Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Division 04 - Environmental Health Services › Rule 007.04.12-003 - Rules Pertaining to Good Manufacturing Practices

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SECTION 110.0
AUTHORITY
The following Rules and Regulations Pertaining to Review of
				Plans for Food Processing Establishments are duly adopted and promulgated by
				the Arkansas State Board of Health pursuant to the authority expressly
				conferred by the Laws of the State of Arkansas, including, without limitation,
				Act No. 96 of 1913 (Ark. Code Ann. § 20-7-I09) and Act 415 of 1953 (Ark.
				Code Ann. §§
									20-56-201
				through
				20-56-223
				).
SECTION 110.1
PURPOSE
The Arkansas State Board of Health finds and declares that a
				uniform statewide code is needed to regulate all food manufacturing,
				processing, packing, holding, or transporting operations conducting business in
				the State of Arkansas, to provide for uniformity in inspecting of such
				establishments, and to protect the health of consumers by preventing the sale
				or distribution of foods which have become adulterated or misbranded.
SECTION 110.2
SALVAGE
			 EXCLUSION
Establishments engaged exclusively in the salvaging of food
				products under the provisions of the Arkansas Food Salvage Act, Act 241 of 1963
				and in accordance with the Rules and Regulations promulgated there unto, are
				herewith excluded from the provisions of these Rules and Regulations.
SECTION 110.3
DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of these Regulations, the following terms are
				defined:
A. "Acid Food or Acidified
			 Food" means foods that have an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below.
B. "Act" means Act 415 of 1953, the Arkansas
			 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
C.
			 "Adequate" means that which is needed to accomplish the intended purpose in
			 keeping with good public health practice.
D. "Batter" means a semi fluid substance,
			 usually composed of flour and other ingredients, into which principal
			 components of food are dipped or with which they are coated, or which may be
			 used directly to form bakery foods.
E. "Blanching", except for tree nuts and
			 peanuts, means a prepackaging heat treatment of food stuffs for a sufficient
			 time and at a sufficient temperature to partially or completely inactivate the
			 naturally occurring enzymes and to effect other physical or bio-chemical
			 changes in the food.
F. "Critical
			 Control Point" means a point in a food process where there is a high
			 probability that improper control may cause, allow, or contribute to a hazard
			 or filth in the final food or decomposition of the final food.
H. "Department" means the Arkansas Department
			 of Health and its duly designated representatives.
J. "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.
K. "Food Contact Surfaces" means those
			 surfaces of equipment and utensils with which food normally comes in contact,
			 and those surfaces from which food may contact drain, drip, or splash back onto
			 surfaces normally in contact with food.
L. "Lot" means the food produced during a
			 period of time indicated by a specific code.
M. "Microorganism" means yeasts, molds,
			 bacteria and viruses and includes, but is not limited to, species having public
			 health significance. The term "undesirable microorganisms" includes those
			 microorganisms that are of public health significance, that subject food to
			 decomposition, that indicate that food is contaminated with filth, or that
			 otherwise may cause food to be adulterated.
N. "Pest" means any objectionable animal or
			 insect including, but not limited to, birds, rodents, flies and
			 larvae.
O. "Plant" means the
			 building or facility or parts thereof, used for or in connection with the
			 manufacturing, packaging, labeling or holding of human food.
P. "Quality Control Measure" means a planned
			 and systematic procedure for taking actions necessary to prevent food from
			 being adulterated. SECTION 110.3
Q.
			 "Rework" means clean, unadulterated food that has been removed from processing
			 for reasons other than insanitary conditions or that has been successfully
			 reconditioned by reprocessing and that is suitable for use as food.
R. "Safe Moisture Level" is a level of
			 moisture low enough to prevent the growth of undesirable microorganisms in the
			 finished product under the intended conditions of manufacturing, storage and
			 distribution. The maximum safe moisture level for a food is based on its water
			 activity (aw).
Water activity will be considered safe for a food if adequate
				data are available that demonstrate that the food at or below the given aw will
				not support the growth of undesirable microorganisms.
S. "Sanitize" means to adequately treat
			 food-contact surfaces by a process that s effective in destroying vegetative
			 cells of microorganisms of public health significance, and in substantially
			 reducing the number of other undesirable microorganisms, but without adversely
			 affecting the product or its safety to the consumer.
T. "Shall" is used to state mandatory
			 requirements.
U. "Should" is used
			 to state recommended or advisory procedures or indentify recommended
			 equipment.
V. "Water Activity"
			 (aw) is a measure of the free moisture in a food and is
			 the quotient of the water vapor pressure of the substance divided by the vapor
			 pressure of pure water at the same temperature.