Section 410IAC7-21-46. Reduced oxygen packaging

   (a) A wholesale food establishment that packages food using a reduced oxygen packaging method, with Clostridium botulinum identified as a microbiological hazard in the final packaged form, shall ensure that there are at least two (2) barriers in place to control the growth and toxin formation of Clostridium botulinum. These controls may include refrigeration, pH, and water activity.

  (b) An establishment that packages food using a reduced oxygen packaging method, with Clostridium botulinum identified as a microbiological hazard in the final packaged form, shall have a HACCP plan that does the following:

(1) Contains a flow diagram by specific food or category type identifying critical control points and providing information on the following:

(A) Ingredients, materials, and equipment used in the preparation of that food.

(B) Formulations or recipes that delineate methods and procedural control measures that address the food safety concerns involved.

(2) Contains a statement of standard operating procedures for the plan that clearly identifies the following:

(A) Each critical control point.

(B) The critical limits for each critical control point.

(C) The method and frequency for monitoring and controlling each critical control point by the food employee designated by supervisory personnel.

(D) The method and frequency for supervision to routinely verify that the food employee is following standard operating procedures and monitoring critical control points.

(E) Action to be taken by supervision if the critical limits for each critical control point is not met.

(F) Records to be maintained by supervision to demonstrate that the HACCP plan is properly operated and managed.

(3) Identifies the food to be packaged.

(4) Limits the food packaged to a food that does not support the growth of Clostridium botulinum because it meets with one (1) of the following criteria:

(A) Has an a_w of ninety-one hundredths (0.91) or less.

(B) Has a pH of four and six-tenths (4.6) or less.

(C) Is a meat or poultry product cured at a food processing plant regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture and is received in an intact package.

(D) Is a food with a high level of competing organisms, such as raw meat or raw poultry.

(5) Specifies methods for maintaining food at forty-one (41) degrees Fahrenheit or below.

(6) Describes how the packages shall be prominently and conspicuously labeled on the principal display panel in bold type on a contrasting background, with instructions to:

(A) maintain the food at forty-one (41) degrees Fahrenheit or below; and

(B) discard the food if within fourteen (14) calendar days of its packaging it is not sold for consumption.

(7) Limits the shelf life to no more than fourteen (14) calendar days from packaging to consumption or the original manufacturer's "sell by" or "use by" date, whichever occurs first.

(8) Includes operational procedures that:

(A) prohibit contacting food with bare hands;

(B) identify a designated area and the method by which:

(i) physical barriers or methods of separation of raw foods and ready-to-eat foods minimize cross contamination; and

(ii) access to the processing equipment is restricted to responsible trained personnel familiar with the potential hazards of the operation; and

(C) delineate cleaning and sanitization procedures for food-contact surfaces.

(9) Describes the training program that ensures that the individual responsible for the reduced oxygen packaging operation understands the:

(A) concepts required for a safe operation;

(B) equipment and facilities; and

(C) procedures specified under subdivisions (2) and (8).

(Indiana State Department of Health; 410 IAC 7-21-46; filed Jan 7, 2002, 10:16 a.m.: 25 IR 1629, eff one hundred twenty (120) days after filing with secretary of state; readopted filed Jul 14, 2008, 2:14 p.m.: 20080806-IR-410080322RFA; readopted filed Sep 10, 2014, 2:08 p.m.: 20141008-IR-410140299RFA)