NC bars have longer to meet food inspection rules
Bars that serve food in North Carolina will have more time to make costly upgrades to follow new state rules for inspections.
The new state regulations were set to take effect on March 27, but bar owners now have until Oct. 1 to make necessary changes.
The law requires bars to go through the same permitting and health inspections that restaurants do.
Brendan Cox, the owner of the Beagle in Pittsboro, explained the changes his establishment must undergo.
“We had to change a sink around and add what we call a service sink or a mop sink outdoors and attach additional plumbing, which is really straightforward and easy except for our plumbers are waiting four weeks to get a permit,” Cox said.
Cox said it’s a lot of time for his establishment and the estimated 200 other bars across North Carolina still trying to get permitted to serve food. Cox said the Beagle needed the extension to make the necessary changes.
“We’re in a unique position, probably the best position possible for this, but I am sure there are other people who have had to make decisions about staying open or closing,” Cox said.
For about the last decade, bars in North Carolina didn’t need to be inspected or permitted like a restaurant, but could still serve food like burgers, chicken and other items that use time and temperature as a measure of safety. In 2023, House Bill 125 removed that exemption. Owners now have until Oct. 1 to get permitted and inspected.
“It was really done out of a sense of giving folks the opportunity to determine if they are indeed impacted and then give them time depending on what they need to do to come into compliance,” said Mark Benton, chief deputy secretary for health with the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The delay until October not only gives bars more time to become compliant, but it also gives the state legislature more time to consider adjusting the rules.
“I really feel like we could have had better communication between the regulatory authority, the legislature and the business owners about this,” Cox said.
State Sen. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson County, told 5 On Your Side in February that lawmakers have heard concerns from bar owners about these new rules and they will look at making changes to alleviate the burden the new law has created. North Carolina lawmakers are back in session in April and will have more time to work on that before any changes take effect.
