North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 15A - Environmental Quality › Chapter 18 - ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH › Subchapter A - SANITATION › Section .2800 - SANITATION OF CHILD CARE CENTERS › Section 18A .2812 - CLEANING, SANITIZING, AND DISINFECTING EQUIPMENT, UTENSILS, AND OTHER AREAS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) Each child care center shall be equipped
				  with adequate drainboards or countertop space for handling used utensils and
				  air drying clean and sanitized utensils. For child care centers originally
				  licensed on or after April 15, 1998, drainboards or countertop space shall be
				  no less than 8 square feet. A domestic dishwasher may be used to provide the
				  equivalent of 4 square feet of drainboard space. Drainboards or countertop
				  space designated for clean equipment and utensils shall be on the opposite end
				  of the sink from drainboards or countertop space designated for equipment and
				  utensils that are not clean, unless these areas are otherwise separated and
				  protected from cross-contamination. Child care centers originally licensed
				  before April 15, 1998 shall comply with this Paragraph upon change of
				  ownership, the closing of the child care center and the issuance of a new
				  license, or the remodeling of an existing kitchen in a child care
				  center.
(b) Except for fixed
				  equipment and utensils too large to be cleaned in sink compartments, equipment
				  and utensils that are cleaned manually instead of in a dishwasher shall be
				  washed, rinsed, and sanitized as follows, in the order of the steps presented
				  herein:
(1) equipment and utensils shall be
				  scraped, flushed with water, or soaked with water to remove food
				  particles;
(2) sinks shall be
				  cleaned and sanitized before proceeding to Subparagraph (3) of this
				  Paragraph;
(3) equipment and
				  utensils shall be washed in the first compartment of the sink with a hot
				  detergent solution that is changed once visibly soiled;
(4) equipment and utensils shall be rinsed
				  free of detergent solution with clean water in the second compartment of the
				  sink; and
(5) the food-contact
				  surfaces of equipment and utensils shall be sanitized in the third compartment
				  of the sink in the following manner:
(A)
				  immersion for at least one minute in clean, hot water at a temperature of at
				  least 170 degrees Fahrenheit;
(B)
				  immersion for at least two minutes in a solution containing 50 to 200 parts per
				  million (ppm) of chlorine at a temperature of at least 75 degrees
				  Fahrenheit;
(C) immersion for at
				  least two minutes in a solution containing at least 12.5 ppm of iodine and
				  having a pH not higher than 5.0 and at a temperature of at least 75 degrees
				  Fahrenheit;
(D) immersion for at
				  least two minutes in a solution containing 200 to 400 ppm of quaternary
				  ammonium products and having a temperature of at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit,
				  provided that the quaternary ammonium product label indicates that it is
				  effective in water that has a hardness value at least equal to that of the
				  water being used; or
(E) other
				  sanitizing products, procedures, or equipment that are nontoxic to children,
				  used according to the manufacturer's instructions, are safe for use on
				  food-contact surfaces, do not require a final rinse step, and have a testing
				  method.