Rule 37.110.207 - FOOD PREPARATION(1) Sinks used for the preparation of foods: (a) must be cleaned and sanitized as required by ARM 37.110.215 immediately before beginning the preparation of the food; and(b) may not be used for hand washing or waste water disposal.(2) Food employees shall adhere to the requirements in ARM 37.110.210 in the preparation of food.(3) Raw fruits and vegetables must be thoroughly washed in potable water to remove soil and other contaminants before being cut, combined with other ingredients, cooked, served, or offered for human consumption in ready-to-eat form. Fruits and vegetables may be washed by using chemicals approved by the EPA. Any sink used to wash, prepare, store, or soak food must be indirectly connected to the sewer through an airgap.(4) The following are requirements for the destruction of organisms of public health concern: (a) Raw animal foods such as eggs, fish, poultry, meat, and foods containing these raw animal foods, must be cooked to heat all parts of the food as measured by temperature measuring devices for the specified times listed below: | Item | Temperature | Time |
| Fish and meat | 145 ° F (63 ° C) | for 15 sec |
| Shell eggs individually ordered for immediate service | 145 ° F (63 ° C) | for 15 sec |
| Shell eggs prepared for other than individual order for immediate service | 155 ° F (68 ° C) | for 15 sec |
| Pork products | 145 ° F (63 ° C) | for 15 sec |
| Comminuted (ground) beef, pork and fish, exotic game, and injected meats (Choose any one) | 145 ° F (63 ° C) 150 ° F (66 ° C) 155 ° F (68 °C) 158 ° F (70 ° C) | for 3 min for 1 min for 15 sec for < 1 sec |
| Poultry, wild game, stuffed fish, stuffed meat, stuffed pasta, stuffed poultry, stuffed ratites, or stuffing containing fish, meat, poultry, or ratites | 165 ° F (74 ° C) | for 15 sec |
(b) Whole beef roasts, corned beef roasts, pork roasts, and cured pork roasts such as ham must be cooked: (i) in an oven that is preheated to the temperature specified for the roast's weight in the following chart and that is held at that temperature; | Oven type | Roast size:under 10 pounds | over 10 pounds |
| Still dry oven | 350 ° F (177 ° C) | 250 ° F (121 ° C) |
| Convection oven | 325 ° F (163 ° C) | 250 ° F (121 ° C) |
| High humidity (>90% for1 hour); and | 250 ° F (121 ° C) | 250 ° F (121 ° C) |
(ii) as specified in the following chart, to heat all parts of the food to a temperature and for the holding time that corresponds to that temperature: | Cooking temperature | | holding time |
| 130 ° F (54 ° C) | | 121 minutes |
| 132 ° F (56 ° C) | | 77 minutes |
| 134 ° F (57 ° C) | | 47 minutes |
| 136 ° F (58 ° C) | | 32 minutes |
| 138 ° F (59 ° C) | | 19 minutes |
| 140 ° F (60 ° C) | | 12 minutes |
| 142 ° F (61 ° C) | | 8 minutes |
| 144 ° F (62 ° C) | | 5 minutes |
| 145 ° F (63 ° C) | | 3 minutes |
(c) Subsections (4) (a) and (b) do not apply to raw animal foods such as eggs, fish, poultry, meat, and foods containing these raw or partially cooked animal foods, that are served or offered for sale in a ready-to-eat form upon consumer request.(d) A raw or undercooked whole muscle intact beef steak may be served or offered for sale in a ready-to-eat form if: (i) the food service establishment serves a population that is not a highly susceptible population; and(ii) the steak is cooked on both the top and bottom to a surface temperature of 145 ° F (63 ° C) or above, and a cooked color change is achieved on all external surfaces.(e) Fruits and vegetables that are cooked for hot holding must be cooked to a temperature of 135 ° F (57.2 ° C).(5) Raw animal foods cooked in a microwave oven shall be: (a) rotated or stirred throughout or midway during cooking to compensate for uneven distribution of heat;(b) covered to retain surface moisture;(c) heated to a temperature of a least 165 ° F (74 ° C) in all parts of the food; and(d) allowed to stand covered for 2 minutes after cooking to obtain temperature equilibrium.(6) 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.(7) The cooling of potentially hazardous food must be accomplished in the following manner: (a) Cooked potentially hazardous food must be cooled as a continuous process: (i) from 135 ° F (57.2 ° C) to 70 ° F (21 ° C) within 2 hours; and(ii) from 70 ° F (21 ° C) to 41 ° F (5 ° C), or below, within 4 hours, or 45 ° F (7 ° C) or below as provided in ARM 37.110.203(61).(b) Potentially hazardous food must be cooled to 41 ° F (5 ° C) or below, except as specified in ARM 37.110.203(61), within 4 hours if prepared from ingredients at ambient temperatures, such as reconstituted foods and canned tuna.(c) A potentially hazardous food received in compliance with laws allowing a temperature above 41 ° F (5 ° C) during shipment from the supplier must be cooled to 41 ° F (5 ° C) or below, or 45 ° F (7 ° C) or below, as provided in ARM 37.110.203(61) or to a temperature specified on the manufacturer's label, within 4 hours.(d) Cooling must be accomplished in accordance with the time and temperature criteria specified in (4) (a) through (c) of this rule using one or more of the following methods based on the type of food being cooled: (i) placing the food in shallow pans;(ii) separating the food into smaller or thinner portions;(iii) using rapid cooling equipment;(iv) stirring the food in a container placed in an ice water bath;(v) using containers that facilitate heat transfer;(vi) adding ice as an ingredient; or(vii) other effective methods.(e) When placed in cooling or cold holding equipment, food containers in which food is being cooled must be arranged in the equipment to provide maximum heat transfer through the container walls and must be loosely covered. However, food may be uncovered if it is protected from overhead contamination during the cooling period to facilitate heat transfer from the surface of the food.(8) Reheating for hot holding must be done as follows: (a) Except as specified in (4) (b) through (e), potentially hazardous food that is cooked, cooled, and reheated for hot holding must be reheated so that all parts of the food reach a temperature of at least 165 ° F (74 ° C) for 15 seconds.(b) Potentially hazardous food reheated in a microwave oven for hot holding must be reheated so that all parts of the food reach a temperature of at least 165 ° F (74 ° C) and the food is rotated or stirred, covered, and allowed to stand covered for 2 minutes after reheating.(c) Ready-to-eat food taken from a commercially processed, hermetically sealed container, or from an intact package from a food processing plant that is inspected by the plant, must be heated to a temperature of at least 140 ° F (60 ° C) for hot holding.(d) Reheating for hot holding must be done rapidly and the time the food is between the temperature 41 ° F and 165 ° F may not exceed 2 hours.(e) Remaining unsliced portions of roasts of beef that are cooked as specified under ARM 37.110.207(4) (b) may be reheated for hot holding using the oven parameters and minimum time and temperature conditions specified under ARM 37.110.207(4) (b).(9) The following are approved methods of parasite destruction by freezing: (a) Except as specified in (8) (b) of this rule, raw, raw-marinated, partially cooked, or marinated-partially cooked fish other than molluscan shellfish that is served in ready-to-eat form must be frozen throughout to a temperature of: (i) -4 ° F (-20 ° C) or below for 168 hours (7 days) in a freezer; or(ii) -31 ° F (-35 ° C) or below for 15 hours in a blast freezer.(b) If the fish are tuna of the species Thunnus alalunga, Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna), Thunnus atlanticus, Thunnus maccoyii (bluefin tuna, southern), Thunnus obesus (bigeye tuna), or Thunnus thynnus (bluefin tuna, northern), the fish may be served or sold in a raw, raw-marinated, or partially cooked ready-to-eat form without freezing as specified in (8) (a) of this rule.(10) Potentially hazardous food may not be held at temperatures above 45 ° F (7 ° C) for refrigerated food, or below 135 ° F (57.2 ° C) for heated food, for more than: (a) 4 hours, including the time needed for preparation for cooking; or(b) the time specified in the cooling criteria in (7) of this rule.(11) Potentially hazardous foods must be thawed: (a) in refrigerated units at a temperature not to exceed 41 ° F (5 ° C), or as specified in ARM 37.110.203(61);(b) under potable running water of a temperature of 70 ° F (22 ° C) or below, with sufficient water velocity to agitate and float off loose food particles into the overflow for a period of time that does not allow thawed portions of ready-to-eat food to rise above 45 ° F (5 ° C), or as specified in (9) of this rule;(c) in a microwave oven only when the food will be immediately transferred to conventional cooking facilities as part of a continuous cooking process or when the entire, uninterrupted cooking process takes place in the microwave oven; or(d) as part of the conventional cooking process.(12) Food must be protected from: (a) contamination that may result from the addition of: (i) unsafe or unapproved food or color additives; and(ii) unsafe or unapproved levels of approved food and color additives;(b) application of sulfiting agents to fresh fruits and vegetables intended for raw consumption or to a food considered to be a good source of vitamin B-1; or(c) service or selling of food specified in (11) (b) of this rule that is treated with sulfiting agents before receipt by the food service establishment, except that grapes need not meet this subsection.Mont. Admin. r. 37.110.207
NEW, 1979 MAR p. 677, Eff. 7/13/79; AMD, 1986 MAR p. 1076, Eff. 6/27/86; TRANS & AMD, 2000 MAR p. 3201, Eff. 11/23/00.Sec. 50-50-103, MCA; IMP, Sec. 50-50-103, MCA;