Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a)
(1) All food-contact surfaces, including
utensils and food-contact surfaces of equipment, shall be cleaned as frequently
as necessary to protect against allergen cross-contact and against
contamination of food. All multiuse containers and utensils shall be thoroughly
cleaned after each use, and all equipment shall be thoroughly cleaned at least
once each day used; provided, that storage tanks shall be cleaned when emptied
and shall be emptied at least every 72 hours, except that in the case of milk
plants at which frozen desserts or storable milk products are manufactured,
such tanks shall be emptied at least every 96 hours. Storage tanks which are
used to store raw milk longer than 24 hours and silo tanks used for the storage
of raw milk shall be equipped with a seven-day temperature recording device
complying with the specifications of Appendix 3 of this Title.
(2) Whenever a milk tank truck has been
cleaned and sanitized, as required by the commissioner, it shall bear a tag or
a record shall be made showing the date, time, place and signature of the
employee or contract operator doing the work, unless the truck delivers to only
one receiving unit where responsibility for cleaning and sanitizing can be
definitely established without tagging. The tag is to be removed at the first
stop on the route and kept on file for the commissioner.
(3) All utensils and equipment shall be
cleaned and sanitized in a manner that protects against allergen cross-contact
and against contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, and food-packaging
materials.
(4) Food-contact
surfaces used in the manufacturing/processing, packing, or holding low-moisture
food shall be in a clean, dry, sanitary condition before use. When the surfaces
are wet-cleaned, they shall be sanitized and thoroughly dried before subsequent
use.
(5) In wet processing, when
cleaning is necessary to protect against allergen cross-contact or the
introduction of microorganisms into food, all food-contact surfaces shall be
cleaned and sanitized before use and after any interruption during which the
food-contact surfaces may have become contaminated. Where equipment and
utensils are used in a continuous production operation, the utensils and
food-contact surfaces of the equipment must be cleaned and sanitized as
necessary.
(6) Cleaning compounds
and sanitizing agents used in cleaning and sanitizing procedures shall be both
free from undesirable microorganisms and safe and adequate under the conditions
of use. Compliance with this requirement shall be verified by any effective
means, including purchase of these substances under a letter of guarantee or
certification or examination of these substances for
contamination.
(b)
Pipelines and/or equipment designed for mechanical cleaning meet the following
requirements:
(1) An effective cleaning and
sanitizing regiment for each separate cleaning circuit shall be
followed.
(2) A temperature
recording device shall be installed in the return-solution line to record the
temperature and time during which the line or equipment is exposed to cleaning
and sanitizing.
(3) Temperature
recording charts shall be identified, dated and retained for three
months.
(4) During each official
inspection, the commissioner shall examine and initial temperature recording
charts to verify the time of exposure to solutions and their
temperatures.
(c) Plants
in which containers are washed manually are equipped with a two-compartment
wash-and-rinse vat for this purpose. Such plants shall also provide a steam
cabinet or individual steam-jet plate with hood for sanitizing of cleaned
containers, or, if sanitizing is done with chemicals, a third treatment
vat.
(d) In plants utilizing
automatic bottle washers, such washers must provide for bactericidal treatment
by means of steam, hot water or chemical treatment. In soaker-type bottle
washers, in which bactericidal treatment depends upon the causticity of the
washing solution, the caustic strength for a given soaking time and temperature
shall be as specified in the following table listing combinations of
causticity, time and temperature of equal bactericidal value, for soaker tank
of soaker-type bottle washers:
COMBINATIONS OF CAUSTICITY, TIME AND TEMPERATURE OF EQUAL
BACTERICIDAL VALUE, FOR SOAKER TANK OF SOAKER-TYPE BOTTLE WASHERS
(Based on NSDA specifications for beverage
bottles)
| Temperature, degrees |
| F | 170 | 160 | 150
| 140 | 130 | 120 | 110 |
| C | 77 | 71 | 66 | 60
| 54 | 49 | 43 |
| Time in minutes | Concentration
of NaOH, percent |
| 3 | 0.57 | 0.86 | 1.28
| 1.91 | 2.86 | 4.27 | 6.39 |
| 5 | 0.43 | 0.64 | 0.96
| 1.43 | 2.16 | 3.22 | 4.80 |
| 7 | 0.36 | 0.53 | 0.80
| 1.19 | 1.78 | 2.66 | 3.98 |
When caustic is so used, subsequent final rinsing of the
bottles shall be with water which has been treated with heat or chemicals to
assure freedom from viable pathogenic or otherwise harmful organisms, to
prevent recontamination of the treated bottle during the rinsing
operation.
(e) All multiuse
containers, equipment and utensils are sanitized before use, employing one or a
combination of the methods prescribed under section
2.18
of this Part (Item 11r). Assembled equipment must be sanitized prior to each
day's run.
(f) The residual
bacteria count of multiuse and single-service containers used for packaging
pasteurized milk and milk products shall not exceed one per milliliter of
capacity, when the rinse test is used, or not over 50 colonies per/8 square
inches (one per square centimeter) of product-contact surface, when the swab
test is used, in three out of four samples taken at random on a given day. All
multiuse and single-service containers shall be free of coliform
organisms.
(g) Plants which utilize
multiuse plastic containers for pasteurized milk and milk products shall comply
with the following criteria:
(1) The plastic
material from which the containers are molded shall be of safe
material.
(2) The plastic material
shall comply with the material specifications of section
2.39
of this Part (Item 11p).
(3) All
containers shall be identified as to plant of manufacture, date of manufacture,
and type and class of plastic material used. This information may be by code,
provided that the code is revealed to the commissioner.
(4) A device shall be installed in the
filling line capable of detecting in each container before it is filled,
volatile organic contaminants in amounts that are of public health
significance. Such device must be constructed so that it may be sealed by the
commissioner to prevent the changing of its sensitivity functioning level.
Models using an air injection system and with a testing device built into the
detection equipment do not have to be sealed. To assure proper functioning of
the system, the operator needs to be able to adjust the sensitivity. However,
those models utilizing an external testing device must be sealed. Any container
detected by the device as being unsatisfactory must be automatically made
unusable to prevent refilling. In addition, the device must be interconnected
so that the system will not operate unless the detecting device is in proper
operating condition.
(5) A standard
must be available for the use of the commissioner for testing the proper
sensitivity functioning levels of the detection device.
(6) The commissioner may waive the
requirement for the detecting device required for in paragraph (4) of this
subdivision if an alternative method of comparable sensitivity is available and
has been demonstrated to be effective in milk plant operation.
(7) The containers shall comply with the
applicable construction requirements of section
2.39
of this Part(Item 11p). The closure for the container shall be single-service.
Screw-type closures shall not be used.
(8) The container shall not impart into the
product pesticide residual levels or other chemical contaminants in excess of
those considered acceptable under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as
amended, and regulations issued thereunder.
