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Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this chapter
(1) "adequate" means that which is necessary to accomplish the intended purpose, in keeping with good public health practices, while complying with this chapter;
(2) "artificial coloring" means a coloring containing a dye or pigment manufactured by a process of synthesis or other similar means, or by extracting a natural dye or pigment from a plant or other material in which that dye or pigment was naturally processed;
(3) "artificial flavoring" means a flavoring containing a sapid or aromatic component manufactured by a process of synthesis or other similar means;
(4) "bulk" means 100 pounds or more shellstock, not prepackaged, sold by a harvester, shellstock shipper, or shucker-packer;
(5) "butcher" means to gut, gill, head, cut, fillet, or otherwise expose the flesh of a seafood product including
(A) exposing the scallop adductor muscle; and
(B) the recovery of roe when it will be processed or sold to be processed as a food product;
(6) "certificate of origin" means a document issued by the department upon request by a processor, that attests that the product originated in the state, based on information submitted to the department by the processor;
(7) "chemical preservative" means a chemical that, when added to a seafood product, tends to prevent or retard deterioration; "chemical preservative" does not include salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, oil extracted from spices, or substances added to a seafood product through exposure to wood smoke;
(8) "coliform bacteria" means bacteria associated with the intestinal waste of humans or other warm-blooded animals and is an indicator of the possible presence of a disease-producing organism;
(9) "colony-forming unit" or "CFU" means a colony grown from one microorganism; for purposes of analysis, one CFU represents one organism;
(10) "color additive" means a material capable, alone or through reaction with other substance, of imparting color when added or applied to a seafood product;
(11) "container" means a can, box, bag, pouch, or other receptacle in which a seafood product is enclosed;
(12) "critical control point" has the meaning given in AS 17.20.065 (b);
(13) "critical violation" means a violation at a critical control point or a violation that threatens the safety of a seafood product;
(14) "custom processor" means a person who sells or offers for sale the service of seafood processing but who does not own the seafood being processed;
(15) "decomposition" means a distinct and persistent odor, flavor, color, texture, or substance associated with seafood product spoilage or rancidity;
(16) "delivery" means the transfer seafood product to a tender vessel, buying station, or processor;
(17) "department" means the Department of Environmental Conservation;
(18) "direct-market fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel that
(A) processes the vessel operator's own catch of seafood products on board the vessel for sale as part of commerce and intended for human consumption; and
(B) has an overall length of less than 65 feet, except that a "direct-market fishing vessel" means a vessel of any length if the seafood product that is harvested by the vessel operator and processed aboard the vessel is tuna;
(19) "director" means the director of the department's division of environmental health;
(20) "domoic acid" means the poison found in shellfish due to the filtering and concentrating of the diatom, Nitzschia or Pseudonitzschia species;
(21) "easily cleanable," when referring to
(A) materials and finish, means materials and finish that allow complete removal of residue by normal cleaning methods;
(B) equipment and other items that must be cleaned, also means that the equipment and other items must be readily accessible;
(22) "eviscerate," "eviscerated," or "evisceration" means, as the term is used in reference to
(A) shellfish, that the internal organs of the shellfish are removed from the shell; and
(B) salmon, that the salmon is gutted by removing its guts, blood, and bloodline;
(23) "extensively remodeled" means a major equipment change or installation or a structural modification or improvement that revises the product flow or that adds a new processing area to an existing establishment;
(24) "facility" means the premises, including all or portions of land, docks, structures, vessels, storage plants, and equipment, whether mobile or land-based, used to prepare or process seafood products for human consumption;
(25) "FDA" means the United States Food and Drug Administration;
(26) "food" means a liquid or solid substance consumed by humans, including water or another beverage, a confection, condiment, food ingredient, food additive, or ice, or a substance that enters into the composition of these things, whether simple, blended, mixed, or compounded;
(27) "food additive" or "food ingredient" means a substance, the intended use of which results or might result, directly or indirectly, in its becoming a part of or otherwise affecting the characteristics of a food product;
(28) "freezer" means a room, plate freezer, blast freezer, or individual freezer that freezes seafood products at 5ΓΈ Fahrenheit or below, or a brine freezer that freezes seafood products at 15ΓΈ Fahrenheit or below;
(29) "freezing" means to congeal or solidify the flesh of a seafood product by the removal of heat to an internal temperature of 5ΓΈ Fahrenheit or below in a room, plate freezer, blast freezer, or individual freezer, or to an internal temperature of 15ΓΈ Fahrenheit or below in a brine freezer;
(30) "groundfish" means any marine finfish except halibut, osmerids, herring, and salmonids;
(31) "hazard" mean a biological, chemical, or physical property that might make food unsafe for human consumption;
(32) "institution" means a place of confinement such as a correctional facility;
(33) "load" means the amount of seafood product delivered at one time, or the amount that can be phsyically separated from other product;
(34) "lot" means the amount of a specific seafood product type and form produced and handled under similar conditions, within a limited period normally identified by means of a day, shift, or batch code;
(35) "management area" means an Alaska Department of Fish and Game management subdistrict that defines a commercial fishing area;
(36) "modified atmosphere packaged" means an alteration of the gaseous environment surrounding the product in a sealed package;
(37) "monitoring" means a planned sequence of observations of measurements of critical limits designed to produce an accurate record and intended to ensure that the critical limit maintains product safety and wholesomeness;
(38) "MPN" means most probable number, which is an index of the number of bacteria that more probably than any other number would give the results shown by laboratory examination, the results of which are not an actual enumeration but are taken from standardized probability tables;
(39) "oil" has the meaning given in AS 46.04.900 ;
(40) "oil contamination" means any sign of oil, as determined by visual, organoleptic, or analytical evaluation;
(41) "oily sheen" means an oil-based iridescence on the water;
(42) "opening" means a period of time during which the Alaska Department of Fish and Game allows commercial fishing;
(43) "PSP" means paralytic shellfish poison, a marine biotoxin due to the filtering and concentrating of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium species;
(44) "packaging" means to wrap, seal, enclose, or place a seafood product into a container;
(45) "pellicle" means a thin skin or film;
(46) "pesticide" has the meaning given in 18 AAC 90.990;
(47) "pickled seafood product" means a seafood product to which acid or acid foods have been added;
(48) "ppm" means parts per million;
(49) "processing" means an activity that changes the physical condition of a seafood product, including butchering, thermal processing, cooking, dehydrating, freezing, pickling, salting, shucking, or smoking;
(50) "processing water" means fresh or salt water used in a facility for food processing, equipment and utensil cleaning or sanitizing;
(51) "processor" means a person who processes or is responsible for processing seafood intended for human consumption; "processor" includes that person's representative;
(52) "product certification" means a document issued by the department upon request by a processor verifying product specifications based on
(A) information submitted to the department by the processor; and
(B) an inspection conducted in the department's discretion, based on its budget and the staffing needs of its other projects, to determine seafood product wholesomeness, process evaluation, lot specifications, export certifications, or other things requested by the processor;
(53) "qualified laboratory" means the state Food Safety Laboratory or an FDA laboratory, and, in addition, if the seafood product being tested is thermally processed, a laboratory operated by the National Food Processors Association;
(54) "ready-to-eat" means a food that is in a form that is edible without cooking or additional preparation and that is reasonably expected to be consumed in that form;
(55) "refrigerate" or "refrigeration" means to maintain seafood products or an enclosed area at a temperature that is above freezing and at or below 45ΓΈ Fahrenheit;
(56) "Salmon Control Plan" means the voluntary cooperative agreement between participating salmon packers, the National Food Processors Association, and the FDA;
(57) "sanitize" means a process that is effective in reducing the number of microorganisms present, does not adversely affect a seafood product, and is safe for the consumer;
(58) "seafood" means any species of aquatic organism, including salt water fish, freshwater fish, amphibians, crustaceans, mollusis, and aquatic plants; "seafood" includes any part or by product of any species of aquatic organism;
(59) "shelf-stable" means a seafood product that meets the standards of 18 AAC 34.122(6) and 18 AAC 34.125(e) ;
(60) "shellfish" means all edible species of oyster, clam, mussel, and scallop, whether shucked, in the shell, fresh, or frozen, in whole or in part; "shellfish" does not include the shucked scallop adductor muscle;
(61) "shellfish growing area" means an acquatic farm for shellfish as defined in AS 16.40.199 or a natural shellfish growing area;
(62) "shellfish harvester" means a person who takes shellfish by any means from a shellfish growing area;
(63) "shellfish repacker" means a person other than the original shucker-packer who repacks previously shucked shellfish into other containers;
(64) "shellfish shipper" means a person who buys and repacks and then sells shellstock; "shellfish shipper" also means a person who ships previously shucked shellfish;
(65) "shellfish shucker-packer" means a person who shucks and packs shellfish;
(66) "shellstock" means shellfish that remain in the shells;
(67) "shucked shellfish" means shellfish, whole or in part, from which one or both shells have been removed;
(68) "smoked seafood product" means a seafood product that has been exposed to wood smoke to impart a smoked flavor;
(69) "smoke-flavored seafood product" means a seafood product to which liquid smoke has been added, either directly or as part of a brining process, to impart a smoked flavor;
(70) "tender" means a vessel that is an attendant to other vessels especially for ferrying product between ships and shore;
(71) "thermal processing" means the application of heat to render seafood free of microorganisms that are capable of reproducing in the food under normal nonrefrigerated conditions of storage or distribution;
(72) "type II marine sanitation device" means a device that produces an effluent with a fecal coliform bacteria count not greater than 200 per 100 ml. and suspended solids not greater than 150 mg/liter;
(73) "Type III marine sanitation device" means a device designed to prevent the overboard discharge of treated or untreated sewage or any waste derived from sewage;
(74) "unit" means an individual fish, shellfish, or seafood product;
(75) "usual business hours" means Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and any time that catching, cleaning, harvesting, processing, maintenance, or other related activities occur at a facility;
(76) "water activity" means the measure of the amount of water in food that is available for the growth of microorganisms, including pathogens, as determined by a ratio of the vapor pressure of the food, divided by the vapor pressure of pure water;
(77) "water phase salt" means the percent salt in the finished product multiplied by 100, divided by the percent salt in the finished plus the percent moisture in the finished product, as follows:
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(78) "wholesome" means seafood in sound condition and free from decomposition, filth, or microbial or chemical contamination.
(79) "Class A public water system" has the meaning given in 18 AAC 80.1990;
(80) "Class B public water system" has the meaning given in 18 AAC 80.1990;
(81) "HACCP plan" means a hazard analysis critical control point plan required under AS 17.20.005 , AS 17.20.065 , and 18 AAC 34.045;
(82) "spp." means species.
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 34.990, to affirm the validity of that section following statutory amendments made in ch. 72, SLA 1998. The department also amended 18 AAC 34.990(12) , (13) and (18)(A), and added new paragraphs. Chapter 72, SLA 1998 relocated department authority to adopt regulations in 18 AAC 34 from AS 03.05 to AS 17.20.
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Last modified 7/05/2006