(a) Bulk food means processed or unprocessed food in aggregate containers from which quantities desired by the consumer are withdrawn. For the purpose of this interpretation, the term does not include fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, nuts in the shell, salad bars and potentially hazardous foods, except for raw, frozen, shell-on shrimp or lobster.

(b) Bulk food display area means a location or locations, including physical facilities and equipment, where bulk food is offered for customer self-service.

(c) Comminuted means reduced in size by methods including chopping, flaking, grinding or mincing. Comminuted includes fish or meat products that are reduced in size and restructured or reformulated such as gefilte fish, gyros, ground beef and sausage; and a mixture of two or more types of meat that have been reduced in size and combined, such as sausages made from two or more meats.

(d) Corrosion-resistant materials means those materials that maintain acceptable sanitary surface characteristics under prolonged influence of the food to be contacted, the normal use of cleaning compounds and sanitizing solutions, and other conditions of the use environment.

(e) Easily cleanable means that surfaces are readily accessible and made of such material and finish and so fabricated that residue may be effectively removed by normal cleaning methods.

(f) Employee means the license holder, individual having supervisory or management duties, person on the payroll, family member, volunteer, person performing work under contractual agreement or any other person working in a food store.

(g) Equipment means items other than utensils used in the storage, preparation, display and transportation of food such as stoves, ovens, hoods, slicers, grinders, mixers, scales, meat blocks, tables, food shelving, reach-in refrigerators and freezers, sinks, ice makers and similar items used in the operation of a retail store. This item does not include forklift trucks or dollies.

(h) Especially vulnerable consumer means a consumer who, due to age, health, physical condition or other reason, is at a significantly greater risk of illness than a member of the general population. Especially vulnerable consumer includes, but is not limited to, pregnant women, elderly persons, young children and immuno-compromised individuals.

(i) Fish means fresh or saltwater finfish, crustaceans and other forms of aquatic life (including alligator, frog, aquatic turtle, jellyfish, sea cucumber, and sea urchin and the roe of such animals) other than birds or mammals, and all mollusks, if such animal life is intended for human consumption. Fish includes an edible human food product derived in whole or in part from fish, including fish that have been processed in any manner.

(j) Food means any raw, cooked or processed edible substance, ice, beverage or ingredient used or intended for use or for sale in whole or in part for human consumption.

(k) Food-contact surfaces means those surfaces of equipment and utensils with which food normally comes into contact, and those surfaces from which food may drain, drip or splash back onto surfaces normally in contact with food.

(l) Food service establishment means any place where food is prepared and intended for individual portion service, and includes the site at which individual portions are provided, whether consumption occurs on or off the premises, or whether or not there is a charge for the food. The term includes delicatessens that primarily offer prepared food in individual service portions; that is, over 50 percent of the dollar value of the business is classed as food service with a minor portion related to sales as a food store; food service operations where a distinct group mutually provides, prepares, serves and consumes the food such as a covered-dish supper limited to a congregation, club or fraternal organization; the location of food vending machines; and supply vehicles.

(m) Game animal means an animal, the products of which are food, that is not classified as cattle, sheep, swine, goat, horse, mule or other equine in 9 CFR subchapter A — Mandatory Meat Inspection, part 301, as Poultry in 9 CFR subchapter C — Mandatory Poultry Products Inspection, part 381, or as fish. Game animal includes mammals such as reindeer, elk, deer, antelope, water buffalo, bison, rabbit, squirrel, opossum, raccoon, nutria or muskrat and nonaquatic reptiles such as land snakes. Game animal does not include ratites such as ostrich, emu and rhea.

(n) HACCP Plan means a written document that delineates the formal procedures for following the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles developed by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods.

(o) Hazard means a biological, chemical or physical property that may cause an unacceptable consumer health risk.

(p) Hermetically sealed container means a container which is designed and intended to be secure against the entry of microorganisms and to maintain the commercial sterility of its contents after processing.

(q) Packaged means bottled, canned, cartoned, bagged or securely wrapped.

(r) Person includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association or other legal entity.

(s) Person in charge means the individual present in a retail food store who is the supervisor of the retail food store at the time of inspection.

(t) Potentially hazardous food means any food that consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, edible crustacea or other ingredients, including synthetic ingredients, and which is in a form capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms. The term does not include: foods that have a pH level of 4.6 or below or a water activity (aw) value of 0.85 or less under standard conditions; food products in hermetically sealed containers commercially processed to prevent spoilage.

(u) Product module means a food contact container (multi-use or single-service) designed for customer self-service of bulk food by either direct or indirect means.

(v) Ready-to-eat food means food that is in a form that is edible without washing, cooking or additional preparation by the food establishment or the consumer and that is reasonably expected to be consumed in that form. Ready-to-eat food includes:

(w) Reduced oxygen packaging means the reduction of the amount of oxygen in a package by mechanically evacuating the oxygen; displacing the oxygen with another gas or combination of gases; or otherwise controlling the oxygen content in a package to a level below that normally found in the surrounding atmosphere, which is 21 percent oxygen. Reduced oxygen packaging includes methods that may be referred to as altered atmosphere, modified atmosphere, controlled atmosphere, low oxygen and vacuum packaging including sous vide.

(x) Retail food store means any establishment or section of an establishment where food and food products are offered to the consumer and intended for off-premises consumption. The term does not include establishments which handle only prepackaged, nonpotentially hazardous foods, roadside markets that offer only fresh fruits and fresh vegetables for sale, food service establishments, or food and beverage vending machines.

(y) Safe materials means articles manufactured from or composed of materials that may not reasonably be expected to result, directly or indirectly, in their becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food. If materials are food additives or color additives as defined in section 198(7) or (10) of the Agriculture and Markets Law as used, they are safe only if they are used in conformity with regulations established pursuant to section 409 or 706 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Other materials are safe only if, as used, they are not food additives or color additives as defined in section 198(7) or (10) of the Agriculture and Markets Law, and are used in conformity with all applicable regulations of the Department of Agriculture and Markets and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

(z) Sanitization means the application of accumulative heat or chemicals on cleaned food-contact surfaces that when evaluated for efficacy, is sufficient to yield a reduction of five logs, which is equal to a 99.999 percent reduction of representative disease microorganisms of public health importance.

(aa) Scheduled process means the process selected by an establishment operator as adequate for use under the conditions of manufacture for a food in achieving and maintaining a food that will not permit the growth of microorganisms which could cause food borne illness, and shall include controls of critical processing criteria established by a competent processing authority who has expert knowledge acquired through appropriate training and experience in the processing of potentially hazardous foods.

(ab) Sealed means free of cracks or other openings that permit the entry or passage of moisture.

(ac) Servicing area means a designated location or locations equipped for cleaning, sanitizing, drying or refilling product modules or for preparing food.

(ad) Single-service articles means items used by the retailer or consumer, such as cups, containers, lids and packaging materials, including bags and similar articles, intended for contact with food and designed for one-time use. The item does not include single-use articles such as number 10 cans, aluminum pie pans, bread wrappers and similar articles into which food has been packaged by the manufacturer.

(ae) Transportation (transported) means movement of food within the retail food store or delivery of food from that retail food store to another place while under the control of the person in charge.

(af) Utensil means any food-contact implement used in the storage, preparation, transportation or dispensing of food.

(ag) Variance means a written modification or waiver of a requirement of this Part granted by the department upon its determination that a health hazard or insanitary condition will not result from the granting of such a modification or waiver.

(ah) Warewashing means the cleaning and sanitizing of food-contact surfaces of equipment and utensils.

(ai) Whole-muscle intact beef means whole muscle beef that is not injected, mechanically tenderized, reconstructed, or scored and marinated, from which beef steaks may be cut.