[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR260.103]

[Page 683-684]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
  CHAPTER II--NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 
           ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 260_INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION--Table of Contents
 
  Subpart A_Inspection and Certification of Establishments and Fishery 
                     Products for Human Consumption
 
Sec. 260.103  Operations and operating procedures shall be in

accordance with an effective sanitation program.

    (a) All operators in the receiving transporting, holdings, 
segregating, preparing, processing, packaging, and storing of processed 
products and ingredients, used as aforesaid, shall be strictly in accord 
with clean and sanitary methods and shall be conducted as rapidly as 
possible and at temperatures that will inhibit and retard the growth of 
bacterial and other micro-organisms and prevent any deterioration or 
contamination of such processed products or ingredients thereof. 
Mechanical adjustments or practices which may cause contamination of 
foods by oil, dust, paint, scale, fumes, grinding materials, decomposed 
food, filth, chemicals, or other foreign materials shall not be 
conducted during any manufacturing or processing operation.
    (b) All processed products, raw materials, ingredients, and 
components thereof shall be subject to inspection during each 
manufacturing or processing operation. To assure a safe, wholesome 
finished product, changes in processing methods and procedures as may be 
required by the Director shall be effectuated as soon as practicable. 
All processed products which are not manufactured or prepared in 
accordance with the requirements contained in Sec. 260.96 to Sec. 
260.104 or are unwholesome or otherwise not fit for human food shall be 
removed and segregated prior to any further processing operation.
    (c) Official establishments operating under Federal inspection 
should have an effective quality control program as appropriate for the 
nature of the products and processing operations.
    (d) All ingredients used in the manufacture or processing of any 
processed product shall be wholesome and fit for human food.
    (e) The methods and procedures employed in the receiving, 
segregating, handling, transporting, and processing of ingredients in 
official estab lishment(s) shall be adequate to result in a satisfactory 
processed product. Such methods and procedures include, but are not 
limited to, the following requirements:
    (1) Containers, utensils, pans, and buckets used for the storage or 
transporting of partially processed food ingredients shall not be nested 
unless rewashed and sanitized before each use;
    (2) Containers which are used for holding partially processed food 
ingredients shall not be stacked in such manner as to permit 
contamination of the partially processed food ingredients;
    (3) Packages or containers for processed products shall be clean 
when being filled with such products; and all reasonable precautions 
shall be taken to avoid soiling or contaminating the surface of any 
package or container liner which is, or will be, in direct contact with 
such products.
    (f) Retention tags: (1) Any equipment such as, but not limited to, 
conveyors, tillers, sorters, choppers, and containers which fail to meet 
appropriate and adequate sanitation requirements will be identified by 
the inspector in an appropriate and conspicuous manner with the word 
``RETAINED.'' Following such identification, the equipment shall not be 
used until the discrepancy has been resolved, the equipment reinspected 
and approved by the inspector and the ``RETAINED'' identification 
removed by the inspector.
    (2) Lot(s) of processed products that may be considered to be 
mislabeled and/or unwholesome by reason of contaminants or which may 
otherwise be in such condition as to require further evaluation or 
testing to determine that

[[Page 684]]

the product properly labeled and/or wholesome will be identified by the 
inspector in an appropriate and conspicuous manner with the word 
``RETAINED.'' Such lot(s) of product shall be held for reinspection or 
testing. Final disposition of the lot(s) shall be determined by NMFS and 
the removal of the ``RETAINED'' identification shall be performed by the 
inspector.

[36 FR 21041, Nov. 3, 1971]