18 AAC 34.050. Sanitation plan

(a) Except as provided in 18 AAC 34.525 for a direct-market fishing vessel operation, a processor shall have and comply with a sanitation plan that describes the sanitation procedures to be followed at the facility. The plan may be structured to apply to each area within the facility or to each type of operation within the facility. The sanitation plan must describe how the processor will meet the sanitation requirements of this chapter, including the monitoring required by (b) of this section.

(b) A processor shall monitor the conditions and practices during processing with adequate frequency to ensure, at a minimum, conformance with

(1) 21 C.F.R. 110.3 - 110.110 and with 21 C.F.R. 123.11, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 34.010; and

(2) this chapter, including monitoring to ensure compliance with

(A) 18 AAC 34.060(7) (A), as that subparagraph deals with pest control procedures used, including a list of rodenticides, insecticides, and herbicides used and procedures followed to assure that use is restricted to knowledgeable persons to prevent misuse; restricted-use pesticides must be used in accordance with 18 AAC 90;

(B) 18 AAC 34.065, as that section deals with proper labeling, storage, and use of chemical compounds;

(C) 18 AAC 34.070(a) , as that subsection deals with the concentration level of each sanitizer used; monitoring for compliance must include the testing frequency for hand and product dips, processing water, and sanitizing solutions for food-contact surfaces;

(D) 18 AAC 34.080, as that section deals with the condition of water that contacts food or food-contact surfaces;

(E) 18 AAC 34.085, as that section deals with the maintenance of hand sanitizing, hand washing, and toilet facilities;

(F) 18 AAC 34.090, as that section deals with cleanliness of equipment and utensils, including containers, pans, and tubs that are used to store and transport seafood products, and areas around equipment and utensils including the walls, floors, and drains; monitoring for compliance must include

(i) the cleaning frequency for non-food-contact surfaces and areas;

(ii) the cleaning and sanitizing frequency for food-contact surfaces before, during, and after processing; monitoring under this subparagraph must include the length of time between each cleaning and sanitizing during each 24 hour period; if the frequency is longer than 24 hours, the processor shall submit to the department and follow a predetermined schedule based on microbial sampling;

(iii) the identification of sanitizer type and the concentration to be used; and

(iv) the time allotted for sanitizer-to-surface contact time;

(G) 18 AAC 34.090 and 18 AAC 34.105, as those sections deal with the prevention of cross-contamination from

(i) insanitary objects to food, food packaging material, and other food-contact surfaces, including utensils, gloves, and outer garments; and

(ii) raw product to cooked product; and

(H) 18 AAC 34.100, as that section deals with instructions given to employees to assure that proper personal hygienic practices are followed, and the control of employee health conditions.

(1) the monitoring required by (b) of this section; and

(2) each instance of nonconformance with the processor's sanitation plan or a regulation or portion of a regulation cited in (b) of this section, including

(A) a description of the nonconformance;

(B) the action taken by the processor to correct the nonconformance; and

(C) the length of time between the observation of the nonconformance and the initiation of the action taken to correct it.

(d) The department will, applying its enforcement discretion, require a processor with repeated or multiple incidents of nonconformance with the processor's sanitation plan or a regulation or portion of a regulation cited in (b) of this section to submit the written sanitation plan to the department for review and approval.

History: Eff. 12/18/97, Register 144; am/readopt 12/2/99, Register 152

Authority: AS 17.20.005

Editor's note: Effective 12/2/99, Register 152, the Department of Environmental Conservation readopted 18 AAC 34.050, to affirm the validity of that section following statutory amendments made in ch. 72, SLA 1998. The department also amended 18 AAC 34.050(b) (2)(F). Chapter 72, SLA 1998 relocated department authority to adopt regulations in 18 AAC 34 from AS 03.05 to AS 17.20.

Information about how to review or obtain a copy of a requirement referred to in 18 AAC 34.050 and adopted by reference in 18 AAC 34.010 is set out in the editor's note to 18 AAC 34.010.

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