Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Division 04 - Environmental Health Services › Rule 007.04.93-003 - Good Manufacturing Practices for Food Processing Establishments

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
PROPOSED
RULES AND REGULATIONS
PERTAINING TO
GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICES
FOR
FOOD PROCESSING ESTABLISHMENTS
SECTION I. AUTHORITY
The following Rules and Regulations Pertaining to Good
				Manufacturing Practices 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 96 of 1913 (A.C.A.
				20-7-109
				) and Act 415 of 1953 (A.C.A.
				20-56-201 thru
				20-56-223
				).
SECTION II. 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 III.
			 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 thereunto, are
				herewith excluded from the provisions of these Rules and Regulations.
SECTION IV. 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 pre-packaging 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 food.
F.
			 "Corrosion-resistant" means capable of maintaining original surface
			 characteristics under prolonged influence of the food to be contacted, the
			 normal use of cleaning compounds and bactericidal solutions, and other
			 conditions-of-use.
G. "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.
I. "Easily Cleanable" means that surfaces are
			 readily accessible and made of such materials and finish and so fabricated that
			 residue may be effectively removed by normal cleaning methods.
J. "Employee" means the permit holder, any
			 individual having supervisory or management duties and any other person working
			 in a food establishment.
K.
			 "Equipment" means stoves, ovens, ranges, hoods, slicers, mixers, meat blocks,
			 tables, counters, refrigerators, sinks, dishwashing machines, steam tables, and
			 similar items other than utensils, used in the operation of a food
			 establishment.
L. "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.
M. "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.
N. "Food Processing
			 Establishment" means a commercial establishment in which food is manufactured
			 or packaged for human consumption.
O. "Hazardous Substance" means any substance
			 or mixture of substances which is toxic, corrosive, an irritant, strong
			 sanitizer, flammable or which generates pressure through
			 decomposition.
P. "Imminent Public
			 Health Hazard" means a situation which creates a risk posing" a significant
			 threat to public health. Such hazards should not continue while a hearing or
			 other formal proceeding is pending.
Q. "Manufacture" means the process of
			 combining or purifying articles of food and packing same for sale to the
			 consumer, either by wholesale or retail. Any firm, person, or corporation who
			 represents itself as responsible for the purity and the proper labeling of any
			 article of food by placing or having placed its name and address on the label
			 of any food shall be deemed a manufacturer and shall be included within the
			 meaning of these rules.
R.
			 "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.
S. "Non-Food-Contact
			 Surfaces" means surfaces of equipment not intended for contact with food, but
			 which are being exposed to splash or food debris or which otherwise require
			 frequent cleaning, shall be designed and fabricated to be smooth, washable,
			 free of unnecessary ledges, projections, or crevices, and readily accessible
			 for cleaning, and shall be of such material and in such repair as to be easily
			 maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.
T. "Operator" means any person, partnership,
			 corporation, association, cooperative or other business unit having the direct
			 and primary responsibility for the construction, maintenance and operation of a
			 food storage or food manufacturing plant or warehouse.
U. "Packaging" means any covering, wrapper,
			 or container in which a product is placed for retail or wholesale distribution,
			 either before or after sale, to a consumer. Packaging shall not be construed to
			 include the inner wrapper.
V.
			 "Perishable Foods" means any food of such type or in such condition or physical
			 state that it may spoil or otherwise become unfit for human
			 consumption.
W. "Person" means an
			 individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership,
			 association, or any other public or private entity.
X. "Personnel" means all persons employed by
			 a food manufacturer, who do or may in any manner handle or come in contact with
			 the handling, storage, transporting, selling or distributing of food.
Y. "Pest" means any objectionable animal or
			 insect including, but not limited to, birds, rodents, flies and
			 larvae.
Z. "Plant" means the
			 building or facility or parts thereof, used for or in connection with the
			 manufacturing, packaging, labeling or holding of human food.
AA. "Potentially Hazardous Food" means any
			 food that consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs_, meat,
			 poultry, fish, shellfish, edible crustacean, or other ingredients, including
			 synthetic ingredients, in a form capable of supporting rapid and progressive
			 growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms. The term does not include
			 foods which have a pH level of 4.6 or below or a water activity (aw) value of
			 0.85 or less.
BB. "Processing"
			 means the preparing of a food in a manner which changes the food from its
			 original state.
CC. "Processor"
			 means any person processing food.
DD. "Quality Control Operation" means a
			 planned and systematic procedure for taking actions necessary to prevent food
			 from being adulterated.
EE.
			 "Reconditioning" means any appropriate process or procedure by which distressed
			 merchandise can be brought into compliance with the standards of the Department
			 for consumption or use by the public.
FF. "Refuse" means all garbage, trash, and
			 rubbish not intended for reuse as salvaged merchandise.
GG. "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.
HH.
			 "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). An aw 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.
II. "Safe
			 Temperatures" as applied to potentially hazardous food means food temperature
			 of 45 degrees F. or below or 140 degrees F. or above.
JJ. "Sale or Distribution" means the act of
			 selling or distributing, whether for compensation or not, and includes
			 delivery, holding or offering for sale, transfer, or other means of handling or
			 trafficking.
KK. "Sanitization"
			 means adequate treatment of surfaces by a process that is effective in
			 destroying vegetative cells of microorganisms of public health significance and
			 in substantially reducing the number of other microorganisms. Such treatment
			 shall not adversely affect the product and shall be safe to the
			 consumer.
LL. "Single-Service
			 Articles" means cups, containers, lids, closures, plates, knives, forks,
			 spoons, stirrers, paddles, straws, placemats, napkins, doilies, wrapping
			 materials, toothpicks and similar articles, intended to be discarded after one
			 use.
MM. "Utensil" means any
			 implement used in the storage, preparation, transportation or service of
			 food.
NN. "Vehicle" means any car,
			 truck, bus or other means by which food or distressed, salvageable or salvaged
			 merchandise is transported from one location to another.
OO. "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.
PP. "Wholesome" means
			 in sound condition, clean, free from adulteration and otherwise suitable for
			 human consumption.