LIHUE — Kauai food service establishments are complaining to the Kauai County Council that the takeout food they sell is breaking through paper bags they’re using while observing the county’s new ban on plastic bags.

Councilman Dickie Chang says food breaks through brown paper bags when it spills from a to-go container.

Councilman Mel Rapozo told The Garden Island newspaper he plans to address these concerns by drafting an amendment that would exempt food service establishments from the law.

Rapozo says restaurants have also called him with concerns about food safety. He says they’re worried food-borne bacteria could transfer to food from reusable bags that customers bring in.

The county’s ban on plastic bags went into effect on Jan. 11. Maui County adopted a similar ban.