Alabama Administrative Code › Title 420 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH › Chapter 420-3-22 - FOOD ESTABLISHMENT SANITATION › Section 420-3-22-.01 - General Provisions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1)
Purpose
- The purpose of these rules is to safeguard public health
			 and provide to consumers food that is safe, unadulterated, and honestly
			 presented.
(2)
Statutory
			 authority
- The State Board of Health is authorized to adopt and
			 promulgate these rules under and by virtue of the authority of Sections
			 22-2-2(6) and
			 22-20-5,
Code of Ala.
			 1975
.
(3)
Adoption by reference
- Chapters 1 through 8 of the document
			 entitled 2013 edition of the
United States Department of Health and
			 Human Services Food Code ("Food Code")
is hereby incorporated by
			 reference and,
except as provided for in rules
			 420-3-22-.01 through
			 420-3-22-.08
, made a
			 part of these rules as if set out in full and all provisions thereof are
			 adopted as a rule of the State Board of Health. Said document is available at
http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/
.
(4)
Definitions
-
(a) In addition to definitions in the
			 document entitled 2013 edition of the
Food Code
, for
			 the purpose of these rules:
1. "Bed and
			 Breakfast" means a private owner-occupied residence providing accommodations
			 for a charge to the public with no more than ten (10) guest rooms for rent.
			 Breakfast only may be provided to the guests. Bed and Breakfast establishments
			 are exempt from the Rules for Construction, Maintenance, and Operation of
			 Hotels, 420-3-11 and the Rules for Food Service Sanitation, 420-3-22.
2. "Board" means the Board of Health of the
			 State of Alabama as defined by Section
			 22-2-1,
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, or the State Health Officer or his designee, when acting for
			 the Board, for the purposes of these rules, the Bureau of Environmental
			 Services.
3. "Caterer" means a
			 person operating from a permitted food service establishment who contracts with
			 one individual or firm to provide a predetermined menu and quantity of food at
			 a specific site, off the premises of the food establishment, which is generally
			 different for each event; the site or event not being open to the general
			 public.
4. "Catfish" means any
			 species of fish classified within the family Ictaluridae.
5. "Catfish product" means, as used in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-30, et seq., any catfish
			 product capable of use as human food which is made wholly or in part from any
			 catfish or portion thereof, except products which contain catfish only in small
			 portions and which are exempt from this definition by rules of the State Board
			 of Health.
6. "Child day care
			 center" means any child care facility receiving more than 12 children for
			 daytime or nighttime care for all or part of a day. The term "child day care
			 center" includes but is not limited to facilities commonly called "day care
			 centers," "day nurseries," "nursery schools," "kindergarten," "play groups" and
			 "nighttime centers" with or without stated educational purposes. Such term
			 further includes, but is not limited to, kindergarten or nursery schools or
			 other programs operated as part of a private school and receiving more than 12
			 children younger than lawful school age for daytime care for more than 4 hours
			 a day with or without stated educational purposes.
7. "Commissary" means a permitted food
			 establishment to which a mobile food establishment or transportation vehicle
			 returns daily for such things as discharging liquid or solid wastes, refilling
			 water tanks and ice bins, and boarding food.
8. "Cottage Food" means a non-potentially
			 hazardous food that has been prepared in a person's home that does not require
			 time or temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth
			 or toxin formation and that does not include meat, poultry, or fish, including
			 the following:
(i) Cakes, breads, Danish
			 pastries, donuts, pastries, and pies.
(ii) Jam, jellies, and fruit
			 preserves.
(iii) Candy.
(iv) Dried and dehydrated herbs, herb mixes,
			 vegetables, or fruits.
(v) Roasted
			 coffee.
(vi) Dried baking
			 mixes.
(vii) Fermented or preserved
			 vegetables or fruit that do not result in the production of alcohol and that
			 have an acidity level allowed by the department as defined in Chapter 1 of the
			 Food Code under time/temperature control for safety food.
9. "Date limit" means all terms reasonably
			 construed to mean food is not intended to be used or sold after the date limit,
			 or that food quality is best before the date limit, and includes but is not
			 limited to the terms "Sell By;" "Freeze By;" "Sell or Freeze By;" "Not to be
			 Sold After;" "Best if Used By;" "Best if Purchased By," "Expiration;" or other
			 similar designations.
10.
			 "Department" means the Alabama Department of Public Health.
11. "Domestic" means, as used in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-1, et seq., any farm-raised
			 fish or wild fish hatched, raised, harvested, or processed within the United
			 States or a territory of the United States.
12. "Farm-raised fish" means, as used in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-1, et seq., farm-raised
			 shellfish and fillets, steaks, nuggets, and any other flesh from a farm-raised
			 fish or shellfish and includes any product of which farm-raised fish is an
			 ingredient.
13. "Food
			 establishment" means both food service establishments and retail food stores,
			 along with the lower risk priority categories in either designation. The term
			 does not include:
(i) A kitchen in a private
			 home if only food that is not time/temperature control for safety food is
			 prepared for sale or service at a function such as a charitable, religious,
			 civic, or not-for-profit organization's food sale, or at a state sanctioned
			 farmer's market, and if the consumer is informed by a clearly visible label,
			 tag, or placard at the sales or service location that the food is prepared in a
			 kitchen that is not inspected by a regulatory agency. This exclusion shall not
			 be construed as allowing the sale of low acid foods in a hermetically sealed
			 container (i.e. such as home-canned vegetables) when such food is not prepared
			 in a permitted establishment; and
(ii) Private gatherings with a limited and
			 identifiable membership where no sale of food takes place. A sale of food shall
			 be any situation in which there is a charge for profit for the food, or a
			 membership fee is required for entry or participation.
(iii) A Cottage Food Production Operation. A
			 person operating out of his or her home who meets the following requirements:
(I) Produces cottage food for sale;
(II) Sells the foods produced in a cottage
			 food operation only directly to consumers, whether in-person, by phone, or
			 online in the state;
(III) Delivers
			 the foods directly to consumers in the state;
(IV) A cottage food production operator shall
			 complete a food safety course approved by the department and label all cottage
			 foods that the operation sells. The label shall include in at least size
			 10-point font:
I. The common or usual name of
			 the food.
II. The name, home or
			 P.O. Box address of the cottage food production operation.
III. A statement that the food is not
			 inspected by the department or local health department.
IV. A list of the ingredients in the food in
			 descending order of predominance and shall include a disclaimer that the food
			 may contain allergens.
14. "Food processing plant" means a
			 commercial food processing establishment or operation that manufactures,
			 packages, labels, or stores food for human consumption and does not provide
			 food directly to a consumer. The term does not include a food service
			 establishment or a retail food store in which such foods are processed if:
(i) The food items are sold to, or sold from,
			 no more than two other retail food establishments during the annual period
			 coinciding with the food permit issuance and expiration date, and
(ii) The total value of food sales to other
			 retail establishments during the annual period coinciding with the food permit
			 issuance and expiration date is less than $25,000.
15. "Food service establishment" means any
			 place, vehicle or vessel where food for individual portion service is prepared,
			 stored, held, transported, served, or dispensed and includes any such place
			 regardless of whether consumption is on or off the premises. The term also
			 includes delicatessen type operations that prepare food intended for individual
			 portion service; and also includes all schools and child day care
			 centers.
16. "Health Officer" means
			 the Health Officer of the county or district in which the food establishment in
			 question is located as provided in Section
			 22-3-2,
Code of Ala.
			 1975
; or the authorized representative of the Health
			 Officer.
17. "Imported" means, as
			 used in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-1, et seq., any farm-raised
			 fish or wild fish that was hatched, raised, harvested, or processed outside the
			 United States or a territory of the United States.
18. "Label" means, as used in and for the
			 purpose of enforcement of
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-30, et seq. a legible
			 display of written, printed, or graphic information on a placard, menu, sign,
			 or other material that represents the product to the consumer.
19. "May not" means a mandatory
			 prohibition.
20. "Mobile food
			 establishment" means,
except for pushcarts
, a unit mounted on
			 or pulled by a self-propelled vehicle; is self-contained with its own drinking
			 water tank and waste water tank
unless handling only prepackaged
			 foods
; is designed to be readily movable; and is moved daily to return
			 to its commissary. A pushcart is a category of mobile food establishment.
21. "Priority category" means, for
			 purposes of permitting and inspection scheduling, a tiered structuring of food
			 establishments based on the public health risk for foodborne illness inherent
			 in the establishment due to its' menu, operations, or consumers.
22. "Priority Category 4 establishment" means
			 a food establishment meeting the definition of a Category 2 or Category 3 and
			 in addition performs an operation requiring a variance as per 420-3-22.01(4)23
			 or a HACCP plan.
23. "Priority
			 Category 3 establishment" means
(i) a food
			 establishment where unpackaged raw food from an animal source is handled,
			 prepared, or used; or
(ii)
			 time/temperature control for safety food that is not ready-to-eat is cooked or
			 further prepared to eliminate or reduce pathogens; or
(iii) customer contact utensils are reused,
			 or food is cooled, or food previously cooled in the establishment is
			 reheated.
24. "Priority
			 Category 2 establishment" means a food establishment which, by the nature of
			 its' operation and menu, does not use raw foods of animal origin, does not cool
			 foods that have been heated, and does not reuse tableware. This type of food
			 establishment may dispense or sell on-premises, only in single-service
			 articles, unpackaged:
(i) foods that are not
			 time/temperature control for safety, or
(ii) raw foods of plant origin that would
			 otherwise be considered a time/temperature control for safety food;
			 or
(ii) time/temperature control
			 for safety foods that are received from an approved processing establishment as
			 ready-to-eat;
provided, such foods may be removed from the original
			 package and heated one time for quality reasons (not heated as a required step
			 to destroy microorganisms of public health concern)
, or
(iv) any combination of these.
(v) The foods allowed include, but are not
			 limited to, hard cheese such as cheddar; dip ice cream; fully cooked luncheon
			 meat including wieners, or any other fully cooked meat received from a
			 processing establishment approved by the USDA or a state Department of
			 Agriculture; or the produce area of a retail food store if issued a separate
			 permit. This type establishment may also be called a "Limited Food Service
			 Establishment."
25.
			 "Priority Category 1 Establishment" means those food establishments that sell
			 or market only prepackaged time/temperature control for safety food items. The
			 term does not include establishments that handle only prepackaged foods that
			 are not time/temperature control for safety, roadside markets that offer only
			 fresh fruits and vegetables for sale, food service establishments, or food and
			 beverage vending machines. This type establishment may also be called a
			 "Limited Retail Food Store Establishment."
26. "Pushcart" means a non-self propelled
			 mobile food unit that is lightweight enough, designed, and intended to be moved
			 by one person. A pushcart can be used to prepare and serve only:
i. foods that are not time/temperature
			 control for safety such as popcorn, lemonade, or flavored ice; or
ii. foods pre-wrapped at the commissary and
			 maintained at the required temperatures; or
iii. foods that meet the definition of
			 "Priority Category 2."
27. "Regulatory authority" means the Health
			 Officer of the county or district in which the food establishment in question
			 is located as provided in Section
			 22-3-2,
Code of Ala.
			 1975
; or the authorized representative of the Health Officer;
			 except for the purpose of issuing a variance from these rules, for which action
			 the Regulatory Authority is only the State Health Officer.
28. "Retail food store" means any
			 establishment or section of an establishment where food and food products are
			 offered to the consumer and intended for off premise consumption. The term
			 includes delicatessens that offer prepared food in bulk quantities only. The
			 term does not include establishments that handle only prepackaged food that is
			 not time/temperature control for safety; roadside markets that offer only fresh
			 fruits and fresh vegetables for sale; food service establishments; or food and
			 beverage vending machines.
29.
			 "Shall" means a mandatory requirement.
30. "Shellfish" means, as used in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-1, et seq., crab, lobster,
			 oyster, shrimp, crayfish, clam, and scallops in the wild and farm-raised
			 shellfish and includes any product of which shellfish is an ingredient.
31. "Temporary event" means a
			 special occurrence or celebration that is community wide, such as a fair,
			 carnival, public exhibition, festival, or similar occasion that lasts no more
			 than 14 days. A temporary event does not include ongoing commercial activities,
			 such as a sale at a retail store.
32. "Variance" means, as used in the
Food Code
, review by the Bureau of Environmental
			 Services and is not equivalent to the definition used in the Rules of the State
			 Board of Health Chapter 420-1-2.
33. "Waiver relating to pet dogs" means a
			 written request from a food service establishment to permit pet dogs in a
			 designated outdoor dining area of a food service establishment under certain
			 conditions.
34. "Wild fish" means,
			 as used in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Sections
			 22-20A-1, et seq., naturally born
			 or hatchery raised fish and shellfish harvested in the wild. The term includes
			 a fillet, steak, nugget, and any other flesh from wild fish or shellfish and
			 also includes any product of which wild fish is an ingredient. Net pen
			 aquaculture or other farm-raised fish are excluded from the definition.
35. "Wild harvested mushroom"
			 means a fresh mushroom that has been picked in the wild and has not been
			 processed (e.g., dried). A wild harvested mushroom does not include mushrooms
			 that have been packaged in an approved food processing plant or cultivated
			 mushrooms.
36. "Wild harvested
			 mushroom identification expert" means an individual who has successfully
			 completed and passed a comprehensive wild harvested mushroom certification
			 course that includes, but is not limited to the following critical learning
			 objectives as recommended in the Conference for Food Protection Guidance
			 Document for a Model Wild-harvested Mushroom Program:
(i) Illness information;
(ii) Identification;
(iii) Harvesting;
(iv) Best handling practices; and
(v) Regulatory requirements.