[planetdoc]

Southern California city drops bill against Sriracha hot sauce plant

Lawmakers in a Southern California city dismissed a bill on Wednesday that would have declared a popular hot sauce manufacturer a public nuisance due to smells that residents near the factory complained were sickening.

Lawmakers in the Los Angeles suburb of Irwindale had considered declaring Huy Fong Foods, maker of the fiery Sriracha sauce, a nuisance after residents near the factory complained that peppery fumes were giving them headaches and irritating their eyes and throats.

But at a city council hearing on Wednesday, three council members and Mayor Mark Breceda voted unanimously to dismiss the resolution.

"We have to keep employment in Irwindale. We have to expand. It's good for Irwindale. It's good for California," Breceda said.

Huy Fong Foods, in a statement that was read out at the meeting, said it had already upgraded the air filtration system ahead of this year's chili harvest.