Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 511 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH › Chapter 511-6 - FOOD AND LODGING ESTABLISHMENTS › Subject 511-6-1 - FOOD SERVICE › Rule 511-6-1-.01 - Definitions

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1)
				"Accredited program" means a food protection manager certification program that
				has been evaluated and listed by an accrediting agency as conforming to
				national standards for organizations that certify individuals. It refers to the
				certification process and is a designation based upon an independent evaluation
				of factors such as the sponsor's mission; organizational structure; staff
				resources; revenue sources; policies; public information regarding program
				scope, eligibility requirements, re-certification, discipline and grievance
				procedures; test development and administration. Accredited programs does not
				refer to training functions or educational programs.
(2) "Adulterated" has the meaning stated in
				the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, § 402.
(3) "Approved" means acceptable to the Health
				Authority based on a determination of conformity with principles, practices,
				and generally recognized standards that protect public health.
(4) "Asymptomatic" means without obvious
				symptoms, not showing or producing indications of a disease or other medical
				condition, such as an individual infected with a pathogen but not exhibiting or
				producing any signs or symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice. It includes
				not showing symptoms because symptoms have resolved or subsided, or because
				symptoms never manifested.
(5)
				"Authorization to Operate" means approval from a county board of health to
				operate within its jurisdiction for a mobile food service establishment that is
				permitted in another county that is referred to as the county of
				origin.
(6) "aw" means water
				activity which is a measure of the free moisture in a food, is the quotient of
				the water vapor pressure of the substance divided by the vapor pressure of pure
				water at the same temperature, and is indicated by the symbol aw.
(7) "Balut" means an embryo inside a fertile
				egg that has been incubated for a period sufficient for the embryo to reach a
				specific stage of development after which it is removed from incubation before
				hatching.
(8) "Base of operation"
				means a fixed location with a food service permit from which a mobile food
				service unit, extended food service unit, "pop-up" food service operation, or
				catering food service establishment operates. Mobile food service units
				operating in conjunction with a restaurant shall obtain a separate base of
				operation permit in addition to the restaurant's fixed food service permit. A
				restaurant's fixed food service permit shall not serve as the base of operation
				permit for the mobile food service unit.
(9) "Beverage" means a liquid for drinking,
				including water.
(10) "Bottled
				drinking water" means water that is sealed in bottles, packages, or other
				containers and offered for sale for human consumption, including bottled
				mineral water.
(11) "Casing" means
				a tubular container for sausage products made of either natural or artificial
				(synthetic) material.
(12)
				"Catering operation" means the provision of a specific menu and quantity of
				food for service to a consumer, pursuant to a contract, at a site such as a
				consumer's home, motion picture filming location, or other event site. Food
				served during a catering operation may be prepared all or in part at the base
				of operation and transported to the service site, or it may be prepared and
				served at the service site.
(13)
				"Catering food service establishment" means a permitted food service
				establishment that has been approved by the Health Authority to perform
				catering operations. A catering food service establishment shall operate from a
				base of operation within the State of Georgia, and its permit shall be issued
				by the Health Authority in the county in which its base of operation is
				located. A catering food service establishment may include one or more mobile
				catering units and other components which allow for the preparation and service
				of food at the service site; however, the term shall not include operations
				such as temporary food service establishments or extended food service
				establishments, and shall not include delivery of food (for example, pizza) by
				a food service establishment to a consumer.
(14) "Certification" means a document
				certifying that an individual has completed an approved food safety training
				program and has passed a professionally validated food safety
				examination.
(15) "Certification
				number" means a unique combination of letters and numbers assigned by a
				shellfish control authority to a molluscan shellfish dealer according to the
				provisions of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program.
(16) "Certified food safety manager (CFSM)"
				means the owner or manager of a food service establishment who has successfully
				completed a food safety training program approved by the Department and passed
				a professionally validated CFSM examination that is accredited by the
				Conference for Food Protection or other accrediting agency as conforming to
				national standards for organizations that certify individuals.
(17) "CFR" means Code of Federal
				Regulations.
(18) "CIP" means
				cleaned in place by the circulation or flowing by mechanical means through a
				piping system of a detergent solution, water rinse, and sanitizing solution
				onto or over equipment surfaces that require cleaning, such as the method used,
				in part, to clean and sanitize a frozen dessert machine. It does not include
				the cleaning of equipment such as band saws, slicers, or mixers that are
				subjected to in-place manual cleaning without the use of a CIP
				system.
(19) "Color additive" has
				the meaning stated in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,
				§
										201(t) and 
				21 CFR
				70.3f.
(20) "Commingle" means to combine shellstock
				harvested on different days or from different growing areas as identified on
				the tag or label, or to combine shucked shellfish from containers with
				different container codes or different shucking dates.
(21) "Comminuted" means reduced in size by
				methods including chopping, flaking, grinding, or mincing. It includes fish or
				meat products that are reduced in size and restructured or reformulated such as
				gefilte fish, gyros, ground beef, and sausage and a mixture of two or more
				types of meat that have been reduced in size and combined, such as sausages
				made from two or more meats.
(22)
				"Conditional employee" means a potential food employee to whom a job offer is
				made, conditional on responses to subsequent medical questions or examinations
				designed to identify potential food employees who may be suffering from a
				disease that can be transmitted through food and done in compliance with Title
				1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
(23) "Confirmed disease outbreak" means a
				foodborne disease outbreak in which laboratory analysis of appropriate
				specimens identifies a causative agent and epidemiological analysis implicates
				the food as the source of the illness.
(24) "Consumer" means a person who is a
				member of the general public, takes possession of food, is not functioning in
				the capacity of an operator of a food service establishment or food processing
				plant and does not offer the food for resale.
(25) "Core item" means a provision in this
				Chapter that is not designated as a priority item or a priority foundation
				item. It includes an item that usually relates to general sanitation,
				operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs),
				facilities or structures, equipment design, or general maintenance.
(26) "Corrosion-resistant material" means a
				material that maintains acceptable surface cleanability characteristics under
				prolonged influence of the food to be contacted, the normal use of cleaning
				compounds and sanitizing solutions, and other conditions of the use
				environment.
(27) "Counter-mounted
				equipment" means equipment that is not portable and is designed to be mounted
				off the floor on a table, counter, or shelf.
(28) "County board of health" means a Board
				of Health established pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
									31-3-1.
(29) "County of origin" means the permitting
				county for a mobile food service establishment. This is the same county where a
				mobile food service unit's base of operation is located.
(30) "Critical control point" means a point
				or procedure in a specific food system where loss of control may result in an
				unacceptable health risk.
(31)
				"Critical item" means a provision of this Chapter, that, if in noncompliance,
				is more likely than other violations to contribute to food contamination,
				illness, or environmental health hazard and may create an imminent health
				hazard.
(32) "Critical limit" means
				the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical
				parameter must be controlled at a critical control point to minimize the risk
				that the identified food safety hazard may occur.
(33) "Cut leafy greens" means fresh leafy
				greens whose leaves have been cut, shredded, sliced, chopped, or torn. The term
				"leafy greens" includes iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce, butter
				lettuce, baby leaf lettuce (i.e., immature lettuce or leafy greens), escarole,
				endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard. The term "leafy
				greens" does not include herbs such as cilantro or parsley.
(34) "Dealer" means a person who is
				authorized by a shellfish control authority for the activities of shellstock
				shipper, shucker-packer, repacker, reshipper, or depuration processor of
				molluscan shellfish according to the provisions of the National Shellfish
				Sanitation Program.
(35)
				"Department" means the Georgia Department of Public Health.
(36) "Disclosure" means a written statement
				that clearly identifies the animal-derived foods which are, or can be ordered,
				raw, undercooked, or without otherwise being processed to eliminate pathogens,
				or items that contain an ingredient that is raw, undercooked, or without
				otherwise being processed to eliminate pathogens.
(37) "District Standard Trainer" means an
				Environmental Health Specialist (EHS) appointed by a District Environmental
				Health Director to train and standardize other EHS in conducting risk based
				inspections of food service establishments and to monitor their inspection
				activities as well. In addition, these individuals must successfully complete a
				standardization exercise and receive standardization certification from the
				State Environmental Health Section.
(38) "Drinking water" means water that meets
				criteria as specified in  40 CFR 141  National Primary Drinking Water
				Regulations, is traditionally known as "potable water", and includes the term
				"water" except where the term used connotes that the water is not potable, such
				as "boiler water," "mop water," "rainwater," "wastewater," and "nondrinking"
				water.
(39) "Dry storage area"
				means a room or area designated for the storage of packaged or containerized
				bulk food that is not time/temperature control for safety food and dry goods
				such as single-service items.
(40)
				"Easily cleanable" means a characteristic of a surface that allows effective
				removal of soil by normal cleaning methods; is dependent on the material,
				design, construction, and installation of the surface; and varies with the
				likelihood of the surface's role in introducing pathogenic or toxigenic agents
				or other contaminants into food based on the surface's approved placement,
				purpose, and use. The application of this general criterion will depend on the
				purpose of the surface (e.g., food preparation counter, floor, consumer table,
				etc.)
(41) "Easily movable" means
				portable, mounted on casters, gliders, or rollers, or provided with a
				mechanical means to safely tilt a unit of equipment for cleaning. It also means
				having no utility connection, a utility connection that disconnects quickly, or
				a flexible utility connection line of sufficient length to allow the equipment
				to be moved for cleaning of the equipment and adjacent area.
(42) "Egg" means the shell egg of avian
				species such as a chicken, duck, goose, guinea, quail, ratites or turkey and
				does not include a balut, or the egg of reptile species such as alligator, or
				an egg product.
(43) "Egg product"
				means all, or a portion of, the contents found inside eggs separated from the
				shell and pasteurized in a food processing plant, with or without added
				ingredients, intended for human consumption, such as dried, frozen or liquid
				eggs. It does not include food which contains eggs only in a relatively small
				proportion such as cake mixes.
(44)
				"Emergency Operations Plan" is a detailed operations plan outlining how a food
				service establishment may continue operations in the event an imminent health
				hazard exists because of an emergency such as a fire, flood, interruption of
				electrical or water service for two or more hours, sewage malfunction, misuse
				of poisonous or toxic materials, onset of apparent foodborne illness outbreak,
				gross unsanitary occurrence or condition, or other circumstances that may
				endanger public health. The operation plan should demonstrate and outline
				procedures and actions of how food service management, such as the food service
				permit holder, person in charge, and food service staff will ensure food can
				continue to be prepared and served safely without comprising the public's
				health. The plan should demonstrate how the facility can provide potable water,
				temperature control, cleaning and sanitizing, and general sanitization when
				resources may not be available during the event.
(45) "Employee" means the permit holder,
				person in charge, food employee, person having supervisory or management
				duties, person on the payroll, family member, volunteer, person performing work
				under contractual agreement, or other person working in a food service
				establishment.
(46) "Enough" means
				occurring in such quantity and quality or scope as to fully satisfy demand or
				need.
(47) "EPA" means the U.S.
				Environmental Protection Agency.
(48) "Equipment" means an article that is
				used in the operation of a food service establishment such as a freezer,
				grinder, hood, ice maker, meat block, mixer, oven, reach-in refrigerator,
				scale, sink, slicer, stove, table, temperature measuring device for ambient
				air, warewashing machine, or other similar devices. It does not include
				apparatuses used for handling or storing large quantities of packaged foods
				that are received from a supplier in a cased or overwrapped lot, such as hand
				trucks, forklifts, dollies, pallets, racks, and skids.
(49) "Exclude" means to prevent a person from
				working as an employee in a food service establishment or entering a food
				service establishment as an employee.
(50) "Extended food service unit" means a
				stationary trailer, kiosk or similar unit operating as an extension of and
				under the managerial authority of a permitted food service establishment
				located on the same property.
(51)
				"Extensively remodeled" means any changes involving structure or location of
				walls, openings, floors or counters, or modification of plumbing, mechanical or
				electrical components other than fixtures or in the equipment's layout,
				arrangement and installation of a food service establishment that the resulting
				construction, layout, and equipment and installation significantly differs from
				what was originally approved by the Health Authority at the time of the Health
				Authority's issuance of a permit. It does not include minor cosmetic changes
				such as painting, moving equipment for detailed cleaning, detailed cleaning of
				physical facilities, replacing carpeting in the dining area, or repairing
				damage to walls, floors, and ceilings.
(52) "Facilitator" means a third-party entity
				which manages "pop-up" food service operations through permitted food service
				establishments at an approved location within a building or enclosed
				courtyard.
(53) "FDA" means the
				U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
(54) "Fish" means fresh or saltwater finfish,
				crustaceans and other forms of aquatic life (including alligator, frog, aquatic
				turtle, jellyfish, sea cucumber, and sea urchin and the roe of such animals)
				other than birds or mammals, and all mollusks, if such animal life is intended
				for human consumption. It includes an edible human food product derived in
				whole or in part from fish, including fish that have been processed in any
				manner.
(55) "Fixed food service
				establishment" means a permitted food service establishment that is not
				mobile.
(56) "Follow-up inspection"
				means a complete inspection of a food service establishment by the Health
				Authority to determine compliance with this Chapter and its enforcement
				purposes in response to findings of the previous routine inspection.
(57) "Food" means a 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, or chewing gum.
(58) "Food additive" has the meaning stated
				in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
				§ 201(s) and
				 21 CFR 170.3(e)(1).
(59) "Foodborne disease outbreak" means the
				occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from the
				ingestion of a common food.
(60)
				"Food-contact surface" means a surface of equipment or a utensil with which
				food normally comes into contact or a surface of equipment or a utensil from
				which food may drain, drip, or splash into a food or onto a surface normally in
				contact with food.
(61) "Food
				employee" means an individual working with unpackaged food, food equipment or
				utensils, or food-contact surfaces.
(62) "Food processing plant" means a
				commercial operation that manufactures, packages, labels, or stores food for
				human consumption, and provides food for sale or distribution to other business
				entities such as food processing plants or food service establishments. A food
				processing plant does not include a food service establishment.
(63) "Food service establishment" means
				public or private establishments which prepare and serve meals, lunches, short
				orders, sandwiches, frozen desserts, or other edible products directly to the
				consumer either for carry out or service within the establishment. Such term
				includes restaurants; coffee shops; cafeterias; short order cafes;
				luncheonettes; taverns; lunchrooms; places which retail sandwiches or salads;
				soda fountains; mobile food service establishments; industrial cafeterias;
				catering establishments; and similar facilities by whatever name called. Within
				a food service establishment, there may be a food sales component, not
				separately operated. This food sales component shall be considered as part of
				the food service establishment. Such term shall not include the following:
(a) a "food sales establishment" as defined
				in the O.C.G.A. Section
				 26-2-21 and  subject to regulation
				by the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture, except as otherwise in this
				paragraph.
(b) The food service
				component of any food sales establishment defined in O.C.G.A. Section
				 26-2-21;
(c) any outdoor recreation activity sponsored
				by the state, a county, a municipality, or any department or entity thereof,
				any outdoor or indoor (other than school cafeteria food service) public school
				function, or any outdoor private school function;
(d) any organization which is operating on
				its own property or on the property of a party that has provided written
				consent for the use of such property for such purpose and which is exempt from
				taxes under O.C.G.A. Section
				 48-7-25(a)(1) or 
				under Section 501(d) or paragraphs (1) through (8) or paragraph (10) of Section
				501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code for the purpose of operating a house or
				other residential structures where seriously ill or injured children and their
				families are provided temporary accommodations in proximity to their treatment
				hospitals and where food is prepared, served, transported, or stored by
				volunteer personnel;
(e)
				establishments for the preparation and serving of meals, lunches, short orders,
				sandwiches, frozen desserts, or other edible products if such preparation or
				serving is an authorized part of and occurs upon the site of an event which:
1. Is sponsored by a political subdivision of
				this state;
2. Is held on the
				property of such sponsor or on the property of a party that has provided
				written consent for use of such property for such event; and
3. Lasts 120 hours or less; or
(f) nonprofit food sales and food
				service provided under a permit issued pursuant to O.C.G.A.
				 26-2-391.