Hawaii restaurants have some new food safety rules to follow that went into effect on Sunday, Aug. 24, but the Hawaii Restaurant Association and some local businesses said communication about the changes could be improved.
Legislation passed in 2024 made updates to Hawaii’s food safety code that just went into effect on Sunday — some local restaurants said they did not get word from health officials.
“From my understanding, I just spoke to my two operators also, we haven’t heard anything from them,” said Rick Nakashima, Ruby Tuesday Hawaii CEO and owner. “We’re good on almost all the rules I just went over. There’s a couple questions we have on a few of them.”
One addition that patrons should see the next time they eat out is eateries that cook with sesame seed products need to have it displayed in an allergy warning.
“So now that has to be either on your menu or on a table tent,” said Hawaii Restaurant Association executive director Sheryl Matsuoka. “And we want to be good, you know, good citizens, and so we want to follow the guidelines — but unless we know about it, how are we going to follow the guidelines?”
