Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 49, December 7, 2024
Section 59a.304 - Equipment and utensils(a)General construction, repair and installation.(1) The equipment and utensils used for the processing of milk and manufacture of dairy products must be constructed to be readily demountable when necessary for cleaning and sanitizing. The product contact surfaces of all utensils and equipment such as holding tanks, pasteurizers, coolers, vats, agitators, pumps, sanitary piping and fittings or any specialized equipment must be constructed of stainless steel or other equally corrosion-resistant material. Nonmetallic parts other than glass having product contact surfaces must meet the current 3-A Standards for Multiple-Use Plastic Materials or the current 3-A Sanitary Standards for Multiple-Use Rubber, and Rubber-Like Materials Used as Product Contact Surfaces in Dairy Equipment.(2) Equipment and piping shall be designed and installed to be easily accessible for cleaning, and be kept in good repair, free from cracks and corroded surfaces. New or rearranged equipment must be set away from any wall or spaced in a manner that facilitates proper cleaning and good housekeeping. Parts or interior surfaces of equipment, pipes (except certain piping cleaned in place) or fittings, including valves and connections, must be accessible for inspection.(3) CIP systems must comply with the current 3-A Sanitary Practices for Permanently Installed Sanitary Product, Pipelines, and Cleaning Systems Used in Milk and Milk Processing Plants.(b)Weigh cans and receiving tanks. Weigh cans and receiving tanks must meet the general requirements of this section, be easily accessible for cleaning both inside and outside and elevated above the floor and protected sufficiently with the necessary covers or baffles to prevent contamination from splash, condensate and drippage. When necessary to provide easy access for cleaning of floors and adjacent wall areas, the receiving tank must be equipped with wheels or casters to allow easy removal.(c)Can washers. Can washers must have sufficient capacity and ability to discharge a clean, dry can and cover and shall be kept properly timed in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer. The water and steam lines supplying the washer must maintain a reasonably uniform pressure and if necessary be equipped with pressure regulating valves.(d)Product storage tanks or vats. Storage tanks or vats must be fully enclosed or tightly covered and well insulated. The entire interior surface, agitator and all appurtenances must be accessible for thorough cleaning and inspection. Any opening at the top of the tank or vat including the entrance of the shaft must be suitably protected against the entrance of dust, moisture, insects, oil or grease. The sight glasses, if used, must be sound, clean and in good repair. Vats which have hinged covers must be designed so that moisture or dust on the surface cannot enter the vat when the covers are raised. If the storage tanks or vats are equipped with air agitation, the system must be of an approved type and properly installed in accordance with the current 3-A Accepted Practices for Supplying Air Under Pressure. Storage tanks or vats intended to hold product for longer than approximately 8 hours must be equipped with adequate refrigeration or have adequate insulation, or both. New storage tanks or vats must meet the appropriate 3-A Sanitary Standards and be equipped with thermometers in good operating order.(e)Separators. Product contact surfaces of separators must be free from rust and pits and insofar as practicable be of stainless steel or other equally noncorrosive metals. New separators must meet the current 3-A Sanitary Standards for Centrifugal Separators and Clarifiers.(f)Coil or dome-type batch pasteurizers. Coil or dome-type batch pasteurizers must be stainless steel lined and if the coil is not stainless steel or other equally noncorrosive metal it must be properly tinned over the entire surface. Sanitary seal assemblies at the shaft ends of coil vats must be of the removable type, except that existing equipment not provided with this type gland will be acceptable if the packing glands are maintained and operated without adverse effects. New or replacement units must be provided with removable packing glands. Dome-type pasteurizer agitators must be stainless steel except that any nonmetallic parts must meet the current 3-A Sanitary Standards for Plastic and Rubber or Rubber-Like Materials, as applicable. Each pasteurizer used for heating product at 165° F or lower for 30 minutes or less must be equipped with space heating equipment and the necessary thermometers to insure a temperature at least 5° F above that required for pasteurization of the product. There must be adequate means of controlling the temperature of the heating medium. Batch pasteurizers must have temperature indicating and recording devices, and meet the current 3-A Sanitary Standards for Non-Coil Type Batch Pasteurizers.(g)HTST pasteurizers. When pasteurization is intended or required, an approved timing pump or device recorder-controller, automatic flow diversion valve and holding tube or its equivalent, if not a part of the existing equipment, shall be installed on all HTST equipment used for pasteurization, to assure complete pasteurization. The entire facility must meet the current 3-A Accepted Practices for the Sanitary Construction, Installation, Testing, and Operation of High-Temperature, Short-Time Pasteurizers. After the HTST unit has been tested according to the 3-A Accepted Practices, the timing pump or device and the recorder controller shall be sealed at the correct setting to assure pasteurization. Sealing of the HTST unit shall be performed by the control authority having jurisdiction. The HTST pasteurizer shall be tested initially upon installation, and whenever any alteration or replacement is made which affects the proper operation of the instrument or device. When direct steam pasteurizers are used, the steam, prior to entering the product, must be conducted through a steam strainer and a steam purifier equipped with a steam trap and only steam meeting the requirements for culinary steam shall be used.(h)Indicating thermometers.(1) Long-stem indicating thermometers which are accurate within 0.5° F, plus or minus, for the applicable temperature range, shall be provided for checking the temperature of pasteurization and cooling of products in vats and checking the accuracy of recording thermometers.(2) Short-stem indicating thermometers, which are accurate within 0.5° F, plus or minus, for the applicable temperature range, shall be installed in the proper stationary position in all HTST and dome-type pasteurizers. Storage tanks where temperature readings are required must have thermometers which are accurate within 2.0° F, plus or minus.(3) Air-space indicating thermometers, when applicable, which are accurate within 1.0° F, plus or minus, for the proper temperature range shall also be installed above the surface of the products pasteurized in vats, to make certain that the temperature of the foam or air above the products pasteurized, or both, also received the required minimum temperature treatment.(i)Recording thermometers.(1) HTST recording thermometers that are accurate within 1° F, plus or minus, for the applicable temperature range, shall be used on each heat treating, pasteurizing or sterilizing unit to record the heating process.(2) Additional use of recording thermometers accurate within 2° F, plus or minus, may be required where a record of temperature or time of cooling and holding is of significant importance. A record of temperature or time of cooling and holding is of significant importance when made in accordance with § § 59a.328, 59a.344, 59a.373(b), 59a.381(d), 59a.382(b) and 59a.392(b)(1).(j)Surface coolers. Surface coolers must be equipped with hinged or removable covers for the protection of the product. The edges of the fins must be designed to divert condensate on nonproduct contact surfaces away from product contact surfaces. Gaskets or swivel connections must be leak proof.(k)Plate-type heat exchangers. Plate-type heat exchangers must meet the current 3-A Sanitary Standards for Construction and Installation. Gaskets must be tight and kept in good operating order. Plates shall be opened for inspection by the operator at sufficiently frequent intervals to determine if the equipment is clean and in satisfactory condition. A cleaning regimen shall be posted to insure proper cleaning procedures between inspection periods.(l)Internal return tubular heat exchangers. Internal return tubular heat exchangers must meet the current 3-A Sanitary Standards for Construction and Installation.(m)Pumps. Pumps used for milk and dairy products must be of the sanitary type and constructed to meet 3-A Sanitary Standards. Unless pumps are specifically designed for effective cleaning in place, they shall be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned after use.(n)Homogenizers. Homogenizers and high pressure pumps of the plunger type must meet the 3-A Sanitary Standards.(o)New equipment and replacements. New equipment and replacements, including all plastic parts and rubber and rubber-like materials for parts and gaskets having product contact surfaces, must meet the current 3-A Sanitary Standards or 3-A Accepted Practices. If 3-A Sanitary Standards or 3-A Accepted Practices are not available, the equipment and replacements must meet the general requirements of this section.(p)Certain vacuum chambers. A vacuum chamber, as used for flavor control, must be made of stainless steel or other equally noncorrosive metal. The unit must be constructed to facilitate cleaning and product contact surfaces must be accessible for inspection. The chamber must be equipped with a vacuum breaker and a check valve at the product discharge line. Only steam which meets the requirements for culinary steam may be used. The incoming steam supply shall be regulated by an automatic solenoid valve which will cut off the steam supply in the event the flow diversion valve of the HTST pasteurizer is not in the forward flow position. Condensers when used must be equipped with a water level control and an automatic safety shutoff valve. This section cited in 7 Pa. Code § 59a.326 (relating to equipment and utensils); 7 Pa. Code § 59a.362 (relating to equipment and utensils); 7 Pa. Code § 59a.372 (relating to equipment and utensils); 7 Pa. Code § 59a.382 (relating ti equipment and utensils); 7 Pa. Code § 59a.391 (relating to equipment and utensils); and 7 Pa. Code § 59a.392 (relating to operations and operating procedures).