7 Pa. Code Ch. 1 — Meat Hygiene

ENTRY INTO OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS § 1.291. General requirements. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter no product shall be brought into an official establishment unless it has been prepared only in an official establishment and previously inspected and passed by a …

§ 1.292. Poultry. No slaughtered poultry or poultry product shall be brought into an official establishment unless it has complied with one of the following requirements: (1) Been previously inspected and passed and identified as such in accordance with the requirements of the Fe…

§ 1.293. Ingredients in meat and food products. Every article for use as an ingredient in the preparation of meat food products, when entering any official establishment and at all times while it is in such establishment, shall bear a label showing the name of the article, the am…

§ 1.294. Labeling of certain containers. Containers of preparations which enter any official establishment for use in cooling or retort water, in hot scalding water or in denuding of tripe shall at all times while they are in such establishment bear labels showing the chemical na…

§ 1.295. Dyes and other substances. (a) Dyes, chemicals or other substances the use of which is restricted to certain products may be brought into or kept in an official establishment only if such products are prepared thereat. No prohibited dye, chemical, preservative or other s…

§ 1.296. Certain glands and organs. (a) Glands and organs, such as cotyledons, ovaries, prostate glands, tonsils, spinal cords, and detached lymphatic, pineal, pituitary, parathyroid, suprarenal, pancreatic and thyroid glands, used in preparing pharmaceutical, organotherapeutic o…

§ 1.297. Game animals and custom-slaughtered livestock. Carcasses of game animals, carcasses derived from the slaughter by any person of livestock of his own raising, and parts of such carcasses may be brought into an official establishment for preparation, packaging and storing …

§ 1.298. Information required by operator. The operator of the official establishment shall furnish such information as is necessary to determine the origin of any product or other article entering the official establishment. Such information shall include, but is not limited to,…

§ 1.299. Action for noncompliance with regulations. (a) Any product or any poultry or poultry product or other article that is brought into an official establishment contrary to any provision of this subchapter may be required by the Department to be removed immediately from such…

§ 1.3. Scope. All livestock and all products entering any official establishment and all products prepared, in whole or in part, therein, shall be inspected, handled, stored, prepared, packaged, marked and labeled as required in this chapter.

PROGRAM EMPLOYES § 1.31. Designation of veterinary supervisor. The Chief shall designate the veterinary supervisor in each region and assign to such supervisor assistants as may be necessary. Cross References This section cited in 7 Pa. Code § 1.2 (relating to application of insp…

REINSPECTION OF PRODUCTS § 1.311. General requirement. (a) All products and all slaughtered poultry and poultry products brought into any official establishment shall be identified by the operator of the official establishment and shall be subject to reinspection at the time of r…

§ 1.312. Sampling plans for reinspection. (a) Reinspection may be accomplished through use of statistically sound sampling plans that assure a high level of confidence. The veterinary supervisor shall designate the type of plan and the program employe shall select the specific pl…

§ 1.313. Disposition after reinspection. (a) A “Pa. Retained” tag shall be placed by a program employe at the time of reinspection at any official establishment on all products which are suspected on such reinspection of being adulterated or misbranded, and such products shall be…

§ 1.314. Receiving place for articles to be reinspected. Every official establishment shall designate, with the approval of the veterinary supervisor, a dock or place at which products and other articles subject to reinspection shall be received, and such products and articles sh…

§ 1.32. Access to establishments. For the purpose of any inspection necessary to prevent the use in commerce of any adulterated product, program employes shall have access at all times, by day or night, to every part of any official establishment to which they are assigned, wheth…

PREPARATION OF PRODUCTS § 1.321. General requirements; supervision. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all processes used in curing, pickling, rendering, canning or otherwise preparing any product in official establishments shall be supervised by program employes. …

§ 1.322. Responsibility of official establishment. It shall be the responsibility of the operator of every official establishment to comply with the act and this chapter. In order to effectively carry out this responsibility the operator of the establishment shall institute appro…

§ 1.323. Procedure requirements. (a) — (1) Care shall be taken to assure that product is not adulterated when placed in freezers. If there is doubt as to the soundness of any frozen product, the inspector shall require the defrosting and reinspection of a sufficient quantity ther…

§ 1.324. Ingredient requirements—general. (a) All ingredients and other articles used in the preparation of any product shall be clean, sound, healthful, wholesome and otherwise such as will not result in the product being adulterated. (b) Official establishments shall furnish in…

§ 1.325. Casings. (a) The only animal casings that may be used as containers of product are those from cattle, sheep, swine or goats. (b) Casings for products shall be carefully inspected by program employes. Only those casings which have been carefully washed and thoroughly flus…

§ 1.326. Ingredient requirements—miscellaneous. (a) On account of the invariable presence of bone splinters, detached spinal cords shall not be used in the preparation of edible product other than for rendering where they constitute a suitable raw material. (b) If handled as an e…

§ 1.327. Approval of substances for use. (a) No chemical substance may be used in the preparation of any product unless it is approved for such use in this chapter or by the Department in specific cases. (b) No product shall bear or contain any substance which would render it adu…

§ 1.328. Approved substances. (a) Under appropriate declaration as required in Subchapter H (relating to marking and labeling) the following substances may be added to products: (1) Common salt, approved sugars (sucrose, cane or beet sugar), maple sugar, dextrose, invert sugar, h…

§ 1.329. Use of substance which misleads. (a) No substance may be used in or on any product if it conceals damage or inferiority or makes the product appear to be better or of greater value than it is. (b) Paprika or oleoresin paprika may not be used in or on fresh meat (such as …

§ 1.33. Identification card of inspectors. Each inspector shall be furnished with a numbered official card of identification which he shall not allow to leave his possession. This card shall be sufficient identification to entitle him to admittance at all regular entrances and to…

§ 1.330. Samples of products and ingredients. Samples of products, water, dyes, chemicals, preservatives, spices or other articles in any official establishment shall be taken without cost to the program, for examination, as often as may be deemed necessary for the efficient cond…

§ 1.331. Treatment of pork and products containing pork. (a) All forms of fresh pork, including fresh unsmoked sausage containing pork muscle tissue, and pork such as bacon and jowls, other than those covered by subsection (b), are classed as products that are customarily well co…

§ 1.332. Treatment by heating. (a) All parts of the pork muscle tissue shall be heated to a temperature not lower than 137°F and the method used shall be one known to insure such a result. Because of differences in methods of heating and in weights of products undergoing treatmen…

§ 1.333. Treatment by refrigerating. (a) At any stage of preparation and after preparatory chilling to a temperature of not above 40°F or preparatory freezing, all parts of the muscle tissue of pork or product containing such tissue shall be subjected continuously to a temperatur…

§ 1.334. Treatment by curing. (a) Sausage. The sausage may be stuffed in animal casings, hydrocellulose casings, or cloth bags. During any stage of treating the sausage for the destruction of live trichinae, except as provided in Method 5, these coverings shall not be coated with…

§ 1.335. Thermometers for treatment facilities. When necessary to comply with the treatment requirements of this subchapter, the smokehouses, drying rooms, and other compartments used in the treatment of pork to destroy possible live trichinae shall be suitably equipped by the op…

§ 1.336. Cleaning hermetically sealed containers. (a) Containers which are intended to be hermetically sealed shall be cleaned thoroughly immediately before filling, and precautions shall be taken to avoid soiling the inner surfaces subsequently. However, cans in which lard is to…

§ 1.337. Closure of containers; handling. (a) Nothing less than perfect closure is acceptable for hermetically sealed containers. Heat processing shall follow promptly after closing. (b) Careful inspection shall be made of the containers by competent establishment employes immedi…

§ 1.338. Marking canned products; handling. (a) All canned products shall be plainly and permanently marked on the containers by code or otherwise with the identity of the contents and date of canning. The code used and its meaning shall be on record in the office of the veterina…

§ 1.339. Incubation of canned product. (a) Facilities shall be provided by the operator of the official establishment for incubation of representative samples of fully processed canned product. (b) Incubation test shall be made to the extent required by the officer in charge. The…

§ 1.34. Assignment and conduct of employes. (a) Assignment. Except as specifically authorized by the Department no program employe shall be detailed for duty at an establishment where any member of his family is employed by the operator of the establishment or any tenant or subsi…

§ 1.340. Animal food and similar articles. (a) Edible product department. When dog food, or similar uninspected article is manufactured in an edible product department, there shall be sufficient space allotted and adequate equipment provided so that the manufacture of the uninspe…

§ 1.341. Mixtures not amenable to the act. Mixtures containing product but not classed as a meat food product under the act shall not bear the inspection legend or any abbreviation or representation thereof. When such mixtures are manufactured in any part of an official establish…

§ 1.342. Handling of products adulterated by flood water. (a) Any product at any official establishment which has been adulterated by contamination with flood water, harbor water or other polluted water, shall be condemned, except product in sound, hermetically sealed containers.…

§ 1.343. Unacceptable chemicals, preservatives and other substances. When any chemical, preservative, cereal, spice, or other substance is intended for use in an official establishment it shall be examined by a program employe and if found to be unfit or otherwise unacceptable fo…

§ 1.344. Pesticide chemicals and other residues in products. (a) Residues of pesticide chemicals, food additives and color additives or other substances in or on ingredients (other than meat, meat byproducts and meat food products) used in the formulation of products shall not ex…

§ 1.35. Appeals from employe decisions. Any appeal from a decision of any program employe shall be made to his immediate supervisor having jurisdiction over the subject matter of the appeal, except as otherwise provided in the applicable rules of practice. Cross References This s…

GENERAL PROVISIONS § 1.361. Labeling and preparation. (a) Labels for products for which standards of identity or composition are prescribed in this subchapter shall show the appropriate product name, an ingredient statement, and other label information required by this subchapter…

RAW MEAT PRODUCTS § 1.371. Chopped or ground beef. “Chopped Beef” or “Ground Beef” shall consist of chopped fresh or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such. It shall not contain more than 30% fat and shall not contain added water, binde…

§ 1.372. Hamburger. “Hamburger” shall consist of chopped fresh or frozen beef, with or without the addition of beef fat as such or seasoning. It shall not contain more than 30% fat and shall not contain added water, binders or extenders. Beef cheek meat (trimmed beef cheeks) may …

§ 1.373. Beef patties. “Beef Patties” shall consist of chopped fresh or frozen beef, with or without the addition of beef fat as such or seasonings. Binders or extenders or partially defatted beef fatty tissue may be used without added water or with added water only in amounts su…