?

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law on September 18, 2020, and it went into effect January 1, 2021. AB-3336 requires restaurants to keep food safe from tampering and spoiling.

Specifically, AB-3336 requires restaurants to use tamper-evident packaging when using third-party food delivery services. While AB-3336 doesn’t define tamper-evident packaging, it’s any packaging that would show if the package was opened or damaged.

AB-3336 also requires that California restaurants keep food in a holding area that meets the state’s sanitation standards and at the right temperature to prevent spoiling rather than on a counter, table, or rack.

Grocery stores and charities are exempt from AB-3336.

Want to learn more about tamper-evident packaging? Check out our comprehensive guide.

What Do Customers and Food Delivery Drivers Say about Tamper-Evident Packaging?

In addition to government regulators, consumers also want tamper-evident packaging. In a US Foods study:

• 85% of customers want restaurants to use tamper-evident packaging
• 28% of food deliverers admitted to taking food from an order
• 54% of food deliverers were tempted by the smell of food they deliver

How Handle Cuffs™ Provide a Convenient, Tamper-Evident Packaging Solution

Now that California restaurants are required to use tamper-evident packaging, they have to choose how they’ll meet this new mandate. Stickers or labels may not provide sufficient coverage to comply with the law’s demands. Staples can fall into customers’ foods, presenting a health and safety risk to restaurant goers.

Inno-Pak’s Handle Cuffs™ tamper-evident bag seals protect carryout and delivery orders. They extend across the top and beyond the sides of the bag to provide complete protection.

Handle Cuffs™ are convenient for restaurants and their customers. They work with all standard twist handle paper bags and save you time and money. They remove the need to buy tamper-evident versions of all your packaging for the items that go into the bag. Meanwhile, the mailer-style pull strip and perforations make it easy for customers to open the bag—and obvious to them if someone else did.

Handle Cuffs™ are also recyclable, and you can customize them with your brand or design to put your personal touch on every order.

With AB-3336 and growing customer demand for tamper-evident packaging, it’s clear the food delivery landscape is changing. California restaurants—and other states’ restaurants—are experts at innovating to keep up with consumer demand. We know restaurants will meet this challenge head on, and we want you to know that we’re here to help whether that’s with Handle Cuffs™, another of our products, or by designing a solution to meet your needs.

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The commentary above is the sole opinion of Inno-Pak and does not reflect legal or accounting device.