15A N.C. Admin. Code 18A.0134

Current through Register Vol. 38, No. 24, June 17, 2024

Section 18A .0134 - DEFINITIONS

The following definitions shall apply to this Section; however, nothing in this Section shall be construed as expanding or restricting the definitions in G.S. 106-129 and G.S. 106-130:

(1) "Adulterated" as defined in G.S. 106-129 shall include the following:

(a) any cooked crustacea or crustacea meat that does not comply with the rules in this Section;

(b) any cooked crustacea or crustacea meat that exceeds the bacteriological standards in Rule .0182 of this Section; or

(c) any cooked crustacea or crustacea meat that has been deemed to be an imminent hazard.

(2) "Clean" means free from dirt, debris, dust, marks, stains, waste materials, litter, or foreign material.

(3) "Code date" means the date legibly placed on the container to indicate the date that the product was packed.

(4) "Cook" means to prepare or treat raw crustacea by heating.

(5) "Critical control point" means a point, step, or procedure in a food process at which a control can be applied and a food safety hazard can, as a result, be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to acceptable levels.

(6) "Critical limit" means the maximum or minimum value to which a biological, chemical, or physical parameter shall be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of the identified food safety hazard.

(7) "Crustacea meat" means the meat of crabs, lobster, shrimp, or crayfish.

(8) "Division" means the Division of Marine Fisheries.

(9) "Easily cleanable" has the same meaning as defined in the 2017 U.S. Food Code. This definition is incorporated by reference not including subsequent amendments and editions. A copy of the reference material can be found at https://www.fda.gov/food/fda-food-code/food-code-2017, at no cost.

(10) "Food-contact surface" means the parts of equipment, including auxiliary equipment, that may be in contact with the food being processed, or that may drain into the portion of equipment with which food is in contact.

(11) "Food safety hazard" means any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption.

(12) "Foreign" means any place or location outside the United States.

(13) "Fresh crustacea" means a live, raw, or frozen raw crab, lobster, shrimp, or crayfish that shows no decomposition.

(14) "Good repair" means maintained in order to function as designed and without defect.

(15) "HACCP plan" means a written document that delineates the procedures a dealer follows to implement food safety controls.

(16) "Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP)" means a system of inspection, control, and monitoring measures initiated by a dealer to identify microbiological, chemical, or physical food safety hazards that are likely to occur in shellfish products produced by the dealer.

(17) "Imminent hazard" has the same meaning as defined in G.S. 130A-2.

(18) "Internal temperature" means the temperature of the product as opposed to the ambient temperature.

(19) "Misbranded" as defined in G.S. 106-130 shall include any container of cooked crustacea or crustacea meat that is not labeled in compliance with the rules in this Section.

(20) "Most probable number (MPN)" means a statistical estimate of the number of bacteria per unit volume and is determined from the number of positive results in a series of fermentation tubes.

(21) "Operating season" means the season of the year during which a crustacea product is processed.

(22) "Pasteurization" means the process of heating every particle of crustacea meat in a hermetically-sealed container to a temperature of at least 185° F (85° C) and holding it continuously at or above this temperature for at least one minute at the geometric center of a container in equipment being operated in compliance with the Process Validation Study Report. The term includes any other process that has been found equally effective by the Division.

(23) "Pasteurization date" means a code legibly placed on the container to indicate the date that the product was pasteurized.

(24) "Process Validation Study Report" means a report of tests that shows a piece of equipment can produce time-temperature results as required by the rules of this Section, and the procedures required to achieve such results.

(25) "Processing" means any of the following operations when carried out in conjunction with the cooking of crustacea or crustacea meat: receiving, refrigerating, air-cooling, picking, packing, repacking, thermal processing, or pasteurizing.

(26) "Repacker" means a facility that repacks cooked crustacea meat into other containers.

(27) "Responsible individual" means the individual present in a cooked crustacea facility who is the apparent supervisor of the cooked crustacea facility at the time of the inspection. If no individual is the apparent supervisor, then any employee is the responsible individual.

(28) "Retort" means a pressure vessel used to cook raw crustacea.

(29) "Sanitize" has the same meaning as defined in 21 CFR 110.3, which is incorporated by reference including subsequent amendments and editions. A copy of the reference material can be found at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-110/subpart-A/section-110.3, at no cost.

(30) "Thermal processing" means the heating of previously cooked crustacea or crustacea meat to a desired temperature for a specified time at the geometric center of a container in equipment being operated in compliance with the Process Validation Study Report.

15A N.C. Admin. Code 18A .0134

Authority G.S. 106-129; 106-130; 113-134; 113-182; 113-221.2; 143B-289.52;
Eff. October 1, 1992;
Amended Eff. August 1, 2000; August 1, 1998; February 1, 1997;
Readopted Eff. April 1, 2022.

Authority G.S. 106-129; 106-130; 130A-230;
Eff. 10/1/1992;
Amended Eff. 2/1/1997; August 1, 1998; August 1, 2000.

Readopted by North Carolina Register Volume 36, Issue 21, May 2, 2022 effective 4/1/2022.