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7 U.S.C. 1622, 1624; 7 CFR 2.17 (g) and (i), 2.55.
41 FR 23702, June 11, 1976, unless otherwise noted.
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Subscribe to: 9 CFR Part 354 - Maintenance of Sanitary Conditions and Precautions Against Contamination of Products
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The premises shall be kept free from refuse, waste materials, and all other sources of objectionable odors and conditions.
Rooms, compartments, or other parts of the official plant shall be kept clean and in sanitary condition.
(a) All blood, offal, rabbits or parts of rabbits too severely damaged to be salvaged and all discarded containers and other materials shall be completely disposed of daily.
(b) All windows, doors, and light fixtures in the official plant shall be kept clean.
(c) All docks and rooms shall be kept clean and free from debris and unused equipment and utensils.
(d) Live rabbit receiving docks and receiving rooms shall be of such construction as readily to permit their thorough cleaning, and such docks and rooms should be kept clean at all times.
(e) Floors in live rabbit holding rooms shall be cleaned with such regularity as may be necessary to maintain them in a sanitary condition.
(f) The killing and skinning room shall be kept clean and free from offensive odors at all times.
(g) The walls, floors, and all equipment and utensils used in the killing and skinning room shall be thoroughly washed and cleaned after each day's operation.
(h) The floor in the killing and skinning rooms shall be cleaned frequently during killing and skinning operations and be kept reasonably free from accumulated blood, offal, water, and dirt.
(i) All equipment in the toilet room and locker room, as well as the room itself, shall be kept clean, sanitary, and in good repair.
(j) Cooler and freezer rooms shall be free from objectionable odors of any kind and shall be maintained in a sanitary condition (including, but not being limited to, the prevention of drippings from refrigerating coils onto products).
Equipment and utensils used for preparing or otherwise handling any product shall be kept clean and in a sanitary condition and in good repair.
(a) Pens shall be cleaned regularly and the manure removed from the plant daily.
(b) All equipment and utensils used in the killing and skinning rooms shall be thoroughly washed and cleaned after each day's operation. The eviscerating, chilling, and packing room and equipment and utensils used therein shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.
(c) Graders' and packers' gloves and grading bins shall be washed daily and used only for grading or packing, as the case may be.
(d) All crates or pens used for transporting live rabbits to the plant shall be cleaned regularly.
(e) Chilling vats or tanks, if practicable, shall be emptied after each use. They shall be thoroughly cleaned once daily and, after each cleaning operation, they shall be sanitized with such compounds or by such methods as may be approved or prescribed by the Administrator.
(f) When synchronized overhead conveyors and tray conveyors are used, the trays shall be completely washed and sanitized after being automatically emptied of inedible viscera.
(g) When a conveyor tray operation is used, each carcass shall be eviscerated in an individual metal tray of seamless construction, and such trays shall be completely washed and sanitized after each use.
(h) Tables, shelves, bins, trays, pans, knives, and all other tools and equipment used in the preparation of ready-to-cook rabbits shall be kept clean and sanitary at all times. Cleaned equipment and utensils shall be drained on racks and shall not be nested.
(i) Drums, cans, tanks, vats, and other receptacles used to hold or transport ready-to-cook rabbits shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition.
Operations and procedures involving the preparation, storing, or handling of any product shall be strictly in accord with clean and sanitary methods.
(a) There shall be no handling or storing of materials which create an objectionable condition in rooms, compartments, or other places in the plant where any product is prepared, stored, or otherwise handled.
(b) Blood from the killing operation shall be confined to a relatively small area and kept from being splashed about the room.
(c) In the final washing, the carcass shall be passed through a system of sprays providing an abundant supply of fresh clean water.
(d) The floors in the eviscerating room shall be kept clean and reasonably dry during eviscerating operations and free of all refuse.
(e) Conveyors shall be operated at such speeds as will permit a sanitary eviscerating operation and will permit adequate inspection for condition and wholesomeness.
(f) Mechanized packaging equipment shall be maintained in good sanitary condition.
(g) All offal resulting from the eviscerating operation shall be removed as often as necessary to prevent the development of a nuisance.
(h) Paper and other material used for lining containers in which products are packaged shall be of such kinds as do not tear readily during use, but remain intact when moistened by the product. Wooden containers to be used for packaging ready-to-cook rabbits shall be fully lined except when the individual carcasses to be packaged therein are fully wrapped.
(i) Protective coverings shall be used for the product in the plant and as it is distributed from the plant, as will afford adequate protection for the product against contamination by any foreign substance (including, but not being limited to, dust, dirt, and insects), considering the means intended to be employed in transporting the product from the plant.
(j) Refuse may be moved directly to loading docks only for prompt removal.
(k) Cleanliness and hygiene of personnel:
(1) All employees coming in contact with exposed edible products or edible products handling equipment shall wear clean garments and should wear caps or hair nets, and shall keep their hands clean at all times while thus engaged.
(2) Hands of employees handling edible products or edible products handling equipment shall be free of infected cuts, boils, and open sores at all times while thus engaged.
(3) Every person, after each use of toilet or change of garments, shall wash his hands thoroughly before returning to duties that require the handling of edible products or containers therefor or edible products handling equipment.
(4) Neither smoking nor chewing of tobacco shall be permitted in any room where exposed edible products are prepared, processed, or otherwise handled.
Temperatures and procedures which are necessary for cooling and freezing of rabbits in accordance with sound commercial practice shall be maintained in the coolers and freezers, and chilling temperatures and procedures shall also be in accordance with sound commercial practice.
(a) Cooling. Immediately after evisceration and washing of the carcass, it shall be placed in a cooling tank containing running cold tap water to remove the animal heat from the carcass. Carcasses shall not be allowed to remain in the cooling tank for longer than 1 hour.
(b) Air chilling. Immediately after the initial water chilling, the carcasses shall be placed in cooling racks and thereupon placed in a refrigerated cooler with moderate air movements and a temperature which will reduce the internal temperature of the carcasses to from 36 °F. to 40 °F., both inclusive, within 24 hours.
(c) Freezing.
(1) When ready-to-cook rabbits are packaged in bulk or shipping containers, the carcasses should be individually wrapped or packaged in water-vapor resistant cartons or the containers should be lined with heavy water-vapor resistant paper so as to assure adequate overlapping of the lining to completely surround the carcasses and to permit unsealed closure or sealing in such a manner that water-vapor loss from the product is considerably retarded or prevented. The rabbit carcasses should receive an initial rapid freezing under such packaging, temperature, air circulation, and stacking conditions which will result in freezing the carcasses solid in less than 48 hours.
(2) Frozen ready-to-cook rabbits shall be held under conditions which will maintain the product in a solidly frozen state with temperature maintained as constant as possible.
(d) Refrigeration. Immediately after packaging, all ready-to-cook rabbits, other than those which are shipped from the plant in a refrigerated carrier, should be moved into the freezer, except that a period not exceeding 72 hours will be permitted for transportation and temporary holding before placing in the freezer provided such rabbits are held at not above 36 °F.
Every practicable precaution shall be taken to exclude flies, rats, mice, and other vermin from the official plant. Dogs, cats, and other pets shall be excluded from rooms where edible products are processed, handled, or stored.
No person affected with any communicable disease (including, but not being limited to, tuberculosis) in a transmissible stage shall be permitted in any room or compartment where exposed or unpacked edible products are prepared, processed, or otherwise handled.
| Equipment, utensils, and facilities | Iron | Stainless steel and monel metal | Aluminum | Galvanized iron |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holding pens | A | A | A | A |
| Overhead conveyors | A | A | A | A |
| Conveyor track | A | A | A | |
| Shackles | A | A | ||
| Shackle chain | A | A | A | |
| Eviscerating pans | A | A | A | |
| Inspection table | A | A | A | |
| Inside and outside washer | A | A | A | |
| Cooling tanks and racks | A | A | A | |
| Utensils for handling edible products | A | A | A | |
| Framework (of equipment) | A | |||
| Key: A—Acceptable. | ||||
The rules of practice of the Department of Agriculture in subpart H of part I, subtitle A, title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations, are the rules of practice applicable to adjudicatory, administrative proceedings under the regulations in this part (9 CFR part 354).
[43 FR 11148, Mar. 17, 1978]