Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
ATCP 55-89 - Food, Lodging, and Recreation Safety
Chapter ATCP 88 - Egg Grading, Handling And Labeling
Subchapter I - General Provisions
Section ATCP 88.01 - Definitions

(1) "Ambient temperature" means the temperature of the air surrounding eggs or packages of eggs.

(2) "Balut" means a fertile egg which is incubated for a period of time shorter than is necessary for hatching.

(3) "Candling" means carefully examining, in a dark place, the interior and exterior of a whole egg that is placed in front of a strong light source.

(4) "Check" means an egg that has a broken shell or crack in the shell but has intact shell membranes and no leaking of contents.

(5) "Community-supported agriculture business" means a farm with which individuals contract to regularly receive two or more different agricultural products, which may include eggs, originating from the farm.

(6) "Consumer" means an individual purchasing eggs which will be consumed by the individual, the individual's family, or the individual's non-paying guests.

(7) "Department" means the state of Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection.

(8) "Dirty" means an egg, with an unbroken shell, that has either of the following:

(9) "Egg" means the shell egg of the domestic chicken, Gallus gallus domesticus; turkey, duck, goose, guinea, or other avian species whose eggs are consumed by humans.

(10) "Egg handler" means a person who washes, grades, sizes, candles, packages, stores, handles, or otherwise prepares eggs for sale, but does not include a person who handles nest-run eggs and otherwise prepares nest-run eggs for sale.

(11) "Egg producer" means a person who sells eggs only laid by birds owned by that person.

(12) "Egg sales route" means one or more residences inhabited by consumers who regularly buy eggs from an egg producer traveling to the residences.

(13) "Farmers' market" means a common facility where two or more farmers or growers gather on a regular basis to sell raw agricultural commodities, eggs, and processed foods which they produce, directly to consumers.

(14) "Federal egg grading act" means the agricultural marketing act of 1946, as amended (7 USC 1621 et seq.), and U.S. standards, grades, and weight classes for shell eggs issued under the act.

(15) "Federal egg products inspection act" means the egg products inspection act of 1970 (21 USC 1031- 1056), and regulations issued under the act in 7 CFR part 57 and 9 CFR part 590.

(16) "Federal egg safety rule" means regulations in 21 CFR 16.5(a) (5) and 21 CFR part 118, and enforced by the U.S. food and drug administration.

(17) "Incubator reject" means an egg that has been subjected to incubation and has been removed from incubation during the hatching operations as infertile or otherwise unhatchable.

(18) "Inedible egg" means an egg in which any of the following is present:

(19) "Leaker" means an egg that has a crack or break in the shell and shell membranes, to the extent that the egg contents are exposed or are exuding or free to exude through the shell.

(20) "Loss" means an egg that is unfit for human food because it is smashed or broken so that its contents are leaking; or is overheated, frozen, or contaminated.

(21) "Nest-run" means eggs that do not receive more than minimal washing, and are not graded or candled before sale.

(22) "Official egg products plant" means a place of business, regulated by the U.S. department of agriculture under the federal egg products inspection act, that manufactures egg products, including breaking eggs or filtering, mixing, blending, pasteurizing, stabilizing, cooling, freezing, drying, or packaging egg products.

(23) "Package" has the meaning given in s. ATCP 90.01(16).

Note A "package" of eggs is the retail package in which the eggs are sold to a consumer. A "package" is different from a shipping container.

(24) "Packing" means placing eggs into a package or shipping container.

(25) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, cooperative, association, or other business entity.

(26) "Restricted egg" means any egg that is a check, dirty, incubator reject, inedible, leaker, or loss.

(27) "Shipping container" means any box, case, rack, or other container used to distribute packages of eggs, or bulk or loose eggs, to a seller or institutional purchaser of eggs.

(28) "Storage" means the holding of eggs before sale for longer than 24 hours.

(29) "U.S. Consumer Grade B" means eggs which are, on the basis of a sample obtained in accordance with 7 CFR 56.4, at least 90 percent grade B quality or better, of which not more than 10 percent are checks and not more than 0.50 percent (at origin) or 1 percent (at destination) are leakers, dirties, or loss (due to meat or blood spots) in any combination, except that such loss may not exceed 0.30 percent. Other types of loss are not permitted.

(30) "U.S. standards, grades, and weight classes for shell eggs" means standards maintained by the agricultural marketing service of the U.S. department of agriculture and published in U.S. Standards, Grades, and Weight Classes for Shell Eggs (AMS 56), July 20, 2000.

(31) "Warehouse" has the meaning given in s. 97.27(1) (b), Stats.