New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 1 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
Chapter VI - Food Control
Subchapter C - Food and Food Products (article 17 Agriculture and Markets Law)
Part 256 - Food Salvagers
Section 256.8 - Standards for damaged food containers

(1) Flipper means a hermetically sealed container in which one end is slightly bulged and remains flat if pressed in. Flippers result from low vacuum.

(2) Leaker means a faulty hermetically sealed container that allows its contents to leak due to faulty seaming, rupture of the seal, industrial mishandling, severe denting, holes that develop in the container, or pressure that develops within the container.

(3) Sanitize means effective bactericidal treatment by a process that has been approved by the department as being effective in destroying micro-organisms, including pathogens.

(4) Springer means a hermetically sealed container with one end that bulges. When manual pressure is applied to the bulged end and released, either the opposite end is forced out or the bulged end springs back. If both ends of the container bulge, but only one end remains flat when pressed, it is a springer. A springer results from the presence of moderate positive pressure within the container. Bulging or extensive denting of the side walls may produce a springer.

(5) Swell means a hermetically sealed container with two bulged ends. Neither end will remain flat without pressure. A soft swell will yield to manual pressure, but no impression can be made manually on a hard swell. A swell results from positive pressure in the container, usually due to the spoilage of its contents. Some swells, especially in acidic products, may result from a chemical reaction between the contents and the container.

(1) any can or jar with bulged ends, or any container that is a swell, springer or flipper, including cans with bulged lids caused by severe dents; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to beer or carbonated beverage containers that are slightly bulged due to gas, or to pressurized food containers such as coffee or cheese spreads;

(2) any hermetically sealed can, jar or container that exhibits visible evidence of product leakage;

(3) any pull-up, pull-ring, pull-tab or pull-top container that exhibits obvious fractures of the lip scorelines, or any glass container that exhibits evidence of a loosening or opening of the closure or evidence of any other condition affecting the integrity of the seal;

(4) any badly rusted and/or severely pitted container that cannot be properly cleaned and reconditioned by moderate buffing, by means other than the use of steel wire brushes which are prohibited and may not be used for this purpose. Fine brass or copper wire brushes may be used for moderate buffing;

(5) any severely dented can in which the end seam is pulled out of position to such an extent that the malposition is readily noticeable and in which there is evidence that the end seam may have been placed under tension; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to food containers that exhibit moderately deep, sharp, angular indentations and moderately acute crimping of the body wall in which the end seam malposition is so slight that it can only be detected by the use of a straight edge on a flat surface;

(6) any severely dented can that exhibits deep, sharp, angular dents and acute crimping of the body wall; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to food containers that exhibit moderately deep, angular indentations and moderately acute crimping of the body wall;

(7) any severely dented can in which the end seam has been forced out of position to such an extent that the countersink has been buckled, materially affecting the safety and viability of the container; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not include food containers that exhibit body dents that force the end seam inward to such an extent that the countersink is involved, but no sharp edges are evident;

(8) any container that exhibits an improper end seam closure whereby a portion of the cover or body flange has not been tucked properly into the end seam;

(9) any container exhibiting deep, sharp, vertical side rim dents on the double seam in which the continuity of the seam is disrupted, or a rise is noted in the end plate at the site of the rupture; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not include food containers exhibiting deep, sharp, vertical or side rim dents that are not severe enough to cause the lid to buckle or bulge noticeably;

(10) any container that is not properly labeled within the meaning of the Agriculture and Markets Law of the State of New York or that has lost its identity and cannot be properly re-identified. All salvaged foods and food products in containers shall be provided with labels meeting the requirements of section 201 of the Agriculture and Markets Law. If original labels have been lost or removed from containers that are to be resold, food salvager replacement labels shall be affixed to each container. Said labels shall, in addition to meeting the requirements of Agriculture and Markets Law section 201, include the name and address of the food salvager as the distributor;

(11) any paper, plastic or similar food container or wrapping that has been damaged by penetration to such an extent that the product contained therein may have been contaminated or adulterated; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not include any paper, plastic or similar food container or wrapping, that contains only slight damage, such as crushing and in which there is no evidence of penetration of the interior of the container or of exposure of the foods contained therein; and

(12) any container, including one having a press or screw cap, that has been totally immersed in water as the result of fire, flood or similar mishap; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to metal cans or tins of food that have been partially or totally submerged in water as the result of fire, flood or similar mishap and that have been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized with a rinse of a concentration of 100 p.p.m. available chlorine for a minimum period of one minute, or immersed in boiling water for five minutes followed by cooling to 95° F. and thorough drying, or by any other method approved by the department, and that have been subsequently treated to inhibit rust formation.