Senate Blocks Ban on Food Handlers With AIDS Virus : Legislation: Sen. Helms had sought to make the exclusion part of the disabilities act. Lawmakers support listing of diseases that could pose a threat.

The Senate, facing a second showdown on an emotion-laden issue, reversed itself Wednesday and rejected an attempt by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) to bar persons infected with the AIDS virus from working as food handlers. The vote was 61 to 39.

While Helms warned that the result might force some restaurants into bankruptcy, his opponents countered that there was no evidence that AIDS, or the human immunodeficiency virus that causes it, could be transmitted through food.

On a 99-0 vote, however, the Senate decided to require the federal government to draw up a list of diseases that could be spread by food handlers and also decided that pending anti-discrimination legislation would not override state or local laws dealing with public health regulations for restaurants.

A Senate-House conference is completing final revisions to the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, which would guarantee access to jobs and public facilities for 43 million disabled persons, and the votes Wednesday were on measures that would instruct Senate conferees.

Helms argued that restaurant owners and other employers should be allowed to transfer workers who have AIDS or are HIV-infected from food-handling jobs because of public perceptions about the disease.

“Call it hysteria or whatever you want, but the vast majority of people who eat in restaurants don’t want their food prepared or handled by someone who has AIDS or HIV,” Helms argued. “They’ll stay away in droves. It’s a matter of survival for many, many restaurant operations.”

Then, simulating a cook cutting lettuce, Helms said: “A chef with AIDS is chopping up a salad and he cuts his finger. Do you want to eat that salad? I’d like to poll the members of the Senate to see who would.”

But Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a conservative who often sides with Helms, argued that there is now no scientific evidence to show that AIDS can be transmitted through food.

“Let science govern,” Hatch urged the Senate. “Do what is right. . . . Should a homosexual be discriminated against? The answer to that is no.”

Helms, however, countered: “Science doesn’t know the full story.”

Senate Majority Whip Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) charged that Helms’ proposal was “based on ignorance, prejudice, myth and fear” that would legitimize discrimination against persons with AIDS or the HIV virus.

The outcome was a reversal of an earlier Senate vote on the issue. On that occasion, the Senate went on record 53 to 40 in support of a move by Helms to instruct Senate negotiators to accept a similar House-passed provision concerning food handlers.

Another obstacle to final approval of the disability bill was overcome when the Senate decided to apply the bill’s provisions to the Senate itself, while requiring those complaining of discrimination to use an internal system rather than filing lawsuits in federal court.

Some senators had argued that they should be subject to the same court processes as state and local governments and private businesses. A strong majority disagreed, maintaining that lawmakers could be subject to harassment by federal judges if such a provision were adopted.

The House also decided to use an internal dispute-settlement board to resolve complaints of discrimination by disabled employees. By congressional tradition, each chamber decides for itself on such questions.