Want a ketchup packet at a restaurant? New California law means you’ll have to ask for it

You’ll have to ask for that ketchup packet now.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed a bill into law prohibiting restaurants and other food facilities from providing single-use foodware accessories or condiments — such as forks or soy sauce packets — unless they are specifically requested by the customer.

The bill, Assembly Bill 1276 authored by Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-los Angeles, prohibits single-use items from being bundled or packaged in a way that prevents the customer from taking only the item desired.

The bill also requires thirdparty food delivery platforms, such as Doordash, to list the availability of single-use items and only provide those items when requested.

Exempted from the law are correctional institutions, health care and residential care facilities and school cafeterias.

The new law gives cities and counties until June 1, 2022, to authorize an enforcement agency to enforce those requirements.

A first and second offense would result in a notice of violation, while third and subsequent violations would be an infraction punishable by a fine of $25 per day not to exceed an annual total of $300.

According to the California Coastal Commission, cups, plates, utensils and straws are among the top 10 most collected items trash items during California Coastal Cleanup Day.

Plastics comprise as much as

80% of marine debris and 90% of all floating debris, and by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than there will be fish if we keep producing plastics at predicted rates, according to a January 2016 report by the World Economics Forum.

Carrillo in a statement urging lawmakers to support her bill wrote it “is an important step to significantly reduce plastic waste that pollutes our oceans, harms marine life, harms our environment, and hurts low income communities of color, while simultaneously providing financial savings to restaurants and local governments.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Wilk, R-santa

Clarita, included the bill in a list of “Top 10 Bad Bills” that he shared on Twitter.

“Why was making local gov’t the ‘ketchup packet police’ a priority?” Wilk tweeted.