Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-3-16-.06

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 1, October 31, 2024

Section 420-3-16-.06 - Inspection Of Dairy Farms, Milk, And Frozen Dessert Plants

(1) Each dairy farm, milk plant, frozen dessert plant, receiving station, and transfer station whose milk, milk products, or frozen desserts are intended for consumption within Alabama or its jurisdiction and each milk hauler/sampler who collects samples of raw milk for pasteurization, bacteriological, chemical, or temperature standards and hauls milk from a dairy farm to a milk plant, frozen dessert plant, transfer station, or receiving station and his bulk milk pickup tank and its appurtenances shall be inspected by the Health Officer prior to the issuance of a permit. Following the issuance of a permit, each bulk milk pickup tanker and its appurtenances used by a milk hauler who collects samples of raw milk for pasteurization, for bacterial, chemical, or temperature standards and hauls milk from a dairy farm to a milk plant, frozen dessert plant, transfer station, or receiving station shall be inspected/audited at least once every twenty-four (24) months. Each hauler's or sampler's pickup and sampling procedures shall be inspected at least once every twenty-four (24) months. Prior to the issuance of a permit as specified in Rule 420-3-16-.04, the Health Officer shall inspect all dairy farms, milk plants, and frozen dessert plants, the milk and/or milk products from which are intended for consumption and which are subject to provisions of these rules. Inspections of dairy farms shall be quarterly for dairies with a sanitation score of ninety (90) or more. Dairies with a sanitation score of less than ninety (90) shall be inspected monthly until such time as a score of ninety (90) or more is received. At no time shall a period of one-hundred (100) days lapse without an official inspection. Four (4) inspections per year of all milk and frozen dessert plants shall be required, but in no instance shall two (2) inspections in any one (1) month be included in the required number of yearly inspections. At no time shall a period of ninety (90) days lapse without an official inspection.

(2) The Health Officer having jurisdiction may require more frequent inspections of plants than the minimum number set forth in this rule. In case the Health Officer discovers the violation of any item of sanitation prescribed in Rule 420-3-16-.09 or 420-3-16-.10 for the grade of milk being currently produced at any dairy farm or plant, he/she shall make a second inspection of the said dairy farm or plant after a lapse of such time as he/she deems necessary for the correction of the defect or violation discovered, but not before the lapse of three (3) days. The Health Officer shall, upon finding the violation of the same item of Rule 420-3-16-.09 or 420-3-16-.10 on two (2) consecutive inspections, serve upon the permit holder a written notice of intent to suspend permit, which notice shall specify with particularity the violation(s) in question and afford the permit holder a reasonable time to correct such violation.

(3) The violation of the same item in Rule 420-3-16-.09 or 420-3-16-.10 on three (3) consecutive inspections shall call for permit suspension or revocation after proper notification outlines above in accordance with Rule 420-3-16-.04 and/or court action; provided, that when the Health Officer finds that a critical processing element violation involving the following:

(a) Proper pasteurization, whereby, every particle of milk or milk product may not have been heated to the proper temperature and held for the required time in properly designed and operating equipment;

(b) A cross connection exists whereby direct contamination of pasteurized milk or milk product is occurring; or

(c) Conditions exist whereby direct contamination of pasteurized milk or milk product is occurring.

(d) The Health Officer shall take immediate action to prevent further processing of such milk or milk product until such violations of critical processing element(s) have been corrected. Should correction of such critical processing elements not be accomplished immediately, the Health Officer shall take prompt action to suspend the permit as provided for in Rule 420-3-16-.04. Provided in the case of dairy plants producing aseptically processed milk and milk products, when an inspection of the dairy plant and its records reveal that the process used has been less than the required scheduled process, it shall be considered an imminent hazard to public health and the Health Officer shall take immediate action to suspend the permit of the plant for the sale of aseptically processed milk and milk products in conformance with Rule 420-3-16-.04.

(4) A copy of the inspection/audit report, electronically generated or handwritten, shall be posted by the Health Officer in a conspicuous place upon the inside wall of the dairy farm, and said inspection report shall not be removed or defaced by any person except the Health Officer. Also, copies of all laboratory analysis of samples from products entering the processing plant shall be maintained on appropriate ledger forms supplying all information specified by the Health Officer. All inspection reports of milk and frozen dessert plants shall be posted by the Health Officer in a conspicuous place upon an inside wall of the plant being inspected. Said inspection reports shall not be removed or defaced by any person except the Health Officer. The inspection report shall be entered on appropriate ledger forms approved by the State Health Officer containing all information needed by the Health Officer, and this ledger shall be kept currently posted. A copy of each inspection shall be available to the Bureau of Environmental Services for records audit.

(5) Every milk producer, hauler or sampler, distributor, or plant operator shall, upon request of the Health Officer, permit access of officially designated persons to all parts of his/her establishment or facilities to determine compliance with the provisions of these rules. A distributor or plant operator shall furnish the Health Officer, upon request, for official use only, a true statement of the actual quantities of milk, milk products, and frozen desserts of each grade purchased and sold and a list of all sources of such milk, milk products, frozen desserts, records of inspections, tests, and pasteurization time and temperature records.

(6) It shall be unlawful for any person who is in an official capacity, to obtain any information under the provisions of this chapter which is entitled to protection as a trade secret (including information as to quantity, quality, source, or disposition of milk or milk products or results of inspections, audits, or tests thereof) to use such information to his/her own advantage or to reveal it to any unauthorized person.

(7) Administrative Procedures

(a) Inspection Frequency

1. For the purposes of determining the inspection frequency for dairy farms, transfer stations, milk plants, frozen dessert plants, or the portion of a milk plant that is IMS listed to produce aseptically processed and packaged low-acid milk and/or milk products and/or retort processed after packaged low-acid milk and/or milk products, the interval shall include the designated ninety (90) day period.

2. For the purposes of determining the inspection frequency for bulk milk haulers or samplers, industry plant samplers, and dairy plant samplers, the interval shall include the designated twenty-four (24) month period.

3. One (1) bulk milk pickup tanker inspection every twenty-four (24) months, one (1) hauler or sampler or industry plant sampler pickup, and sampling procedures each twenty-four (24) months, one (1) producer inspection each quarter for dairies with a sanitation score of ninety (90) or more, one (1) producer inspection each month for dairies with a sanitation score of less than ninety (90), one (1) plant inspection, and one (1) receiving station every ninety (90) days is a legal minimum.

4. Milk haulers, dairy farms, milk plants, and frozen dessert plants experiencing difficulty meeting requirements should be visited more frequently. Inspections of dairy farms shall be made at milking time as often as possible and of processing plants at different times of the day in order to ascertain if the processes of equipment assembly, sanitizing, pasteurization, cleaning, and other procedures comply with the requirements of these rules.

(b) Enforcement Procedure

1. This rule provides that a dairy farm, bulk milk hauler or sampler, milk tank truck, milk tank truck cleaning facility, milk plant, frozen dessert plant, receiving station, transfer station, or distributor shall be subject to suspension of permit and/or court action if two (2) successive inspections disclose a violation of the same requirement.

2. Experience has demonstrated that strict enforcement of these rules leads to a better and friendlier relationship between the Health Department and the dairy industry than does a policy of enforcement which seeks to excuse violations and to defer penalty therefore. The Health Officer's criterion of satisfactory compliance should be neither too lenient nor unreasonably stringent. When a violation is discovered, the Health Officer should point out to the milk producer, bulk milk hauler or sampler, industry plant sampler, truck cleaning facility, plant operator, or responsible person for the milk tank truck, milk tank truck cleaning facility, milk plant, receiving station, transfer station, or distributor the requirement that has been violated, discuss a method for correction and set a time for correcting the violated requirement.

3. The penalties of suspension or revocation of permit and/or court action are provided to prevent continued violation of the provisions of these rules but are worded to protect the dairy industry against unreasonable or arbitrary action. When a condition is found which constitutes an imminent health hazard, prompt action is necessary to protect the public health; therefore, the Health Officer is authorized in Rule 420-3-16-.04 to suspend the permit immediately. However, except for such emergencies, no penalty is imposed on the producer, milk hauler or sampler, milk plant, or frozen dessert plant upon the first violation of any of the sanitation requirements listed in Rule 420-3-16-.09 or 420-3-16-.10.

4. A producer, milk hauler or sampler, milk tank truck, cleaning facility, receiving station, or distributor, milk plant, or frozen dessert plant found violating any requirement on two (2) consecutive inspections must be notified in writing and given a reasonable time to correct the violation(s) before a third inspection is made. The requirement of giving written notice shall be deemed to have been satisfied by the handing to the operator or by the posting of an inspection report as required by this rule. After receipt of a notice of violation, but before the allotted time has elapsed, the producer, milk hauler, milk plant, or frozen dessert plant shall have an opportunity to appeal the interpretation to the Health Officer or for an extension of the time allowed for correction.

5. Aseptic Processing Milk Plants - Because aseptically processed milk and milk products are stored at room temperature and not refrigerated after processing, they must be considered an imminent hazard to public health wherever it is revealed by an inspection or a review of the processing records that the process is less than the required scheduled process and the products produced have not maintained their commercial sterility. Prompt action by the Health Officer to suspend the permit must be initiated in order to protect the public health. The Health Officer shall stop the sale of all under processed product and follow at least the minimum requirements of 21 CFR 113.89 (refer to Appendix L) before releasing any product.

(c) Inspection Report/Audit

1. A copy of the inspection report/audit shall be filed by the Health Officer and retained for at least twenty-four (24) months. The results shall be entered on appropriate ledger forms. The use of a computer or other information retrieval system may be used. Examples of field inspection forms are included in Appendix M.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-3-16-.06

Adopted by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXVII, Issue No. 01, October 31, 2018, eff. 12/2/2018.

Author: G. M. Gallaspy, Jr.

Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 22-2-2, 22-20-7.