PERMANENT RULES
Date of Adoption: December 21, 1999.
Purpose: To require notification to consumers when unpasteurized juices are offered for sale or service.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 246-215-010 and 246-215-040.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 43.20.050.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 99-23-088 on November 16, 1999.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
December 27, 1999
Nancy Ellison
for Mary C. Selecky
Secretary
OTS-3566.1
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 261B, filed 4/1/92, effective
5/2/92)
WAC 246-215-010
Definitions.
(1) "Abbreviations":
(a) "FDA" means United States Food and Drug Administration.
(b) "HACCP" means hazard analysis, critical control point.
(c) "PPM" means parts per million.
(d) "USA" means United States of America.
(e) "USDA" means United States Department of Agriculture.
(f) "WSDA" means Washington state department of agriculture.
(2) "Adulterated" means the altered condition of food including:
(a) Bearing or containing any poisonous or deleterious substance in a quantity rendering food injurious to health;
(b) Bearing or containing any added poisonous or deleterious substance where no safe tolerance has been established by regulation, or exceeding such tolerance if one has been established;
(c) Consisting in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or otherwise being unfit for human consumption;
(d) Processing, preparing, packing, or holding potentially hazardous foods under improper time-temperature conditions or under other conditions increasing the probability of food contamination with excessive microorganisms or physical contaminants;
(e) Processing, preparing, packing, or holding food under insanitary conditions increasing the probability of food contamination or cross-contamination;
(f) Holding or packaging food in containers composed, in whole or in part, of any poisonous or deleterious substance rendering the contents potentially injurious to health; or
(g) Containing any product of a diseased animal, or an animal dying by means other than by slaughter, except as permitted under WAC 246-215-020(6).
(3) "Approved" means acceptable to the health officer based on his/her determination regarding conformance with appropriate standards and public health practice.
(4) "Approved source" means foods which are obtained by the food service establishment owner from persons who comply with applicable federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations.
(5) "Aquatic foods" means foods grown in or harvested from water, including all types of fish, shellfish and mollusks, edible crustacea, reptiles, amphibians, and mixtures containing aquatic foods and synthetic foods, such as surimi.
(6) "Base of operation" means an approved site for servicing, cleaning, sanitizing, supplying, and maintaining a mobile food unit.
(7) "Bed and breakfast" means a private home or inn offering lodging on a temporary basis to travelers, tourists, and transient guests which provides food service only to registered guests.
(8) "Bulk food" means processed or unprocessed food in containers where consumers withdraw desired quantities.
(9) "Caterer" means a person or food service establishment contracted to prepare food in an approved facility for final cooking or service at another location.
(10) "Commissary" means an approved food service establishment where food is stored, prepared, portioned, or packaged for service elsewhere.
(11) "Corrosion-resistant" means a material maintaining original surface characteristics under prolonged contact with food, cleaning compounds, or sanitizing solutions.
(12) "Critical control point" means a location where exercising a preventive measure or procedure eliminates, prevents, or minimizes a hazard or hazards from occurring after that point.
(13) "Cross-contamination" means the process where disease causing organisms are transferred from raw or other foods to equipment or ready-to-eat foods.
(14) "Department" means the Washington state department of health.
(15) "Durable" means capable of withstanding expected use and remaining easily cleanable.
(16) "Easily cleanable" means readily accessible with materials and finish fabricated to permit complete removal of residue by normal cleaning methods.
(17) "Equipment" means all stoves, ovens, ranges, hoods, slicers, mixers, meat blocks, tables, counters, refrigerators, sinks, dish machines, steam tables, and similar items used in the operation of a food service establishment.
(18) "Extensive remodel" means construction in a food service establishment requiring a building permit or plumbing permit, except for signs and fences.
(19) "Food" means any 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.
(20) "Food additive" means substances added directly or indirectly to food.
(21) "Food contact surfaces" means those surfaces of equipment and utensils normally contacting food, and those surfaces where food may drain, drip, or splash back onto surfaces normally in contact with food.
(22) "Food service establishment" means:
(a) A place, location, operation, site, or facility where food is manufactured, prepared, processed, packaged, dispensed, distributed, sold, served, or offered to the consumer regardless of whether or not compensation for food occurs, including but not limited to:
(i) Restaurants, snack bars, cafeterias, taverns, bars;
(ii) Retail food stores, supermarkets, retail meat markets, retail fish markets, retail bakeries, delicatessens;
(iii) Institutional operations licensed by the department or local health officer, such as schools, hospitals, jails, prisons, and child care facilities;
(iv) Central preparation sites, including caterers;
(v) Satellite servicing locations;
(vi) Temporary food service establishments or mobile food units;
(vii) Bed and breakfast operations;
(viii) Remote feeding sites; and
(ix) Vending machines dispensing potentially hazardous foods.
(b) Except for the following:
(i) Private homes where food is prepared or served for consumption by household members and/or their guests;
(ii) Establishments offering only commercially prepackaged nonpotentially hazardous foods;
(iii) Commercial food processing establishments, licensed and regulated by the USDA, FDA, or WSDA; and
(iv) Farmers exempt from licensure under RCW 36.71.090.
(23) "Food service worker" means the permit holder, an individual having supervisory or management duties, and any other person working in a food service establishment.
(24) "Frozen" means the condition of a food when it is continuously stored at or below 10° F.
(25) "Game meat" means warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals, excluding fish and meat food animals as defined by USDA, noncommercially raised and processed without continuous regulatory surveillance, including, but not limited to:
(a) Mammals such as deer, elk, antelope, buffalo, and bear;
(b) Birds; and
(c) Reptiles such as alligator.
(26) "Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP)" means a method used to reduce the risk of foodborne illness by:
(a) Identifying hazards of high risk foods;
(b) Assessing the hazards posed by each preparation step;
(c) Determining the critical points for controlling hazards;
(d) Monitoring a critical control point or points; and
(e) Implementing immediate and appropriate corrective action when control criteria are not met.
(27) "Health officer" means the city, county, city-county, or district health officer defined under RCW 70.05.010(2), or his/her authorized representative, or the representative of the department.
(28) "Hermetically sealed container" means a properly designed container, intended to keep the contents free of contamination by microorganisms and to maintain the commercial sterility of its contents after thermal processing.
(29) "Imminent or actual health hazard" means:
(a) A breakdown or lack of equipment or power causing improper temperature control for potentially hazardous foods; and/or
(b) Lack of water preventing adequate handwashing or equipment cleaning and sanitizing; and/or
(c) Emergency situations including fire, flood, building collapse, or similar accident or natural disaster; and/or
(d) A sewage backup or sewage contamination within a food service establishment; and/or
(e) An occurrence of an outbreak of foodborne illness linked to the food service establishment.
(30) "Immediate service" means foods served to the public within thirty minutes of preparation.
(31) "Menu" means a written or graphic description of foods prepared and offered for sale or service by a food service establishment.
(32) "Mislabeled" means the presence of any false or misleading written, printed, or graphic material upon or accompanying food or food containers.
(33) "Mobile food unit" means a readily movable food service establishment.
(34) "Modified atmosphere packaging" means a process that completely encases food in an impermeable or partially permeable membrane, with either a partial or complete vacuum; or a gas or mixture of gases surrounding the food. Hermetically sealed containers are not considered to be modified atmosphere packaging.
(35) "Owner" means a person owning and/or responsible for the operation of a food service establishment.
(36) "Perishable food" means foods, other than potentially hazardous foods, where deterioration or spoilage due to loss of moisture or growth of molds and bacteria may occur.
(37) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity or agency of state, county, or municipal government, or agency of the federal government which is subject to the jurisdiction of the state.
(38) "Person in charge" means the individual present in a food service establishment and designated supervisor of the food service establishment at the time of inspection or any food service worker present when a designated supervisor is absent.
(39) "pH" means a measure of the amount of acid in a food product.
(40) "Potentially hazardous food" means any natural or synthetic edible item, material, or ingredient in a form supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms or the slower growth of Clostridium botulinum. Potentially hazardous food:
(a) Includes any food of animal origin, raw, cooked, or processed;
(b) Includes certain cooked or prepared foods of plant origin, including but not limited to:
(i) Potato products;
(ii) Dry legumes;
(iii) Rice;
(iv) Sprouts; and
(v) Cut melons and cut cantaloupes.
(c) Excludes foods:
(i) With a water activity (Aw) value of 0.90 or less;
(ii) With a pH level of 4.6 or below;
(iii) Enclosed in unopened hermetically sealed containers commercially processed to achieve and maintain commercial sterility under nonrefrigerated storage and distribution conditions; and
(iv) Where laboratory evidence acceptable to the health officer indicates no likelihood of rapid or progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms or the slower growth of Clostridium botulinum.
(41) "Restructured" means potentially hazardous foods processed and formed so surface contaminants may become incorporated inside the final product.
(42) "Sanitary design" means smooth, nonabsorbent, and easily cleanable.
(43) "Sanitized" means effective bactericidal treatment by a process providing enough accumulative heat or concentration of chemicals for enough time to reduce the bacterial count, including pathogens, to a safe level on food contact surfaces.
(44) "Sealed" means free of cracks or other openings permitting entry or passage of moisture or air.
(45) "Self-service" means any site within a food service establishment where customers dispense their own food or beverages.
(46) "Served" means offered to a person for consumption.
(47) "Single service articles" means utensils designed, fabricated, and intended by the manufacturer for one time use.
(48) "Sulfiting agents" means chemicals used to treat food to increase shelf life and enhance appearance including:
(a) Sulfur dioxide;
(b) Sodium sulfite;
(c) Sodium bisulfite;
(d) Potassium bisulfite;
(e) Sodium metabisulfite; and
(f) Potassium metabisulfite.
(49) "Temporary food service establishment" means a food service establishment operating at a fixed location for not more than twenty-one consecutive days in conjunction with a single event or celebration.
(50) "Time/temperature" means the relationship between the length of time and the specific temperatures to which potentially hazardous foods are subjected during storage, transportation, preparation, cooking, reheating, dispensing, service, or sale.
(51) "Unpasteurized juice" means fruit or vegetable juice that has not been specifically processed to prevent, reduce, or eliminate the presence of pathogens, either through heat pasteurization or in another manner allowed under 21 CFR 101.17 (g)(7). This includes any beverage containing juice where neither the juice ingredient nor the beverage has been processed in the above manner.
(52) "Utensil" means any food contact implement used in storing, preparing, transporting, dispensing, serving, or selling of food.
(((52))) (53) "Water activity (Aw)" means a measure of the
amount of moisture available for bacterial growth in a food.
(((53))) (54) "Wholesome" means in sound condition, clean,
free from adulteration, and otherwise suitable for use as human
food.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.20.050. 92-08-112 (Order 261B), § 246-215-010, filed 4/1/92, effective 5/2/92.]
OTS-3309.1
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 261B, filed 4/1/92, effective
5/2/92)
WAC 246-215-040
Public health labeling.
(1) Food service establishment owners shall label all food products offered for sale if enclosed in a package or container; except:
(a) Food products produced on-site;
(b) Nonpotentially hazardous bakery products from approved sources; or
(c) Single service portions or other packaged foods which are shipped to the food service establishment enclosed within a properly labeled master carton.
(2) Food service establishment owners shall label modified atmosphere packaged foods in compliance with WAC 246-215-060.
(3) Food service establishment owners shall ensure labels include:
(a) The common name of the food;
(b) All ingredients, including food additives, in descending order of predominance;
(c) The name, city, state, and zip code of the manufacturer; and
(d) A packaging date code, when required by law or when the food is potentially hazardous.
(4) Food service establishment owners shall ensure information contained on labels is:
(a) Accurate;
(b) Easily readable; and
(c) In the English language, except that duplicate labeling in foreign languages is allowed.
(5) When labels, menus, or other printed or graphic materials are inaccurate or misleading and a report of illness or injury is associated with the food product, the health officer may:
(a) Stop sale of the product until correctly labeled;
(b) Require relabeling of the product; and
(c) Issue public health advisories.
(6) Whenever raw milk or raw milk cheese or similar raw milk products are offered for sale in a food service establishment, the health officer shall:
(a) Require conspicuous labeling of raw milk or products containing raw milk as "raw milk" or "contains raw milk";
(b) Require conspicuous posting of signs near the product that state: "Warning: Raw milk or foods prepared from raw milk, such as unripened or fresh cheese, may be contaminated with dangerous bacteria capable of causing severe intestinal illnesses. Contact your local health department for advice or to report a suspected illness";
(c) Exempt properly fermented raw milk cheeses from the labeling requirements contained in this subsection, provided the cheeses are produced using a flash heating process and they meet the following cheese composition requirements:
(i) Moisture content of 40% or less;
(ii) Saline-in-moisture content of 3.75% or greater;
(iii) Water activity (Aw) of 0.96 or less; and
(iv) pH of 5.40 or less.
(7) Food service establishment owners shall label packaged or bulk foods containing sulfiting agents at detectable levels as follows:
(a) Accept accurate labels placed on packaged foods by the manufacturer;
(b) Place a label on prepackaged foods stating, "This food contains a sulfiting agent";
(c) Place a sign or label on the bulk food container or in a conspicuous place nearby stating, "The following food or foods contain a sulfiting agent,. . . . . . . . ";
(d) Except these foods may be sold without labeling:
(i) Wine by the glass;
(ii) Salad bars; and
(iii) Delicatessens and similar take-out food facilities when food is prepared on-site.
(8) Food service establishment owners shall provide prominent and conspicuous labels on bulk food display units with at least one of the following:
(a) Manufacturer's or processor's container label plainly in view;
(b) A card, sign, or other appropriate device stating the common name of the food; or
(c) A list of ingredients and any food additives contained in the product.
(9) Food service establishment owners shall ensure accurate labels are present on bulk containers of chemicals and pet foods.
(10) When raw or undercooked meats, eggs, or aquatic foods, or unpasteurized fruit or vegetable juices, are offered for immediate service or for sale as ready-to-eat, the health officer shall require these foods to be identified, as such:
(a) On the menu;
(b) On the label; or
(c) On a sign clearly visible to the patrons.
(11) The health officer may approve alternate wording on signs required in subsections (6) and (7) of this section.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.20.050. 92-08-112 (Order 261B), § 246-215-040, filed 4/1/92, effective 5/2/92.]