Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 40 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Chapter 40-7 - FOOD DIVISION REGULATIONS
Subject 40-7-18 - MANUFACTURED FOOD REGULATIONS
Rule 40-7-18-.02 - Definitions

(1) "Acid Foods" or "Acidified Foods" means foods that have a natural pH of 4.6 or below or low acid-foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added: these foods include, but are not limited to, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, artichokes, cauliflower, puddings, peppers, tropical fruits, and fish, singly or in any combination. They have a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85 and have a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below.

(2) "Act" means The Georgia Food Act.

(3) "Adequate" means that which is needed to accomplish the intended purpose in keeping with good public health practice.

(4) "Adulterated" as defined in Georgia Food Act Section 26-2-26.

(5) "Balut" means an embryo inside a fertile egg that has been incubated for a period sufficient for the embryo to reach a specific stage of development after which it is removed from incubation before hatching.

(6) "Code of Federal Regulations" means the compilation of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government.

(7) "Commissioner" means Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of Georgia.

(8) "Consumer" means a person who is a member of the public, takes possession of food, is not functioning in the capacity of an operator of a food establishment or food processing plant, and does not offer the food for resale.

(9) "Critical Control Point" means a point, step, or procedure in a food process at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce such hazard to an acceptable level.

(10) "Critical limit" means the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical parameter must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of the identified food hazard.

(11) "Department" means the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

(12) "Department Representative" means any officer, inspector, agent or employee of the Georgia Department of Agriculture who is authorized by the Commissioner with the duty of enforcing these regulations.

(13) "Egg" means the shell egg of avian species such as chicken, duck, goose, guinea, quail, ratites or turkey. Egg does not include:

(14) "Egg Product" means all, or a portion of, the contents found inside eggs separated from the shell and pasteurized in a food processing plant, with or without added ingredients, intended for human consumption, such as dried, frozen or liquid eggs. Egg product does not include food which contains eggs only in a relatively small proportion such as cake mixes.

(15) "Employee" means the License Holder, person in charge, food employee, person having supervisory or management duties, person on the payroll, family member, volunteer, person performing work under contractual agreement, or other person working in a food processing plant.

(16) "Exemption" means a written document issued by the regulatory authority that authorizes a modification or waiver of one or more requirements of this Code if, in the opinion of the regulatory authority, a health hazard or nuisance will not result from the modification or waiver.

(17) "Finished Product" means:

(18) "Fish" means fresh or saltwater finfish, crustaceans, other forms of aquatic animal life (including, but not limited to, alligator, frog, aquatic turtle, jellyfish, sea cucumber, and sea urchin and the roe of such animals) other than birds or mammals, and all mollusks, where such animal life is intended for human consumption.

(19) "Food" means a raw, cooked, or processed edible substance, ice, beverage, or ingredient used or intended for use or for sale in whole or in part for human consumption, or chewing gum.

(20) "Food employee" means an individual working with unpackaged food, food equipment or utensils, or food-contact surfaces.

(21) "Food Processing Plant" means an establishment that sells food products to other business entities as its primary function; and is used synonymously in this chapter with "establishment," "firm," "facility," and "plant." The term "food processing plant" includes those facilities that manufacture, process, pack, and/or hold food. There can be a retail component on the premise providing food directly to consumers from that establishment. A food processing plant's primary function is to sell food directly to other business entities if the annual monetary value of sales of food products directly to other business entities exceeds the annual monetary value of sales of food products to consumers.

(22) "HACCP Plan" means a written document that delineates the formal procedures for following the Hazard Analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principals developed by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for foods.

(23) "Hazard" means a biological, chemical, or physical property that is likely to cause an unacceptable consumer health risk.

(24) "Hermetically Sealed Container" means a container which is designed and intended to secure against entry of microorganisms and, in the case of low acid canned foods, to maintain the commercial sterility of its contents after processing.

(25) "High Risk Classification" means a facility which produces a high risk product or a lower-risk product distributed to highly susceptible populations or in such volume that a violative product poses a significant threat to public health.

(26) "High Risk Product" means a product that has been classified to carry a high potential for contamination or foodborne illness.

(27) "Highly Susceptible Population" means persons who are more likely than other people in the general population to experience foodborne disease because they are:

(28) "Imminent Health Hazard" means a significant threat or danger to health that is considered to exist when there is evidence sufficient to show that a product, practice, circumstance, or event creates a situation that requires immediate correction or cessation of operation to prevent injury based on:

(29) "License" means the document issued by the Department, which authorizes a person to operate a food processing plant.

(30) "Low Risk Classification" means a firm which produces or stores a low-risk product and whose target population or distribution does not increase the potential public health threat of a violative product.

(31) "Low Risk Product" means a product that has been classified as having a low potential for contamination or foodborne illness.

(32) "Manufacturing/Processing"

(33) "Moderate Risk Classification" means a firm which produces a moderate risk product or which produces a lower-risk product distributed to highly susceptible populations or in such volume that a violative product poses a moderate threat to public health.

(34) "Moderate Risk Product" means a product that has been classified as carrying a moderate potential for contamination or foodborne illness.

(35) "Molluscan Shellfish" means any edible species of fresh or frozen oysters, clams, mussels, or scallops, or edible portions of such species, except when the product consists entirely of the shucked adductor muscle.

(36) "Packing" means placing food into a container other than packaging the food and also includes re-packing and activities performed incidental to packing or re-packing a food (e.g., activities performed for the safe or effective packing or re-packing of that food (such as sorting, culling, grading, and weighing or conveying incidental to packing or re-packing)), but does not include activities that transform a raw agricultural commodity into a processed food as defined in section 201(gg) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

(37) "Person" means an association, a corporation, individual, partnership, other legal entity, government, or governmental subdivision or agency.

(38) "Person In Charge" means the individual present at a food processing plant who is responsible for the operation at the time of inspection.

(39) "pH" means the symbol for the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration, which is a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution.

(40) "Poisonous or Deleterious Substances" means substances that are not intended for ingestion.

(41) "Ratite" means a flightless bird such as an emu, ostrich, or rhea.

(42) "Raw Agricultural Product" or "Raw Agricultural Commodity" means any agricultural commodity in its raw or natural state that has undergone little or no processing. This product would require further processing before consumption.

(43) "Ready-to-Eat Food" means food that is in a form that is edible without washing, cooking, or additional preparation by the food establishment or consumer and that is reasonably expected to be consumed in that form.

(44) "Regulatory Authority" means an agency that is charged with the duty of enforcing specific regulations. The regulatory authority in this Chapter refers to the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the duly authorized agents.

(45) "Retail Food Establishment" means an establishment that sells food products directly to consumers as its primary function. The term "retail food establishment" includes those facilities that manufacture, process, pack, and/or hold food. There can be a wholesale/distribution component on the premise providing food to other business entities from that establishment. A retail food establishment's primary function is to sell food directly to consumers if the annual monetary value of sales of food products directly to consumers exceeds the annual monetary value of sales of food products to all other buyers. The term "consumers" does not include businesses.

(46) "Risk" means the likelihood that an adverse health effect will occur within a population as a result of a hazard in a food.

(47) "Risk Classification" means the designation or category assigned to a food processing plant, and is based on the following criteria:

(48) "U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act" (abbreviated as FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C) gives authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics.

(49) "Water Activity" means a measure of the free moisture in a food, is the quotient of the water vapor pressure of the substance divided by the vapor pressure of pure water at the same temperature, and is indicated by the symbol "aw".