Part 271 Retail Food Store Sanitation Regulations

(a) Except as specified under subdivisions (b), (c) and (d) of this section, raw animal foods such as eggs, fish, meat, poultry and foods containing these raw animal foods, shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to a temperature and for a time that complies with one of the…

(a) Cooked potentially hazardous food shall be cooled: (1) within two hours, from 135°F (57°C) to 70°F (21°C) or less; and (2) within fours hours, from 70°F (21°C) to 41°F (5°C) or less, or to 45°F (7°C) or less as specified under section 271-2.7 of this Subpart. (b) Potentially …

Custards, cream fillings and similar products, including synthetic fillings, shall meet the temperature requirements in section 271-2.11 of this Subpart following preparation and be maintained at that temperature during storage, transportation, and display. Products with syntheti…

(a) Cooked and refrigerated food that is prepared for immediate service in response to an individual consumer order, such as a roast beef sandwich au jus, may be served at any temperature. (b) Except as specified under subdivisions (c) and (d) of this section, potentially hazardo…

(a) Except as specified in subdivision (b) of this section, before service or sale in ready-to-eat form, raw, raw-marinated, partially cooked or marinated-partially cooked fish other than molluscan shellfish shall be frozen throughout to a temperature of: (1) -4°F (-20°C) or less…

Metal stem-type numerically scaled indicating thermometers, accurate to plus or minus 2°F (congruent to plus or minus 1°C) shall be provided and used to assure attainment and maintenance of proper temperatures during preparation of all potentially hazardous foods.

Potentially hazardous foods shall be thawed: (a) under refrigeration that maintains the food temperature at 41°F (5°C) or less, or at 45°F (7°C) or less as specified under section 271-2.6 of this Subpart; or (b) completely submerged under running water: (1) at a water temperature…

(a) Potentially hazardous foods shall be held at a temperature of 45°F (congruent to 7°C) or less, or at 41°F (5°C) as specified under section 271-2.7 of this Subpart or at a temperature of 135°F (57°C) or greater during display. (b) If time only, rather than time in conjunction …

Foods intended for sale in a frozen state shall be displayed in a frozen state, except for defrost cycles and brief periods of loading or unloading. Frozen foods should be displayed below or behind product food lines according to cabinet manufacturers specifications.

Food on display, other than whole, unprocessed raw fruits and unprocessed raw vegetables, shall be protected from contamination by being packaged by display cases, by covered containers for self-service or by similar protective equipment except as provided in Subpart 271-8 of thi…

(a) Fluid milk and fluid milk products used or offered for sale shall comply with the Grade A standards promulgated by the commissioner and set forth in Part 2 of this Title, and shall be maintained at a temperature of 45°F or less. Dry milk and milk products used or offered for …

Manual contact of bulk foods by the customer shall be avoided during dispensing by one of the following methods, and if manual contact is not prevented, food must be individually wrapped prior to display: (a) mechanical dispensing devices including gravity dispensers, pumps, extr…

When food sample demonstrations and food promotions are authorized in the retail food store, the person in charge shall ensure that such activities comply with the applicable sanitation provisions of this Part.

Food, other than hanging primal cuts, quarters, or sides of meat, and raw fruits amd raw vegetables shall be protected from contamination by use of packaging or covered containers while being transported. All food being transported shall meet the applicable requirements of this c…

A food establishment shall obtain a variance from the department before smoking or curing food; using a reduced oxygen method of packaging food except as specified under section 271-2.24 of this Subpart where a barrier to Clostridium botulinum in addition to refrigeration exists;…

(a) A food establishment that packages food using a reduced oxygen packaging method shall have a HACCP plan that contains the information specified under section 271-9.6(d) of this Part and that: (1) identifies the food to be packaged; (2) limits the food packaged to a food that …

If a raw or undercooked animal food such as beef, eggs, fish, lamb, milk, pork, poultry or shellfish is offered in a ready-to-eat form as a deli, menu or other item: or as a raw ingredient in another ready-to-eat food. the establishment operator shall inform consumers by brochure…

(a) Bulk foods and product modules shall be protected from contamination during display, customer self-service, refilling and storage. Loaves of bread which are displayed where they may be handled by customers shall be packaged to prevent contamination. (b) Containers of bulk pet…

At all times, including while being stored, prepared, displayed, dispensed, packaged or transported, food shall be protected from cross-contamination between foods and from potential contamination by insects, insecticides, rodents, rodenticides, probe-type price or probe-type ide…

The person in charge of a retail food store that is affected by a fire, flood, extended power outage or a similar significant occurrence that creates a reasonable probability that food in the retail food store may have been contaminated or that the temperature level of food which…

(a) Food packaged in an immediate closed container, once the container is opened in the retail food store prior to use or retail sale, shall be kept covered or otherwise protected from contamination. Food, whether raw or prepared, if removed from the immediate closed container in…

(a) Refrigeration units or effectively insulated units shall be provided in such number and of such capacity to assure the maintenance of potentially hazardous food at required temperatures during storage. Each mechanically refrigerated unit storing potentially hazardous food sha…

(a) Hot food storage units shall be provided in such number and of such capacity to assure the maintenance of potentially hazardous food at the required temperature during storage. Each hot food storage unit storing potentially hazardous food shall be provided with a numerically …

(a) Ready-to-eat food shall be prepared and served with no bare-hand contact, unless such food will subsequently be heated to the minimum temperature required under section 271-2.10 of this Subpart or greater for foods that were not previously heated or, for foods that are being …

Raw fruits and raw vegetables that will be cut or combined with other ingredients or will be otherwise processed into food products by the retail food store shall be thoroughly cleaned with potable water before being used.

As required by Agriculture and Markets Law, section 251-z-3, the applicant for a food processing establishment license shall furnish the commissioner with evidence of his or her experience and competency to operate the establishment. If at any time the commissioner is not satisfi…

No employee while infected with a disease in a communicable form that can be transmitted by foods or who is a carrier of organisms that cause such a disease or while affected with a boil, an infected wound or a acute respiratory infection, shall work in a retail food store in any…

Employees engaged in food preparation and warewashing operations shall thoroughly wash their hands and the exposed portions of their arms with soap or detergent and warm water before starting work, after smoking, eating or using the toilet, before and after handling raw meat, raw…

(a) Employees shall wear clean outer clothing. (b) Employees shall use effective hair restraints where necessary to prevent the contamination of food or food-contact surfaces.

(a) Employees shall maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and shall conform to good hygienic practices during all working periods. (b) Employees shall consume food or use tobacco only in designated areas. Such designated areas must be located so that the eating or tobacc…

Multi-use equipment and utensils shall be constructed and repaired with safe materials, including finishing materials, shall be corrosion-resistant and shall be nonabsorbent, and shall be smooth, easily cleanable and durable under conditions of normal use. Single-service articles…

Indicating thermometers required for immersion into food or cooking media shall be of metal stem-type construction, numerically scaled and accurate to plus or minus 2°F (congruent to plus or minus 1°C).

Surfaces of equipment not intended for contact with food, but which are exposed to splash or food debris or which otherwise require frequent cleaning, shall be designed and fabricated to be smooth, washable, free of unnecessary ledges, projections, or crevices, and readily access…

Ventilation hoods and devices, where installed, shall be designed to prevent grease or condensation from collecting on walls and ceilings, and from dripping into food or onto food-contact surfaces. Filters or other grease-extracting equipment shall be readily removable for cleani…

All equipment and utensils shall be maintained in good repair to comply with the requirements of this Part.

Equipment, including ice makers and ice storage equipment, shall not be located under exposed or unprotected sewer lines, water lines that are leaking or on which condensed water has accumulated, open stairwells or other sources of contamination.

(a) Table-mounted equipment shall be installed to facilitate the cleaning of the equipment and the adjacent areas. (b) Equipment that is mounted on tables or counters, unless portable, shall be sealed to the table or counter or elevated on legs to provide at least a four-inch cle…

(a) Floor-mounted equipment, unless easily movable, shall be: (1) sealed to the floor; or (2) elevated on legs to provide at least a six-inch clearance between the floor and equipment, except that equipment may be elevated to provide at least a four-inch clearance between the flo…

Aisles and working spaces between units of equipment, and between equipment and walls, shall be unobstructed and of sufficient width to permit employees to perform their duties readily without contamination of food or food-contact surfaces by clothing or personal contact. All eas…

Only dairy type solder (silver solder) with lead levels of 0.2 percent or less are acceptable on food-contact surfaces.

Hard maple or equivalent nonabsorbent wood that meets the general requirements set forth in section 271-4.1 of this Subpart may be used for cutting blocks, cutting boards and bakers' tables. Wood shall not be used as a food-contact surface under other circumstances, including in …

Safe plastic or safe rubber or safe rubber-like materials that are resistant under normal conditions of use to scratching, scoring, decomposition, crazing, chipping and distortion, that are sufficient weight and thickness to permit cleaning and sanitizing by normal warewashing me…

Cutting surfaces subject to scratching and scoring must be resurfaced so as to be easily cleaned, or be discarded when these surfaces can no longer be effectively cleaned and sanitized.

Single-service articles shall not be reused.

All equipment and utensils, including plastic ware shall be designed and fabricated for durability under conditions of normal use and shall be resistant to denting, buckling, pitting, chipping and crazing. (a) Food-contact surfaces shall be easily cleanable, smooth and free of br…

Unless designed for in-place cleaning, food-contact surfaces shall be accessible for cleaning and inspection: (a) without being disassembled; (b) by disassembling without the use of tools; or (c) by easy disassembling with the use of only simple tools, such as mallets, screwdrive…

Equipment intended for in-place cleaning shall be so designed and fabricated that: (a) cleaning and sanitizing solutions can be circulated throughout a fixed system using an effective cleaning and sanitizing regimen; (b) cleaning and sanitizing solutions will contact all interior…