Arizona Administrative Code › Title 3 - AGRICULTURE › Chapter 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - ANIMAL SERVICES DIVISION › Article 9 - EGG AND EGG PRODUCTS CONTROL › Section R3-2-901 - Definitions and Interpretation Guidance

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
A. In addition
				to the definitions provided in A.R.S. §§
									3-701,
				3-703
				and
				3-704,
				the following shall apply to this Article:
1.
				"Business owner or operator" means any person who owns ten percent or more of a
				business, or a person who controls the operations of a business.
2. "Check" means an individual egg that has a
				broken shell or crack in the shell but with its shell membranes intact and its
				contents do not leak. A "check" is considered to be lower in quality than a
				"dirty."
3. "Dirty" means a shell
				that is unbroken and that has dirt or foreign material adhering to its surface,
				which has prominent stains, or moderate stains covering more than 1/32 of the
				shell surface if localized, or 1/16 of the shell surface if
				scattered.
4. "Egg-laying hen"
				means any hen that produces eggs for human consumption.
5. "Egg products":
a. Means eggs, in raw or pasteurized form,
				that are removed from the shell in a liquid, frozen, dried, or freeze-dried
				state, but are not fully cooked.
b.
				May consist of whole eggs, yolks, whites, or any blend of yolk and white, with
				or without additives, if eggs are the main ingredient.
6. "Housed in a cage-free manner" means
				confined in a housing system that provides egg-laying hens with all of the
				following:
a. The amount of usable floor
				space per egg-laying hen equal to or greater than that required by the 2017
				edition of the United Egg Producers' Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S.
				Egg-Laying Flocks: Guidelines for Cage-Free Housing.
b. An indoor or outdoor controlled
				environment, which can consist of multi-tiered aviaries, partially-slatted
				systems, singlelevel all litter floor systems, or other systems, and which
				allows egg-laying hens to have:
i.
				unrestricted freedom to roam;
ii.
				an environment that allows them to exhibit natural behaviors, including, at a
				minimum, scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas;
				and
iii. an environment in which
				farm employees can provide care while standing within the hens' usable floor
				space.
7.
				"Leaker" means an individual egg that has a crack or break in the shell and
				shell membranes to the extent that the egg contents are exuding or free to
				exude through the shell.
8. "Lot"
				means any quantity of two or more eggs.
9. "Lot Consolidation" means the removal of
				damaged eggs from cartons labeled by a producer or producer dealer and
				replacement of the damaged eggs with eggs of the same grade, size, brand,
				expiration date and source.
10.
				"Multi-tiered aviaries" means cage-free housing systems in which egg-laying
				hens have unfettered access to multiple elevated flat platforms that provide
				the egg-laying hens with usable floor space both on top of and underneath the
				platforms.
11. "Partially-slatted
				systems" means cage-free housing systems in which egg-laying hens have
				unfettered access to elevated flat platforms under which manure drops through
				the flooring to a pit or litter removal belt below.
12. "Pasteurized in-shell eggs" means eggs
				that have been pasteurized with the shell intact by any method approved by the
				Federal Food and Drug Administration or the department.
13. "Repacking" means changing the identity
				of a lot of eggs by removing them from the original container labeled by a
				packer and placing them into another container not labeled by the packer at the
				point of origin with the same grade, size, lot number, source and/or
				brand.
14. "Single-level all-litter
				floor systems" means cage-free housing systems bedded with litter, in which
				egg-laying hens have limited or no access to elevated flat platforms.
15. "Spot-check" sample means any sample less
				than a representative sample described in the chart in
				R3-2-903(B).
16. "Ultimate consumer" means a person
				consuming eggs or egg products and a restaurant using eggs in the preparation
				of a meal.
17. "Usable floor space"
				means the total square footage of floor space provided to each egg-laying hen,
				as calculated by dividing the total square footage of floor space provided to
				the egg-laying hens in an enclosure by the number of egg-laying hens in that
				enclosure. "Usable floor space" shall include both ground space and elevated
				level flat platforms upon which hens can roost, but shall not include perches
				or ramps.
18. "UEP" means United
				Egg Producers.
19. "United Egg
				Producers Animal Husbandry Guidelines" means the United Egg Producers Animal
				Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks, 2017 Edition. This material is
				incorporated by reference, does not include any later amendments or editions,
				and is available for inspection at the Department of Agriculture, 1688 W. Adams
				St., Phoenix, AZ 85007, or the United Egg Producers at 1720 Windward Concourse,
				Ste. 230, Alpharetta, GA 30005.
20.
				"United Egg Producers Certified" means a company that has achieved United Egg
				Producers Certified status pursuant to the requirements prescribed by the
				United Egg Producers Animal Husbandry Guidelines.
21. "United Egg Producers Certified logo"
				means the official symbol and accompanying language used to identify eggs
				produced by United Egg Producers Certified companies.
22. "United Egg Producers Cage Free Certified
				logo" means the official symbol and accompanying language used to identify
				cage-free eggs produced by United Egg Producers Certified companies.