Definitions

(1) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection; (2) "Contaminated with filth" applies to any food, drug, device or cosmetic not securely protected from dust or dirt, and as far as may be necessary, by all reasonable means, from all foreign or injurious contaminations; (3) "Corrosion-resistant material" means a material that maintains its original surface characteristics under prolonged influence of food, cleaning compounds, and sanitizing solutions that may come in contact with it; (4) "Director" means the Director of the Division of Food and Standards of the Department of Consumer Protection; (5) "Easily cleanable" means readily accessible and of such material and finish, and so fabricated, that residues may be completely removed by usual cleaning methods; (6) "Employee" means any person working in a food establishment; (7) "Food" means (i) articles used for food or drink for man or other animals, and (ii) chewing gum, and (iii) articles used for components of any such article; (8) "Food contact surfaces" means those surfaces of equipment and utensils with which food normally comes in contact; (9) "Food Establishment" means any establishment in which food is stored, offered for sale, processed, or prepared, other than an eating or drinking establishment, and includes the transportation of any food; (10) "Inspector" means an employee or official of the department of consumer protection authorized by the commissioner; (11) "Operator" means any person who (i) alone or jointly or severally with others owns a food establishment, or (ii) has care, charge or control of a food establishment as agent or manager for the owner or as an independent contractor; (12) "Potentially hazardous foods" means any food of such type or condition capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms, which include any product consisting in whole or in part of milk or milk products, shell eggs or egg products, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, or other ingredients. Potentially hazardous foods does not include: (A) air dried hard boiled eggs with shells intact; (B) foods with a water activity (aw) value of 0.85 or less; (C) foods with a hydrogen concentration (pH) level of 4.6 or below; (D) foods in unopened hermetically sealed containers, which have been commercially processed to achieve and maintain commercial sterility under conditions of non-refrigerated storage and distribution; or (E) foods for which laboratory evidence demonstrates that rapid and progressive growth of infectious and toxigenic microorganisms cannot occur. (13) "Perishable foods" means any food that may spoil; (14) "Ready-to-eat" means food that is in a form or is advertised as a food that is edible without additional preparation; and (15) "Sanitize" means effective bacterial treatment of clean surfaces or equipment and utensils by a process which is effective in destroying micro organisms, including but not limited to pathogens.