You are using an unsupported browser. This web site is designed for the current versions of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari.
The Office of the Federal Register publishes documents on behalf of Federal agencies but does not have any authority over their programs. We recommend you directly contact the agency associated with the content in question.
If you have comments or suggestions on how to improve the www.ecfr.gov website or have questions about using www.ecfr.gov, please choose the 'Website Feedback' button below.
If you would like to comment on the current content, please use the 'Content Feedback' button below for instructions on contacting the issuing agency
Enhanced content is provided to the user to provide additional context.
This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.
Navigate by entering citations or phrases (eg: 1 CFR 1.1 49 CFR 172.101 Organization and Purpose 1/1.1 Regulation Y FAR).
Choosing an item from citations and headings will bring you directly to the content. Choosing an item from full text search results will bring you to those results. Pressing enter in the search box will also bring you to search results.
Background and more details are available in the Search & Navigation guide.
36 FR 9814, May 28, 1971, unless otherwise noted. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977 and 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981. Further redesignated at 63 FR 72353, Dec. 31, 1998.
This content is from the eCFR and may include recent changes applied to the CFR. The official, published CFR, is updated annually and available below under "Published Edition". You can learn more about the process here.
Subscribe to: 9 CFR Part 590 Subpart A - Sanitary, Processing, and Facility Requirements
View the most recent official publication:
These links go to the official, published CFR, which is updated annually. As a result, it may not include the most recent changes applied to the CFR. Learn more.
Information and documentation can be found in our developer resources.
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the official legal print publication containing the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is a continuously updated online version of the CFR. It is not an official legal edition of the CFR.
Learn more about the eCFR, its status, and the editorial process.
(a) Operations involving the processing, storing, and handling of eggs, ingredients, and egg products must be done in a sanitary manner.
(b)
(1) Eggs and egg products are subject to inspection in each official plant processing egg products for commerce.
(2) Any eggs and egg products not processed in accordance with the regulations in this part or part 591 or that are not otherwise fit for human food must be removed and segregated.
(c)
(1) All loss and inedible eggs or inedible egg products must be placed in a container clearly labeled “inedible” and containing a sufficient amount of denaturant or decharacterant, such as an FDA-approved color additive, suspended in the product. Eggs must be crushed and the substance dispersed through the product in amounts sufficient to give the product a distinctive appearance or odor. Inedible product may be held in containers clearly labeled “inedible” which do not contain a denaturant as long as such inedible product is properly packaged, labeled and segregated, and inventory controls are maintained. Such inedible product must be denatured or decharacterized before being shipped from a facility.
(2) Undenatured egg products or inedible egg products that are not decharacterized may be shipped from an official plant for industrial use or animal food, provided that it is properly packaged, labeled, and segregated, and inventory controls are maintained.
(d)
(1) Egg products must be processed to meet the standard set out in § 590.570.
(2) Unpasteurized or microbial pathogen-positive egg products may be shipped from an official plant to another official plant only when they are to be pasteurized, heat treated, or treated using other methods of treatment sufficient to produce egg products that are edible without additional preparation to achieve food safety in the second official plant. Official plants must maintain control of shipments of unpasteurized or microbial pathogen-positive egg products shipped from one official plant to another official plant for pasteurization or treatment. Shipping plants must seal such shipments in cars or trucks and label them in accordance with § 590.410(c). Containers of unpasteurized or microbial pathogen-positive egg product must be marked with the identification mark shown in Figure 2 of § 590.415.
(e) Inspection program personnel may allow an official plant to move egg products that have been sampled and analyzed for Salmonella, or for any other reason, before receiving the test results, if they do not suspect noncompliance by the plant with any provisions of this part. The official plant must maintain control of the products represented by the sample pending the results.
[36 FR 9814, May 28, 1971, as amended at 37 FR 6658, Apr. 1, 1972; 40 FR 20059, May 8, 1975. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 47 FR 745, Jan. 7, 1982; 60 FR 49170, Sept. 21, 1995; 85 FR 81341, Dec. 16, 2020]
Eggs must be handled in a manner that minimizes sweating prior to breaking or processing.
(a) The eggs must be sorted and classified into the following categories:
(1) Eggs listed in paragraph (d) of this section.
(2) Dirty.
(3) Leakers as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
(4) Eggs from other than chicken; duck, turkey, guinea, and goose eggs.
(5) Other eggs—satisfactory for use as breaking stock.
(b) Shell eggs having strong odors or eggs received in cases having strong odors shall be candled and broken separately to determine their acceptability.
(c) Shell eggs, when presented for breaking, shall be of edible interior quality and the shell shall be sound and free of adhering dirt and foreign material, except that:
(1) When presented for breaking, eggs must have an edible interior quality and the shell must be sound and free of adhering dirt and foreign material. However, checks and eggs with a portion of the shell missing may be used when the shell is free of adhering dirt and foreign material and the shell membranes are not ruptured.
(2) Eggs with clean shells which are damaged in candling and/or transfer and have a portion of the shell and shell membranes missing may be used only when the yolk is unbroken and the contents of the egg are not exuding over the outside shell. Such eggs shall be placed in leaker trays and be broken promptly.
(3) Eggs with meat or blood spots may be used if the spots are removed.
(d) All loss or inedible eggs must be placed in a designated container and handled as required in § 590.504(c). Eggs extensively damaged during breaking, whether not completely cracked open mechanically or in the movement of trays of eligible eggs for hand breaking, must be broken promptly. For the purpose of this section and § 590.522, inedible and loss eggs include crusted yolks, filthy and decomposed eggs, and the following:
(1) Any egg with visible foreign matter other than removable blood and meat spots in the egg meat.
(2) Any egg with a portion of the shell and shell membranes missing and with egg meat adhering to or in contact with the outside of the shell.
(3) Any egg with dirt or foreign material adhering to the shell and with cracks in the shell and shell membranes.
(4) Liquid egg recovered from shell egg containers and leaker trays.
(5) Open leakers made in the washing operation.
(6) Any egg which shows evidence that the contents are or have been exuding prior to transfer from the case.
(e) Incubator reject eggs shall not be brought into the official plant.
[36 FR 9814, May 28, 1971, as amended at 40 FR 20059, May 8, 1975. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981; 85 FR 68680, Oct. 29, 2020]
(a) All eggs, except as provided in § 590.801, must be clean prior to packaging, breaking, or pasteurizing. If a sanitizer is used, it must be used in accordance with FDA requirements for the intended use.
(b) Shell eggs shall be sufficiently dry at time of breaking to prevent contamination or adulteration of the liquid egg product from free moisture on the shell.
[60 FR 49170, Sept. 21, 1995, as amended at 85 FR 68680, Oct. 29, 2020]
Each egg used in processed egg products must be broken in a sanitary manner and examined to ensure that the contents are acceptable for human consumption.
[85 FR 68680, Oct. 29, 2020]
Freezing rooms, either on or off the premises, must be capable of solidly freezing, or reducing to a temperature of 10 °F or lower, all liquid egg products.
[85 FR 68680, Oct. 29, 2020]
Pasteurized egg products must be produced to be edible without additional preparation to achieve food safety and may receive additional preparation for palatability or aesthetic, epicurean, gastronomic, or culinary purposes. Pasteurized egg products are not required to bear a safe-handling instruction or other labeling that directs that the product must be cooked or otherwise treated for safety.
[85 FR 68680, Oct. 29, 2020; 85 FR 81341, Dec. 16, 2020]