Section 71.05. Food storage and handling.

 

(1)   General.

(a) A food warehouse operator shall handle and store food in a safe and sanitary manner, and under sanitary conditions, to protect the safety and wholesomeness of the food.

(b) A food warehouse operator shall store food in a neat and orderly manner, so that the food is readily accessible for inspection and movement, and so that the food warehouse can be readily inspected and cleaned.

(c) The amount of food stored in a food warehouse shall not exceed the reasonable capacity of that warehouse.

(2)   Food delivered to warehouse; inspection.

(a) A food warehouse operator shall inspect all food delivered for storage at the food warehouse. The operator shall inspect the food before it is unloaded, unless the delivery vehicle is too fully loaded to permit inspection. The operator shall inspect for damage to food or food packages, insect or rodent infestation, objectionable odors, and other indications of contamination.

(b) If a food warehouse operator rejects any portion of a food delivery because the food is contaminated, the operator shall promptly notify both the food carrier and the food shipper or owner.

(c) If a warehouse operator has reason to believe that an unloaded delivery of food may be contaminated, the warehouse operator shall segregate that food for prompt inspection, sorting, and disposition before the food is stored in the food warehouse.

(3)   Food accepted for storage; identification.

(a) A food warehouse operator shall mark each lot of food accepted for storage with all of the following:

1. The name and address of the food warehouse.

2. The word "Received," or a recognizable abbreviation of that word, and a numeric designation of the month, day, and year when the food was received in the food warehouse.

(b) The information required to be marked on a lot of food under par. (a) may be contained on a tag securely fastened to the packaging material enclosing that lot of food. The tag shall be affixed so that it cannot be readily detached, mutilated, or made illegible.

(c) No person may remove, alter, mutilate, or conceal a marking required under par. (a) . No person may divide any lot of food marked under par. (a) unless each portion of the divided lot bears the same marking.

(4)   Contaminated food. A food warehouse operator shall promptly destroy, or shall exclude or promptly remove from the food warehouse, any food which threatens to contaminate other food in storage, which may cause a pest infestation, or which may contaminate the food warehouse.

(5)   Fire, flood, or casualty damage. Food which has been subjected to possible contamination in a fire, flood, or other casualty shall not be removed from the warehouse for use as human food unless the department has inspected the food and authorized its removal or disposition. A food warehouse owner or operator shall notify the department whenever food in the warehouse has been subjected to possible damage or contamination because of fire, flood, or other casualty.

(6)   Stock rotation. A food warehouse operator shall adopt and implement effective stock rotation procedures, appropriate to each type of food, to preclude spoilage of any food in storage. The warehouse operator shall keep adequate records to permit the effective rotation of food in storage.

(7)   Refrigerated and frozen food.

(a) Potentially hazardous refrigerated food stored at a food warehouse shall at all times be kept refrigerated at a temperature of 40 ° F. (4 ° C.) or below, except:

1. Eggs shall be kept refrigerated at an ambient temperature of 45 ° F. (7 ° C.) or below.

2. Dairy products as defined in s. 97.20 (1) (b) 1. to 5. , Stats., shall be kept at 45 ° F. (7 ° C.) or below.

3. Fish and fishery products in reduced-oxygen packaging as defined in s. ATCP 70.02 (22n) shall be kept at or below 38 ° F (3 ° C.), in accordance with ss. ATCP 70.18 and 70.19 .

4. Molluscan shellfish shall be iced or refrigerated to the extent necessary to maintain internal shellstock temperature as required in s. ATCP 70.21 , and

5. Potentially hazardous frozen food shall at all times be kept frozen at a temperature of 5 ° F. (-15 ° C.) or below.

(b) Frozen food shall not be refrozen after having thawed.

(c) The operator of a food storage warehouse shall record, on a daily basis, the air temperature in each facility in which potentially hazardous food is stored. The operator shall record the temperature shown by each measuring device installed in the facility under s. ATCP 71.03 (7) , together with the date on which the temperature reading was taken. The operator shall retain the temperature record for at least 2 years.

(d) The amount of food stored in a refrigerated or frozen food storage facility shall not exceed the designed capacity of that facility. Refrigerated and frozen food shall be marked as required under s. ATCP 71.05 (3) , and shall be stored in an orderly manner, so that the contents of a refrigerated or frozen food storage facility can be readily inspected and identified.

(8)   Fish or fishery products haccp system required. A licensed food warehouse that engages in the storage of fish as defined in 21 CFR 123 (d), fishery products as defined in 21 CFR 123.3 (e), or molluscan shellfish as defined in 21 CFR 123.3 (h) shall operate under a seafood HACCP system in accordance with the applicable requirements in Subch. IV of ch. ATCP 70 .

History: Cr. Register, June, 1994, No. 462 , eff. 7-1-94; correction in (7) under s. 35.17 , Stats; CR 15-093 : renum. (7) (a) to (7) (a) (intro.) and 5. and am. (intro.), cr. (7) (a) 1. to 4., (8) Register August 2016 No. 728 , eff. 9-1-16; correction in (7) (a) 2., 3., (8) made under s. 35.17 , Stats., Register August 2016 No. 728 , eff. 9-1-16.

Note

For example, an acceptable marking of an incoming shipment of a food product under this subsection is "Rec'd. 7-1-93". Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1