[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 21, Volume 1]

[Revised as of April 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 21CFR1.227]



[Page 18-19]

 

                        TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS

 

CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 

                                SERVICES

 

PART 1_GENERAL ENFORCEMENT REGULATIONS--Table of Contents

 

                Subpart H_Registration of Food Facilities

 

Sec.  1.227  What definitions apply to this subpart?



    (a) The act means the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

    (b) In addition, for the purposes of this subpart:

    (1) Calendar day means every day shown on the calendar.

    (2) Facility means any establishment, structure, or structures under 

one ownership at one general physical location, or, in the case of a 

mobile facility, traveling to multiple locations, that manufactures/

processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States. 

Transport vehicles are not facilities if they hold food only in the 

usual course of business as carriers. A facility may consist of one or 

more contiguous structures, and a single building may house more than 

one distinct facility if the facilities are under separate ownership. 

The private residence of an individual is not a facility. Nonbottled 

water drinking water collection and distribution establishments and 

their structures are not facilities.

    (i) Domestic facility means any facility located in any State or 

Territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds 

food for consumption in the United States.

    (ii) Foreign facility means a facility other than a domestic 

facility that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for 

consumption in the United States.

    (3) Farm means a facility in one general physical location devoted 

to the growing and harvesting of crops, the raising of animals 

(including seafood), or both. Washing, trimming of outer leaves of, and 

cooling produce are considered part of harvesting. The term ``farm'' 

includes:

    (i) Facilities that pack or hold food, provided that all food used 

in such activities is grown, raised, or consumed on that farm or another 

farm under the same ownership; and

    (ii) Facilities that manufacture/process food, provided that all 

food used in such activities is consumed on that farm or another farm 

under the same ownership.

    (4) Food has the meaning given in section 201(f) of the act (21 

U.S.C. 321(f)),

    (i) Except for purposes of this subpart, it does not include:

    (A) Food contact substances as defined in section 409(h)(6) of the 

act (21 U.S.C. 348(h)(6)), or

    (B) Pesticides as defined in 7 U.S.C. 136(u).

    (ii) Examples of food include fruits, vegetables, fish, dairy 

products, eggs, raw agricultural commodities for use as food or as 

components of food, animal feed (including pet food), food and feed 

ingredients, food and feed additives, dietary supplements and dietary 

ingredients, infant formula, beverages (including alcoholic beverages 

and bottled water), live food animals, bakery goods, snack foods, candy, 

and canned foods.

    (5) Holding means storage of food. Holding facilities include 

warehouses, cold storage facilities, storage silos, grain elevators, and 

liquid storage tanks.

    (6) Manufacturing/processing means making food from one or more 

ingredients, or synthesizing, preparing, treating, modifying or 

manipulating food, including food crops or ingredients. Examples of 

manufacturing/processing activities are cutting, peeling, trimming, 

washing, waxing, eviscerating, rendering, cooking, baking, freezing, 

cooling, pasteurizing, homogenizing, mixing, formulating, bottling, 

milling, grinding, extracting juice, distilling, labeling, or packaging.

    (7) Nonprofit food establishment means a charitable entity that 

prepares or serves food directly to the consumer or otherwise provides 

food or meals for consumption by humans or animals in the United States. 

The term includes central food banks, soup kitchens, and nonprofit food 

delivery services. To be considered a nonprofit food establishment, the 

establishment must meet the terms of section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. 

Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)).

    (8) Packaging (when used as a verb) means placing food into a 

container that directly contacts the food and that the consumer 

receives.



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    (9) Packing means placing food into a container other than packaging 

the food.

    (10) Restaurant means a facility that prepares and sells food 

directly to consumers for immediate consumption. ``Restaurant'' does not 

include facilities that provide food to interstate conveyances, central 

kitchens, and other similar facilities that do not prepare and serve 

food directly to consumers.

    (i) Entities in which food is provided to humans, such as 

cafeterias, lunchrooms, cafes, bistros, fast food establishments, food 

stands, saloons, taverns, bars, lounges, catering facilities, hospital 

kitchens, day care kitchens, and nursing home kitchens are restaurants; 

and

    (ii) Pet shelters, kennels, and veterinary facilities in which food 

is provided to animals are restaurants.

    (11) Retail food establishment means an establishment that sells 

food products directly to consumers as its primary function. A retail 

food establishment may manufacture/process, pack, or hold food if the 

establishment's primary function is to sell from that establishment 

food, including food that it manufactures/processes, packs, or holds, 

directly to consumers. A retail food establishment's primary function is 

to sell food directly to consumers if the annual monetary value of sales 

of food products directly to consumers exceeds the annual monetary value 

of sales of food products to all other buyers. The term ``consumers'' 

does not include businesses. A ``retail food establishment'' includes 

grocery stores, convenience stores, and vending machine locations.

    (12) Trade name means the name or names under which the facility 

conducts business, or additional names by which the facility is known. A 

trade name is associated with a facility, and a brand name is associated 

with a product.

    (13) U.S. agent means a person (as defined in section 201(e) of the 

act (21 U.S.C. 321(e))) residing or maintaining a place of business in 

the United States whom a foreign facility designates as its agent for 

purposes of this subpart. A U.S. agent cannot be in the form of a 

mailbox, answering machine or service, or other place where an 

individual acting as the foreign facility's agent is not physically 

present.

    (i) The U.S. agent acts as a communications link between FDA and the 

foreign facility for both emergency and routine communications. The U.S. 

agent will be the person FDA contacts when an emergency occurs, unless 

the registration specifies under Sec.  1.233(e) another emergency 

contact.

    (ii) FDA will treat representations by the U.S. agent as those of 

the foreign facility, and will consider information or documents 

provided to the U.S. agent the equivalent of providing the information 

or documents to the foreign facility.

    (iii) Having a single U.S. agent for the purposes of this subpart 

does not preclude facilities from having multiple agents (such as 

foreign suppliers) for other business purposes. A firm's commercial 

business in the United States need not be conducted through the U.S. 

agent designated for purposes of this subpart.

    (14) You or registrant means the owner, operator, or agent in charge 

of a facility that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for 

consumption in the United States.



             Procedures for Registration of Food Facilities