Code of Maine Rules
01 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY
001 - AGRICULTURE - GENERAL
Chapter 331 - STATE OF MAINE FOOD CODE 2001
Chapter 4 - EQUIPMENT, UTENSILS, AND LINENS
Section 001-331-4-3 - NUMBERS AND CAPACITIES

Universal Citation: 01 ME Code Rules ยง 001-331-4-3

Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024

4-301 Equipment

4-301.11 Cooling, Heating, and Holding Capacities.

EQUIPMENT for cooling and heating FOOD, and holding cold and hot FOOD, shall be sufficient in number and capacity to provide FOOD temperatures as specified under Chapter 3.

4-301.12 Manual Warewashing, Sink Compartment Requirements.

(A) Except as specified in ¶ (C) of this section, a sink with at least 3 compartments shall be provided for manually washing, rinsing, and SANITIZING EQUIPMENT and UTENSILS.

(B) Sink compartments shall be large enough to accommodate immersion of the largest EQUIPMENT and UTENSILS. If EQUIPMENT or UTENSILS are too large for the WAREWASHING sink, a WAREWASHING machine or alternative EQUIPMENT as specified in ¶ (C) of this section shall be used.

(C) Alternative manual WAREWASHING EQUIPMENT may be used when there are special cleaning needs or constraints and its use is APPROVED. Alternative manual WAREWASHING EQUIPMENT may include:

(1) High-pressure detergent sprayers;

(2) Low- or line-pressure spray detergent foamers;

(3) Other task-specific cleaning EQUIPMENT;

(4) Brushes or other implements;

(5) 2-compartment sinks as specified under ¶¶ (D) and (E) of this section; or

(6) Receptacles that substitute for the compartments of a multicompartment sink.

(D) Before a 2-compartment sink is used:

(1) The PERMIT HOLDER shall have its use APPROVED; and

(2) The nature of WAREWASHING shall be limited to batch operations for cleaning KITCHENWARE such as between cutting one type of raw MEAT and another or cleanup at the end of a shift, and:
(a) The number of items to be cleaned shall be limited,

(b) The cleaning and SANITIZING solutions shall be made up immediately before use and drained immediately after use, and

(c) A detergent-SANITIZER shall be used to SANITIZE and shall be applied as specified under

§ 4 -501.115, or

(d) A hot water SANITIZATION immersion step shall be used as specified under ¶ 4-603.16(C).

(E) A 2-compartment sink may not be used for WAREWASHING operations where cleaning and SANITIZING solutions are used for a continuous or intermittent flow of KITCHENWARE or TABLEWARE in an ongoing WAREWASHING process.

4-301.13 Drainboards.

Drainboards, UTENSIL racks, or tables large enough to accommodate all soiled and cleaned items that may accumulate during hours of operation shall be provided for necessary UTENSIL holding before cleaning and after SANITIZING.

4-301.14 Ventilation Hood Systems, Adequacy.

Ventilation hood systems and devices shall be sufficient in number and capacity to prevent grease or condensation from collecting on walls and ceilings.

4-301.15 Clothes Washers and Dryers.

(A) Except as specified in ¶ (B) of this section, if work clothes or LINENS are laundered on the PREMISES, a mechanical clothes washer and dryer shall be provided and used.

(B) If on-PREMISES laundering is limited to wiping cloths intended to be used moist, or wiping cloths are air-dried as specified under § 4 -901.12, a mechanical clothes washer and dryer need not be provided.

4-302 Utensils, Temperature Measuring Devices, and Testing Devices

4-302.11 Utensils, Consumer Self-Service.

A FOOD dispensing UTENSIL shall be available for each container displayed at a CONSUMER self-service unit such as a buffet or salad bar.

4-302.12 Food Temperature Measuring Devices.

FOOD TEMPERATURE MEASURING DEVICES shall be provided and readily accessible for use in ensuring attainment and maintenance of FOOD temperatures as specified under Chapter 3.

4-302.13 Temperature Measuring Devices, Manual Warewashing.

In manual WAREWASHING operations, a TEMPERATURE MEASURING DEVICE shall be provided and readily accessible for frequently measuring the washing and SANITIZING temperatures.

4-302.14 Sanitizing Solutions, Testing Devices.

A test kit or other device that accurately measures the concentration in mg/L of SANITIZING solutions shall be provided.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Maine may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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