| (v) Custom processors may produce heat-treated or ready-to-eat custom products, including chorizo, at temperatures other than those listed in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of this subparagraph when requested to do so by the owner of the product. The custom processor must obtain a signed statement from the owner of the product stating that the risks associated with eating under-cooked meat products are understood. (C) When necessary to comply with the requirements of this section, the smokehouses, drying rooms, and other compartments used in the treatment of meat and poultry products to destroy pathogens shall be suitably equipped, by the operator of the custom processing establishment with accurate automatic recording thermometers. (11) Denaturing procedures. Carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products that are adulterated and/or not returned to the owner shall be adequately denatured or decharacterized to preclude their use as human food. Before the denaturing agents are applied, carcasses and carcass parts shall be freely slashed or sectioned. The denaturing agent must be mixed with all of the carcasses or carcass parts to be denatured, and must be applied in such quantity and manner that it cannot easily and readily be removed by washing or soaking. A sufficient amount of the appropriate agent shall be used to give the material a distinctive color, odor, or taste so that such material cannot be confused with an article of human food. (c) Very low volume poultry/rabbit slaughter operations requirements. The requirements of this section shall apply to any person who slaughters and sells poultry, rabbits, or both, and qualifies as a very low volume slaughter operation, as defined in §221.12(b)(27) of this title. (1) Animals for slaughter. No adulterated poultry or rabbits as defined in §221.12(b)(2) of this title shall be slaughtered for the purpose of selling its carcass or parts for food. Only healthy poultry and rabbits, exhibiting no abnormalities, may be slaughtered for sale as food. Unhealthy or unsound poultry and rabbits are those that exhibit any condition that is not normally expected to be exhibited in a healthy and sound member of that species. Examples of abnormal or unsound animals include, but are not limited to, animals that are not able to get up, or animals that have any swellings, rectal or vaginal prolapse, ocular or nasal discharge, a cough, or a limp. (2) Record keeping. (A) Operators of facilities conducting slaughter under the poultry/rabbit exemption shall keep records such as bills of sale, invoices, bills of lading, and receiving and shipping papers for transactions in which any livestock or carcass, meat or meat food product is purchased, sold, shipped, received, transported or otherwise handled for a period of two years, beginning on January 1 of the previous year plus the current year to date. (B) The records shall be available to department representatives on request. (3) Sanitary methods. Very low volume poultry/rabbit slaughter operations shall be maintained in sanitary condition. Each operator shall comply with all of the requirements of 9 CFR, §§416.11 - 416.16, adopted under §221.11 of this title. (4) Tagging insanitary equipment, utensils, rooms, and carcasses. (A) A department representative may attach a "Texas Rejected" tag to any equipment, utensil, room, or compartment at a very low volume poultry/rabbit slaughter establishment that a department representative determines is insanitary and is a health hazard. No equipment, utensil, room, or compartment so tagged shall again be used until untagged or released by a department representative. Such tag so attached shall not be removed by anyone other than a department representative. (B) A department representative that determines a carcass is adulterated, unfit for human food, is from an unhealthy or unsound animal, or could result in a health hazard, may attach a "Texas Retained" tag to the carcass and document the reason for attaching the tag on a form specified by the department and deliver the form to the operator of the establishment. The unfit carcass may not be used as human food and must either be voluntarily destroyed and denatured or otherwise precluded from use as human food. (5) Marking and labeling of products. Carcasses and parts therefrom that are prepared under a grant of limited inspection for low volume poultry and rabbit producers to be sold through an off premise retail outlet, shall be packaged and the container marked with the slaughterer's name and address and the term "Exempted P.L. 90-492" in letters at least one-quarter inch in height. |
| Source Note: The provisions of this §221.14 adopted to be effective April 17, 1997, 22 TexReg 3421; amended to be effective June 21, 2000, 25 TexReg 5901; amended to be effective March 14, 2002, 27 TexReg 1801; amended to be effective November 7, 2002, 27 TexReg 10391; amended to be effective January 1, 2005, 29 TexReg 11979 |
