County pulls plug on free coffee, doughnuts at Camarillo store

Ty Brann likes the neighborly feel of his local hardware store. The fourth-generation Ventura County resident and small business owner has been going to the B & B Do it Center on Mobile Avenue in Camarillo for many years. His company, Kastle Kare, does pest control, landscaping and plant care, and he’s a B & B regular.

So when he learned the county had told B & B it could no longer put out its usual box of doughnuts and coffee pot for the morning customers, Brann was taken aback. Poll Should coffee and doughnuts be considered food service? Yes No Not if it was made at a permitted location, like a doughnut shop.

“I was a little outraged, to be honest,” said Brann, 45. “They were putting this stuff out there out of the kindness of their hearts. They called it their little pink box of love. I thought it had to be a joke.”

An anonymous customer complaint to the county brought health inspectors to the store, who determined its tradition of more than 15 years of offering coffee and doughnuts to customers violated food-handling regulations.

“We’ve been doing this since we bought the place 15 years ago and the previous owner was doing it, too,” said Randy Collins, 42, co-owner with his parents of B & B. “We simply weren’t aware we were causing a problem.”

Inspectors told Collins that unless he was willing to install stainless-steel sinks with hot and cold water and have a prep kitchen to handle the food, he was violating the law.

“The state health and safety code talks about food regulations,” said Elizabeth Huff, manager of community services for the Ventura County Environmental Health Division. “Anybody who handles food is subject to the regulations.”

At issue is the level of permit required for a retail establishment to offer food to the public. “What some establishments do is hire a mobile food preparation services or in some cases a coffee service,” said Huff. “Those establishments have permits and can operate in front of or even inside of the stores. But where the public has access to food, permitting is required.”

Huff indicated there are several levels of permits, depending on the store’s needs. All carry various costs.

“We’re certainly working with the health department,” said Collins. “We want to be in compliance with the law.”

“This is a small town,” said Brann. “I don’t think they did anything wrong, I mean, just coffee? Come on. This seems a little overboard and heavy-handed to me.”

“It’s the money, not the sanitation,” Thomas Frye, 75, of Camarillo said of the county’s motivation. “We’ve abandoned common sense where the need for licenses and fees are more important than tradition.”

Grace Pugliese, 70, of Camarillo said customers should be allowed to make up their own minds on a doughnut. “I understand where they’re coming from,” she said, “but we are losing that small-town feel.”

You have your opinion, I have mine, to me it is no different than if someone’s religious beliefs called for the last joint of the little finger to be removed. Actually removing the end of the little finger would be far less damaging. As far as the cleanliness and health issues go all that is a lot of bunk. Would you consider it your business if someone was cutting off the tips of little fingers and pretending it is a health issue? How about some of the African cultures where boys at puberty have had their penises so mutilated that some have died, would you defend that too?

I have never understood people who claim that their God commands them to mutilate newborn children, I will never believe that God commands that.

Your joking right? Circumcision may have various health benefits, including: ■Easier hygiene. Circumcision makes it easier to wash the penis — although washing beneath the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis isn't generally difficult. ■Decreased risk of urinary tract infections. The overall risk of urinary tract infections in males is low, but these infections may be more common in uncircumcised males. Severe infections early in life can lead to kidney problems later on. ■Prevention of penile problems. Occasionally, the foreskin on an uncircumcised penis may be difficult or impossible to retract (phimosis). This can also lead to inflammation of the foreskin or head of the penis. ■Decreased risk of penile cancer. Although cancer of the penis is rare, it's less common in circumcised men. In addition, cervical cancer is less common in the female sexual partners of circumcised men. ■Decreased risk of sexually transmitted infections. Safe sexual practices remain essential, but circumcised men may have a lower risk of certain sexually transmitted infections — including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

No I am not joking, I have heard all that and I have seen it all debunked. Just because there is some extremely rare occurrence that MIGHT be traceable to the fact that someone has a foreskin is no excuse. There are people who have problems that are CAUSED BY circumcision. It boils down to this, millions of people have grown up being told that there are valid reasons for male circumcision, they have been lied to. There was a time when it was claimed that circumcision was necessary to keep boys from masturbating. That was absurd but no more absurd than most of the other claims.

Most of those in this country who defend male circumcision are horrified to hear tales of female circumcision. I consider both to be disgusting practices.

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