asian food: Shelf life of cultural fare up for debate State officials want traditional Vietnamese rice cakes pulled every four hours; assemblyman wants study done first By Edwin Garcia TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU SACRAMENTO - Some of the more popular items at Ken Trieu's San Jose sandwich shop are traditional Vietnamese rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves that his family has been selling for two decades. Now the pork-filled cakes -- and others like them sold at restaurants, shops and bakeries throughout California -- have come to the attention of state officials in a simmering debate regarding how long the cakes should be allowed to sit on store shelves. State health laws dictate that any unsold rice cakes must be pulled within four hours to prevent bacteria from developing -- but Vietnamese-American shopkeepers, community activists and customers are urging for an exemption in the regulations, saying the cakes can easily last two days without refrigeration. "We've been making these for 20 years, and we have no problem with the rice cakes molding or going bad," said Trieu, whose family owns the Huong Lan sandwich shop, where employees are told to remove unsold cakes within two hours. "I've never heard of people getting sick." The cakes are especially popular around cultural holidays such as Tet, when Vietnamese-Americans celebrate the lunar new year. State officials are not about to modify the laws anytime soon, but Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa, has introduced legislation to study the health and sanitation standards on the sale and consumption of the cakes. His measure would provide $120,000 for the Department of Health Services to determine, among other things, whether the shelf life for banh tet, banh chung and banh tet chuoi can be safely extended. "I see this as a sensitive issue that needs intervention and uniformity," said Tran, the nation's first legislator of Vietnamese descent. The rice cakes, public health experts say, are prone to attract bacteria because their ingredients do not withstand time or temperature tests, even though they could be wrapped with one layer of banana leaves and another of plastic wrap. Banh chung, a square-shaped package of sticky rice, mung bean puree and seasoned pork, was found to be "potentially hazardous" at room temperature in a test commissioned by the Orange County Health Care Agency, according to an analysis prepared for Tran's legislation. A similar outcome resulted from testing of banh tet chuoi, a bundle of sticky rice, pork fat and soy bean paste squashed into a banana leaf cylinder, the analysis stated. Under the California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law, a potentially hazardous food must be stored at or below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, or above 135 degrees at all times. "But if you do that," Tran said with a quick laugh, "you won't have much of a cake; you ruin it, that's the problem." AB2214 has swiftly been approved by three committees and the Assembly, with a 75-1 vote. The bill will likely be heard in the Senate next month. Similar concerns over Korean rice cakes resulted in legislation passed in 2001 that allows food establishments to keep those products at room temperature for up to 24 hours, provided the packaging is stamped with an expiration date. Tran introduced his measure after environmental health officials in his district, Orange County, home to more than 135,000 Vietnamese-Americans, launched a culturally sensitive bilingual public education campaign to explain the dangers of "potentially hazardous" foods. Santa Clara County, home to more than 100,000 residents of Vietnamese ancestry, ran a similar campaign in the late 1990s. "We've got a very large Vietnamese community here, and we've been trying for years to come to some sort of a collaborative solution so that we'd be able to meet the health codes," said Jim Miller, program manager for Orange County's food protection program. "It is a difficult balancing act," he said, explaining that cultural values sometimes contradict with food safety laws. Environmental health officials in Orange and Santa Clara counties said their departments do not actively seek out such violations, which are classified as misdemeanors. But proponents of Tran's legislation are concerned that enforcement could become aggressive as a result of the Orange County public awareness campaign. And they hope the study concludes that rice cakes can be safely eaten within 48 hours. San Jose community activist Ky Ngo said California needs to update its food safety laws in the same way the federal government several years ago modified highway safety laws by increasing the maximum speed limit to 65 mph from 55 mph. Rice cakes, he said, should be allowed to remain on shelves for up to two days. Ngo, 53, said he has never heard of anybody getting sick from eating rice cake that was too old. "As customers, we are not stupid about buying bad food to eat, and the sellers, they don't sell bad food because someone will sue if they get sick." Ben Gale, director of Santa Clara County's environmental health department, supports Tran's legislation, known as the "Asian food study." "It helps the dining, consuming public out there," he said, "to have the level of confidence that the food that they're eating is safe."