Title 9

SECTION 590.522

590.522 Breaking room operations.

§ 590.522 Breaking room operations. Link to an amendment published at 85 FR 68680, Oct. 29, 2020. Link to a correction published at 85 FR 81340, Dec. 16, 2020.

(a) The breaking room shall be kept in a dust-free clean condition and free from flies, insects, and rodents. The floor shall be kept clean and reasonably dry during breaking operations and free of egg meat and shells.

(b) All breaking room personnel shall wash their hands thoroughly with odorless soap and water each time they enter the breaking room and prior to receiving clean equipment after breaking an inedible egg.

(d) Breakers shall use a complete set of clean equipment when starting work and after lunch periods. All table equipment shall be rotated with clean equipment every 2 1/2 hours.

(e) Cups shall not be filled to overflowing.

(f) Each shell egg shall be broken in a satisfactory and sanitary manner and inspected for wholesomeness by smelling the shell or the egg meat and by visual examination at the time of breaking. All egg meat shall be reexamined by a person qualified to perform such functions before being emptied into the tank or churn, except as otherwise approved by the National Supervisor.

(g) Shell particles, meat and blood spots, and other foreign material accidentally falling into the cups or trays shall be removed with a spoon or other approved instrument.

(h) Whenever an inedible egg is broken, the affected breaking equipment shall be cleaned and sanitized.

(i) Inedible and loss eggs as defined in § 590.510 apply to this section.

(j) The contents of any cup or other liquid egg receptacle containing one or more inedible or loss eggs shall be rejected.

(k) Contents of drip trays shall be emptied into a cup and smelled carefully before pouring into liquid egg bucket. Drip trays shall be emptied at least once for each 15 dozen eggs or every 15 minutes.

(l) Edible leakers as defined in § 590.510(c)(2) and checks which are liable to be smashed in the breaking operation shall be broken at a separate station by specially trained personnel.

(m) Ingredients and additives used in, or for, processing egg products, shall be handled in a clean and sanitary manner.

(n) Liquid egg containers shall not pass through the candling room.

(o) Test kits shall be provided and used to determine the strength of the sanitizing solution. (See §§ 590.515(a)(9) and 590.552.)

(p) Leaker trays shall be washed and sanitized whenever they become soiled and at the end of each shift.

(q) Shell egg containers whenever dirty shall be cleaned and drained; and shall be cleaned, sanitized, and drained at the end of each shift.

(r) Belt-type shell egg conveyors shall be cleaned and sanitized approximately every 4 hours in addition to continuous cleaning during operation. When not in use, belts shall be raised to permit air drying.

(s) Cups, knives, racks, separators, trays, spoons, liquid egg pails, and other breaking equipment, except for mechanical egg breaking equipment, shall be cleaned and sanitized at least every 2 1/2 hours. This equipment shall be cleaned at the end of each shift and shall be clean and sanitized immediately prior to use.

(t) Utensils and dismantled equipment shall be drained and air dried on approved self-draining metal racks and shall not be nested.

(u) Dump tanks, drawoff tanks, and churns shall be cleaned approximately every 4 hours. All such equipment and all other liquid handling equipment, unless cleaned by acceptable cleaned in-place methods, shall be dismantled and cleaned after each shift. Pasteurization equipment shall be cleaned at the end of each day's use or more often if necessary. All such equipment shall be clean and shall be sanitized prior to placing in use.

(v) Strainers, clarifiers, filtering and other devices used for removal of shell particles and other foreign material shall be cleaned and sanitized each time it is necessary to change such equipment, but at least once each 4 hours of operation.

(w) Breaking room processing equipment shall not be stored on the floor.

(x) Metal containers and lids for other than dried products shall be thoroughly washed, rinsed, sanitized, and drained immediately prior to filling. The foregoing sequence shall not be required if equally effective measures approved by the National Supervisor in writing are followed to assure clean and sanitary containers at the time of filling.

(y) Liquid egg holding vats and containers (including tank trucks) used for transporting liquid eggs shall be cleaned after each use. Such equipment shall be clean and sanitized immediately prior to placing in use.

(z) Tables, shell conveyors, and containers for inedible egg product shall be cleaned at the end of each shift.

(aa) Mechanical egg breaking machines shall be operated at a rate to maintain complete control and accurately inspect and segregate each egg to insure the removal of all loss and inedible eggs. The machine shall be operated in a sanitary manner.

(1) When an inedible egg is encountered on mechanical egg breaking equipment, the inedible egg and contaminated liquid shall be removed. The machine shall be cleaned and sanitized, or contaminated parts replaced with clean ones in the manner prescribed by the Administrator for the type of inedible egg encountered and the kind of egg breaking machine.

(2) Systems for pumping egg liquid directly from egg breaking machines shall be of approved sanitary design and construction, and designed to minimize the entrance of shells into the system and be disconnected when inedible eggs are encountered. The pipelines of the pumping system shall be cleaned or flushed as often as needed to maintain them in a sanitary condition, and they shall be cleaned and sanitized at the end of each shift. Other pumping system equipment shall be cleaned and sanitized approximately every 4 hours or as often as needed to maintain it in a sanitary condition. All liquid egg pumped directly from egg breaking machines shall be reexamined, except as otherwise prescribed and approved by the Administrator.

(3) Mechanical egg breaking equipment shall be clean and sanitized prior to use, and during operations the machines shall be cleaned and sanitized approximately every 4 hours or more often if needed to maintain them in a sanitary condition. This equipment shall be cleaned at the end of each shift.

[36 FR 9814, May 28, 1971, as amended at 37 FR 6659, Apr. 1, 1972; 40 FR 20059, May 8, 1975; 40 FR 20941, May 14, 1975. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981]