La. Admin. Code tit. 51 § VII-701

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section VII-701 - Milk Tank Trucks

A. The construction of all milk tank trucks shall comply with applicable 3-A Standards and the requirements of the PMO.

B. Permitting. Each tank truck that loads or unloads milk or other dairy products in the State of Louisiana shall bear a current, valid milk tank truck permit issued by the state health officer, provided that milk tank trucks bearing a permit issued by a milk or dairy regulatory agency from another state whose milk tank truck regulations and inspectional procedures have been determined, by the state health officer, to be equivalent to those contained in this Part may be loaded or unloaded for an indefinite period until such milk tank trucks have been inspected and permitted by the state health officer. Milk tank trucks bearing a permit issued by a milk or dairy regulatory agency from another state whose permitting regulations or inspectional procedures for milk tank trucks have been determined, by the state health officer, not to be equivalent to those contained in this Part, may be loaded or unloaded for a period not to exceed five times in a one month period, provided further that each dairy plant maintain a log showing the dates and times each milk tank truck is loaded or unloaded and such log is made available to the state health officer for review. When such milk tank trucks have been loaded or unloaded more than five times in a one month period at a dairy plant in Louisiana, the plant shall contact the state health officer expeditiously and make necessary arrangements to have such milk tank trucks inspected and permitted. After the plant has done this, they may continue to load or unload such milk tank trucks until they have been inspected by the state health officer. Upon inspecting the milk tank truck, should the state health officer determine that it is not in substantial compliance with this Part and deny the issuance of a permit for the milk tank truck, it shall not load or unload dairy products in the state until all violations have been corrected and verified in a manner approved by the state health officer.

1. Under no circumstances or situations shall milk or other dairy products be loaded onto or unloaded from a tank truck that does not bear a current, valid permit issued by an official milk or dairy regulatory agency without prior authorization from the state health officer.

2. Owners of milk tank trucks that bear a current, valid permit issued by other state official milk or dairy regulatory agencies shall not be required to pay any inspection or permit fees of any kind or type.

3. The state health officer shall perform an inspection of the milk tank truck and its appurtenances prior to the issuance of the permit. This inspection shall be comprehensive and shall include a visual inspection of all of the product contact surfaces of the interior of the tank (interior surfaces of the tank, CIP equipment and any other product contact surfaces). This may be done by the inspector entering the interior of the tank or by using instruments that enable the inspector to visually observe all product contact surfaces in the interior of the tank. All other product surfaces (including pumps, valves, hoses, sampling equipment, etc.) shall be inspected.

4. Milk tank trucks that are found to be in compliance with §701. A above and are in substantial compliance with all other requirements of this Code, but are not equipped with an internal CIP system which complies with 3-A Standards shall be issued a restricted permit. This restricted permit shall authorize them to be unloaded only at plants that have cleaning systems (including manual cleaning and sanitizing programs), approved by the state health officer, capable of properly cleaning and sanitizing the vehicle. Provided, that arrangements may be made to have the milk tank truck properly cleaned and sanitized at a permitted dairy plant or milk tank truck cleaning facility that is capable of properly cleaning and sanitizing such trucks, as determined by the state health officer, within four hours after the milk tank truck is unloaded and prior to next use. Milk tank trucks that haul multiple loads within a 24 hours period, and are not empty for periods exceeding four hours each, during that time period, are excluded from this requirement, provided that they are cleaned and sanitized at a dairy plant or cleaning station that can accommodate such milk tank trucks.

5. Permits shall be valid for a period of one year unless suspended or revoked by the state health officer for cause.

6. A decal indicating the permit number and date of expiration shall be affixed to the milk tank truck trailer, in an area near the rear of the milk tank, where it can easily be seen.

7. Dairy plants that do not have facilities for properly cleaning and sanitizing milk tank trucks shall not unload milk tank truck loads of milk or dairy products. Provided, that the milk tank truck may be unloaded when arrangements are made by the dairy plant for the milk tank truck to be properly cleaned and sanitized at a permitted dairy plant or milk tank truck cleaning facility capable of properly cleaning and sanitizing the milk tank truck within four hours after being unloaded and prior to next use.

8. Milk tank trucks shall transport milk products only, provided that the state health officer may authorize the transporting of other food grade products. Milk tank trucks that have transported egg products shall not be used for transportation of milk products.

9. Milk tank trucks that have transported unpasteurized products shall not be used to transport pasteurized products that will not be re-pasteurized.

C. The following applies to the suspension of permit, removal from service, and/or inspection reports relative to milk tank trucks:

1. When the state health officer determines that a milk tank truck has significant cleaning, construction or repair defects he shall:

a. in cases in which the milk tank truck has been issued a Louisiana permit, suspend the permit immediately until such time as the discrepancies are corrected and verified by an inspection by the state health officer; or

b. in cases in which the milk tank truck has been issued a permit by a state other than Louisiana:

i. Refuse to issue a permit for the milk tank truck.

ii. Notify the operator that the milk tank truck shall not be authorized to transport milk products in the State of Louisiana until such time as the discrepancies have been corrected and verified by the milk regulatory agency that issued the permit in a manner acceptable to the state health officer.

iii. Include, on the inspection report, a statement indicating that the milk tank truck shall not be authorized to transport milk products in Louisiana until the discrepancies have been corrected and verified by the milk regulatory agency that issued the permit.

iv. Expeditiously contact the milk regulatory agency that issued the permit, give notification of the problem and make necessary arrangements to have that regulatory agency notify the state health officer when the discrepancies have been corrected and verified.

2. Each time a milk tank truck permitted by a state other than Louisiana has been inspected by the state health officer, he shall send a copy of the inspection report to the state milk regulatory agency that issued the permit.

D. The following cleaning and sanitizing requirements apply to milk tank trucks.

1. Each milk tank truck shall be properly cleaned and sanitized at a dairy plant or milk tank truck cleaning facility possessing a valid permit, issued by the state health officer or the official state agency having regulatory authority over the plant or facility, prior to first use. When time elapsed after cleaning and sanitizing and before first use exceeds 96 hours, the tank shall be re-sanitized. Provided, when the time elapsed between cleaning and sanitizing and before first use exceeds seven days, the milk tank truck shall be properly cleaned and sanitized prior to use.

2. It shall be the responsibility of the dairy plant or milk tank truck cleaning facility that cleans and sanitizes the milk tank truck to properly clean and sanitize the interior of the tank, the outlet valve(s), dome dust cover, dome cover, tank cover gasket and tank cover vent.

3. It shall be the responsibility of the operator of the milk tank truck to properly clean and sanitize milk hose(s), pumps, sampling equipment and pump compartments of bulk milk pickup tank trucks. These appurtenances shall be properly cleaned and sanitized by the milk tank truck operator each time the milk tank truck is cleaned and sanitized, regardless of whether they were used or not used in the loading of the milk tank truck. Removable fittings on the hoses shall be disassembled and properly cleaned at least once each week.

4. It is allowable to pickup multiple loads within a 24-hour period provided that the milk tank is washed and sanitized after each day used, provided further that the time interval between any unloading and loading during that 24-hour period does not exceed four hours.

5. It is allowable for a milk tank truck to be unloaded at one facility and proceed to a permitted facility to be washed and sanitized, provided that the time interval between unloading and washing does not exceed four hours.

6. Milk tank trucks shall be cleaned and sanitized only at facilities possessing a valid permit for such activities issued by the state health officer or by the milk regulatory agency in the state in which the facility is located.

7. The following cleaning and sanitization tag/record requirements are applicable to milk tank trucks:

a. The operator of the milk tank truck shall be responsible for assuring that the milk tank truck has been properly cleaned, sanitized and has a cleaning and sanitization tag placed on the tank truck by the facility that last cleaned and sanitized the tank truck. A milk tank truck that does not have a valid cleaning and sanitization tag shall not be loaded or unloaded until the proper cleaning and sanitization can be verified and approval is received from the state health officer.

b. A cleaning and sanitization tag shall be affixed to the outlet valve or in an area in the vicinity of the outlet valve of the milk tank truck by the plant or cleaning facility that cleaned and sanitized the truck. The tag shall remain in place and intact until the tank truck is next cleaned and sanitized. When the milk tank truck is cleaned and sanitized, the cleaning and sanitization tag shall be removed and stored at that location for a period of not less than 15 days. In cases in which the tank truck is only sanitized and not cleaned and sanitized, the date, time, facility's name and location, and initials of the person that sanitized the truck shall be annotated on the existing tag. This tag shall remain in place and intact until the tank truck receives a complete cleaning and sanitization.

c. The following information shall be recorded on the cleaning and sanitization tag:

i. identification of the milk tank truck;

ii. date, time, facility's name and location where the milk tank truck was cleaned and sanitized;

iii. signature or initial of person who cleaned and sanitized the milk tank truck;

iv. the numbers of the numbered seals placed on the tank truck; and

v. date, time, facility name and location where product was unloaded from the truck.

d. The maintenance of all information on the cleaning and sanitization tag shall be the responsibility of bulk milk hauler/sampler or the milk tank truck operator until the tank truck is cleaned and sanitized.

8. The date, time, facility's name and location of the last cleaning and sanitization of the milk tank truck shall be provided to the State Health Officer during any milk tank truck inspection and such information shall be recorded on the milk tank truck's inspection report.

La. Admin. Code tit. 51, § VII-701

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health, LR 37:2666 (September 2011).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 40:4(A)(1)(a). Also see R.S. 40:5(2)(3)(5)(7)(15)(17) and R.S. 40:922.