Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in these sections,
shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
(1) Child care center--Any
facility licensed by the regulatory authority to receive 13 or more children
for child care which prepares food for on-site consumption. A child care center
is classified as a food establishment.
(2) Department--The Department of State
Health Services.
(3) Food--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.
(4) Food employee--An
individual working with unpackaged food, food equipment or utensils, or
food-contact surfaces.
(5) Food
establishment--
(A) Food establishment means
an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise
provides food for human consumption:
(i) such
as a restaurant; retail food store; satellite or catered feeding location;
catering operation if the operation provides food directly to a consumer or to
a conveyance used to transport people; market; vending location; conveyance
used to transport people; institution; or food bank; and
(ii) that relinquishes possession of food to
a consumer directly, or indirectly through a delivery service such as home
delivery of grocery orders or restaurant takeout orders, or delivery service
that is provided by common carriers.
(B) Food establishment includes:
(i) an element of the operation such as a
transportation vehicle or a central preparation facility that supplies a
vending location or satellite feeding location unless the vending or feeding
location is permitted by the regulatory authority; and
(ii) an operation that is conducted in a
mobile, stationary, temporary, or permanent facility or location; where
consumption is on or off the premises; and regardless of whether there is a
charge for the food.
(C)
Food establishment does not include:
(i) an
establishment that offers only prepackaged foods that are not potentially
hazardous;
(ii) a produce stand
that only offers whole, uncut fresh fruits and vegetables;
(iii) a food processing plant;
(iv) a kitchen in a private home if only food
that is not potentially hazardous is prepared for sale or service at a function
such as a religious or charitable organization's bake sale if allowed by
law;
(v) an area where food that is
prepared as specified in clause (iv) of this subparagraph is sold or offered
for human consumption;
(vi) a Bed
and Breakfast Limited facility as defined in §
228.2 of
this title (relating to Definitions); or
(vii) a private home that receives catered or
home-delivered food.
(D)
All definitions found in Chapter 228 of this title (relating to Retail Food)
are applicable to these sections except that, for purposes of inspection or
payment of inspection fees only, the term "food establishment" does not
include:
(i) food establishments permitted
and inspected under authority granted to Home-Rule or Type A General-Law
Municipalities;
(ii) federally
inspected food establishments on federal property;
(iii) food establishments at correction
facilities under the inspection of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice;
(iv) food establishments
on state campuses inspected by state college or university personnel in
accordance with the requirements of §
229.373
of this title (relating to Minimum Standards for Permitting and
Operation);
(v) food establishments
licensed under the Health and Safety Code, Chapter 431, as manufacturers of
food;
(vi) mobile food units
permitted and inspected under the authority granted to Home-Rule or Type A
General-Law Municipalities and which operate only within their respective
jurisdictions.
(6) Food service establishment--A food
establishment as defined in these rules.
(7) Group residence--A private or public
housing corporation or institutional facility that provides living quarters and
meals. The term includes a domicile for unrelated persons such as a retirement
home, correctional facility, or a long-term care facility.
(8) Mobile food establishment--A vehicle
mounted food establishment that is readily moveable.
(9) Nonprofit organization--A civic or
fraternal organization, charity, lodge, association, proprietorship or
corporation possessing a 501(C) exemption under the Internal Revenue Code; or
religious organizations meeting the definition of "church" under the Internal
Revenue Code, §170(b)(1)(A)(I). Nonprofit organizations are exempted from
obtaining a permit as specified in §
229.372(e)
of this title (relating to Permitting Fees and Procedures). Nonprofit
organizations are not exempted from the payment of an inspection fee as
required under §
229.472
of this title.
(10) Person--An
association, corporation, individual, partnership, other legal entity,
government, or governmental subdivision or agency.
(11) Potentially hazardous food--
(A) Potentially hazardous food (PHF) means a
food that requires time and temperature control for safety (TCS) to limit
pathogen growth or toxin production.
(B) Potentially hazardous food includes:
(i) an animal food (a food of animal origin),
including fresh shell eggs, that is raw or heat-treated; a food of plant origin
that is heat-treated or consists of raw seed sprouts; cut melons; and
garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not modified in a way that results in mixtures
that do not support growth as specified under subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph; and
(ii) a food whose
pH/aw interaction is designated as PHF/TCS in one of the
tables listed in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, unless a product
assessment or vendor documentation acceptable to the regulatory authority is
provided.
(C)
Potentially hazardous food does not include:
(i) an air-cooled hard-boiled egg with shell
intact, or a shell egg that is not hard-boiled, but has been treated to destroy
all viable Salmonellae;
(ii) a food
whose pH/aw interaction is designated as non-PHF/non-TCS
in one of the tables in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph;
(iii) a food, in an unopened hermetically
sealed container, that is commercially processed to achieve and maintain
commercial sterility under conditions of non-refrigerated storage and
distribution;
(iv) a food for which
a product assessment, including laboratory evidence, demonstrates that time and
temperature control for safety is not required and that may contain a
preservative, other barrier to the growth of microorganisms, or a combination
of barriers that inhibit the growth of microorganisms; or
(v) a food that does not support the growth
of microorganisms as specified under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph even
though the food may contain an infectious or toxigenic microorganism or
chemical or physical contaminant at a level sufficient to cause
illness.
(D) Potentially
hazardous food does not include food that, because of pH, water activity
(aw) or the interaction of pH and
aw, is considered non-PHF/non-TCS in Table A or B below.
Guidance for using the tables is provided in the document entitled "Using pH,
aw, or the Interaction of pH and
aw to Determine If a Food Requires Time/Temperature
Control for Safety (TCS)". Copies of the guidance document may be downloaded
from the following website: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us, or may be obtained
from the department, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756-3182.
(12) Pushcart--A non self-propelled mobile
food unit limited to serving nonpotentially hazardous food or potentially
hazardous foods requiring a limited amount of preparation as authorized by the
regulatory authority. A pushcart is classified as a mobile food unit. A
pushcart does not include non self-propelled units owned and operated within a
retail food store.
(13) Roadside
food vendor--A person who operates a mobile retail food store from a temporary
location adjacent to a public roadway or highway. Foods shall not be prepared
or processed by a roadside food vendor. A roadside vendor is classified as a
mobile food establishment.
(14)
School food establishment--A food service establishment where food is prepared
or served and intended for service primarily to students in institutions of
learning including, but not limited to, public and private schools, including
kindergarten, preschool and elementary schools, junior high schools, high
schools, colleges, and universities. A school food establishment is classified
as a food establishment.
(15)
Temporary food establishment--A food establishment that operates for a period
of no more than 14 consecutive days in conjunction with a single event or
celebration.
