[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 9, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 9CFR416.2]

[Page 624-626]
 
                  TITLE 9--ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS
 
     CHAPTER III--FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                               AGRICULTURE
 
PART 416_SANITATION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 416.2  Establishment grounds and facilities.

    (a) Grounds and pest control. The grounds about an establishment 
must be maintained to prevent conditions that could lead to insanitary 
conditions, adulteration of product, or interfere with inspection by 
FSIS program employees. Establishments must have in place a pest 
management program to prevent the harborage and breeding of pests on the 
grounds and within establishment facilities. Pest control substances 
used must be safe and effective under the conditions of use and not be 
applied or stored in a manner that will result in the adulteration of 
product or the creation of insanitary conditions.
    (b) Construction. (1) Establishment buildings, including their 
structures, rooms, and compartments must be of sound construction, be 
kept in good repair, and be of sufficient size to allow for processing, 
handling, and storage of product in a manner that does not result in 
product adulteration or the creation of insanitary conditions.
    (2) Walls, floors, and ceilings within establishments must be built 
of durable materials impervious to moisture and be cleaned and sanitized 
as necessary to prevent adulteration of product or the creation of 
insanitary conditions.
    (3) Walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, and other outside 
openings must be constructed and maintained to prevent the entrance of 
vermin, such as flies, rats, and mice.
    (4) Rooms or compartments in which edible product is processed, 
handled, or stored must be separate and distinct from rooms or 
compartments in which inedible product is processed, handled, or stored, 
to the extent necessary to prevent product adulteration and the creation 
of insanitary conditions.
    (c) Light. Lighting of good quality and sufficient intensity to 
ensure that sanitary conditions are maintained and that product is not 
adulterated must be provided in areas where food is processed, handled, 
stored, or examined; where equipment and utensils are cleaned; and in 
hand-washing areas, dressing and locker rooms, and toilets.
    (d) Ventilation. Ventilation adequate to control odors, vapors, and 
condensation to the extent necessary to prevent adulteration of product 
and the creation of insanitary conditions must be provided.
    (e) Plumbing. Plumbing systems must be installed and maintained to:
    (1) Carry sufficient quantities of water to required locations 
throughout the establishment;
    (2) Properly convey sewage and liquid disposable waste from the 
establishment;
    (3) Prevent adulteration of product, water supplies, equipment, and 
utensils and prevent the creation of insanitary conditions throughout 
the establishment;
    (4) Provide adequate floor drainage in all areas where floors are 
subject to

[[Page 625]]

flooding-type cleaning or where normal operations release or discharge 
water or other liquid waste on the floor;
    (5) Prevent back-flow conditions in and cross-connection between 
piping systems that discharge waste water or sewage and piping systems 
that carry water for product manufacturing; and
    (6) Prevent the backup of sewer gases.
    (f) Sewage disposal. Sewage must be disposed into a sewage system 
separate from all other drainage lines or disposed of through other 
means sufficient to prevent backup of sewage into areas where product is 
processed, handled, or stored. When the sewage disposal system is a 
private system requiring approval by a State or local health authority, 
the establishment must furnish FSIS with the letter of approval from 
that authority upon request.
    (g) Water supply and water, ice, and solution reuse. (1) A supply of 
running water that complies with the National Primary Drinking Water 
regulations (40 CFR part 141), at a suitable temperature and under 
pressure as needed, must be provided in all areas where required (for 
processing product, for cleaning rooms and equipment, utensils, and 
packaging materials, for employee sanitary facilities, etc.). If an 
establishment uses a municipal water supply, it must make available to 
FSIS, upon request, a water report, issued under the authority of the 
State or local health agency, certifying or attesting to the potability 
of the water supply. If an establishment uses a private well for its 
water supply, it must make available to FSIS, upon request, 
documentation certifying the potability of the water supply that has 
been renewed at least semi-annually.
    (2) Water, ice, and solutions (such as brine, liquid smoke, or 
propylene glycol) used to chill or cook ready-to-eat product may be 
reused for the same purpose, provided that they are maintained free of 
pathogenic organisms and fecal coliform organisms and that other 
physical, chemical, and microbiological contamination have been reduced 
to prevent adulteration of product.
    (3) Water, ice, and solutions used to chill or wash raw product may 
be reused for the same purpose provided that measures are taken to 
reduce physical, chemical, and microbiological contamination so as to 
prevent contamination or adulteration of product. Reuse that which has 
come into contact with raw product may not be used on ready-to-eat 
product.
    (4) Reconditioned water that has never contained human waste and 
that has been treated by an onsite advanced wastewater treatment 
facility may be used on raw product, except in product formulation, and 
throughout the facility in edible and inedible production areas, 
provided that measures are taken to ensure that this water meets the 
criteria prescribed in paragraph (g)(1) of this section. Product, 
facilities, equipment, and utensils coming in contact with this water 
must undergo a separate final rinse with non-reconditioned water that 
meets the criteria prescribed in paragraph (g)(1) of this section.
    (5) Any water that has never contained human waste and that is free 
of pathogenic organisms may be used in edible and inedible product 
areas, provided it does not contact edible product. For example, such 
reuse water may be used to move heavy solids, to flush the bottom of 
open evisceration troughs, or to wash antemortem areas, livestock pens, 
trucks, poultry cages, picker aprons, picking room floors, and similar 
areas within the establishment.
    (6) Water that does not meet the use conditions of paragraphs (g)(1) 
through (g)(5) of this section may not be used in areas where edible 
product is handled or prepared or in any manner that would allow it to 
adulterate edible product or create insanitary conditions.
    (h) Dressing rooms, lavatories, and toilets. (1) Dressing rooms, 
toilet rooms, and urinals must be sufficient in number, ample in size, 
conveniently located, and maintained in a sanitary condition and in good 
repair at all times to ensure cleanliness of all persons handling any 
product. They must be separate from the rooms and compartments in which 
products are processed, stored, or handled.
    (2) Lavatories with running hot and cold water, soap, and towels, 
must be placed in or near toilet and urinal

[[Page 626]]

rooms and at such other places in the establishment as necessary to 
ensure cleanliness of all persons handling any product.
    (3) Refuse receptacles must be constructed and maintained in a 
manner that protects against the creation of insanitary conditions and 
the adulteration of product.

[64 FR 56417, Oct. 20, 1999]