When used in this Title and Code:
(a) Adequate or sufficient means able to accomplish the purposes for which something is intended, and to such a degree that no unreasonable risk to health or safety is presented. An item installed, maintained, designed and assembled, or an activity conducted or act performed in accordance with generally accepted standards, principles or practices applicable to a particular trade, business, occupation or profession, consistent with generally accepted public health standards, is adequate or sufficient within the meaning of this Article.
(b) Aquatic animal means fresh or saltwater finfish, crustaceans and other forms of aquatic life (including but not limited to 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.
(c) Aw means water activity, which is the measure of the free moisture in a food, and is indicated by the symbol Aw. Its numeric value is the quotient of the water vapor pressure of the food substance divided by the vapor pressure of pure water at the same temperature.
(d) Caterer means a food service establishment holding a permit issued by the Commissioner that prepares food and may provide transportation for, and service of food at, a location other than the establishment. A caterer also is any person who prepares food at a permitted food service or non-retail processing establishment for service at another location.
(e) Comminuted means reduced in size by methods including chopping, flaking, grinding, mincing; or a mixture of aquatic animals or meat products that have been reduced in size and restructured and reformulated.
(f) Contaminated means adulterated or spoiled food, or food and equipment which is exposed to filth, toxic substances, rodent or insect contact or infestation, or potentially hazardous foods held at temperatures between 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius) for a period of time exceeding that reasonably required for preparation, including potentially hazardous foods which are not heated or cooked to the temperatures specified in 24 RCNY Health Code § 81.09, or food in or subject to any condition which could permit the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms or foreign matter, including manual contact during service or preparation if such foods will not be subsequently cooked or heated to the temperatures specified in 24 RCNY Health Code § 81.09.
(g) A controlled-location vending machine means a food vending machine which dispenses only food that is not potentially hazardous, can be serviced in a sanitary manner by an untrained person at the location and is located where it is protected from environmental contamination, abuse and vandalism.
(h) Cook chill processing means a type of reduced oxygen packaging process in which cooked food is hot filled into impermeable bags that have the air expelled and are then sealed or crimped closed. The bagged food is rapidly chilled and refrigerated at temperatures that inhibit the growth of psychrotrophic pathogens (pathogens that grow slowly at refrigerated temperatures and that include, but are not limited to, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum and Yersinia enterocolitica or yersiniosis).
(i) Critical control point means a point or procedure in a specific food system where loss of control may result in an unacceptable health risk.
(j) Critical limit means the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological or chemical parameter must be controlled at a critical control point to minimize the risk that the identified food safety hazard may occur.
(k) Cured food means food preserved by drying, salting, smoking or pickling, or a combination of such methods.
(l) Cut leafy greens means leafy greens whose leaves have been cut, shredded, sliced, chopped, or torn. The term "leafy greens" includes, but is not limited to:
• iceberg lettuce,
• romaine lettuce,
• leaf lettuce,
• butter lettuce,
• baby leaf lettuce (i.e., immature lettuce or leafy greens),
• arugula or rocket lettuce,
• escarole,
• endive,
• spring mix,
• spinach,
• cabbage,
• kale, and,
• chard or any other cut, shredded, sliced, chopped or torn edible green leafy vegetable.
(m) Easily cleanable means readily accessible and of such material and finish that residues may be completely removed by normal cleaning methods.
(n) Easily movable equipment means equipment that is mounted on wheels or casters with flexible, extensible, or quick disconnecting utility connections, if any, so that the equipment may be easily moved for cleaning.
(o) Equipment means any tool, item, fixture or article used in the operation of a food service establishment, and any component of such tool, item, fixture and article including but not limited to, all stoves, ranges, microwave ovens, hoods, meat blocks, tables, counters, refrigerators, sinks, dishwashing machines, steam tables and similar items, other than utensils, used in the operation of a food service establishment or non-retail food processing establishment.
(p) Food-contact surfaces mean the surfaces of equipment, utensils, tableware and kitchenware, such as ladles, colanders, serving spoons, spatulas, pots and pans, which normally come into contact with food or from which liquids and residues may drain back into food or onto other food-contact surfaces.
(q) Food grade material means material used in the construction and design of food contact surfaces, equipment and utensils that is certified as meeting the standards of the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) or any other organization utilizing a process approved by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) or that is otherwise acceptable to the Department, in compliance with 24 RCNY Health Code § 81.17.
(r) Food worker or food handler means any person who works in a food service establishment or non-retail food processing establishment, including but not limited to any person described in 24 RCNY Health Code § 11.01(l).
(s) Food service establishment means a place where food is provided for individual portion service directly to the consumer whether such food is provided free of charge or sold, and whether consumption occurs on or off the premises or is provided from a pushcart, stand or vehicle.
(t) A food vending machine means a self-service device that when activated, dispenses unit servings of food or beverage without requiring replenishing between each vending operation.
(u) A food vending machine commissary means a place where food, containers or supplies are processed or packaged and prepared for use in food vending machines.
(v) A food vending machine operation means the place where food vending machines are located and includes the food vending machines, machine servicing equipment, utensils, personnel, single-service articles, tables, chairs, that part of the premises used in connection with the food vending machine operation and all other appurtenances required and used to operate and maintain the food vending machines.
(w) Frozen dessert means:
• ice cream,
• frozen custard,
• French ice cream,
• French custard ice cream,
• artificially sweetened ice cream,
• ice milk,
• artificially sweetened ice milk,
• fruit sherbet,
• non-fruit sherbet,
• water ices,
• non-fruit water ices,
• confection frozen without stirring,
• dairy confection frozen without stirring,
• manufactured dessert mix,
• frozen confection,
• melloream frozen dessert,
• parevine,
• frozen yogurt,
• freezer made shakes,
• freezer made milk shakes,
• dietary frozen dessert,
• whipped cream confection, and,
• bisque tortoni,
as all such products are commonly known, together with any mix used in making such frozen desserts, and any products that are similar in appearance, odor or taste to such products, or are prepared or frozen as frozen desserts are customarily prepared and frozen, whether made with dairy products or non-dairy products, and chips or flakes of ice made from water with or without additives, served to the customer with or without flavoring, in accordance with standards of identity for such foods established in Article 4-a of the State Agriculture and Markets Law, or successor statute.
(x) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan means a written document that delineates the formal procedures for following the hazard analysis and critical control point principles developed by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria For Foods.
(y) Imminent health hazard or public health hazard means any violation, condition, or combination of violations or conditions making it probable that food served to the public by the establishment or its continued operation will be injurious or dangerous to the health of any person consuming such foods.
(z) Indirect drain means a waste line which does not connect directly with the drainage system, but conveys and discharges liquid wastes through an air break into an approved plumbing fixture or receptacle that is directly connected to the drainage system.
(aa) Non-retail food processing establishment means a facility where food is processed, prepared, stored or packed for consumption off the premises and not given or sold directly to the consumer. This shall include but not be limited to mobile food vending commissaries, food vending machine commissaries, and shared kitchens where space and equipment are rented, leased or otherwise contracted for use by other persons, such as caterers.
(bb) Operating or in operation means that one or more food workers in a food service establishment is receiving, preparing, storing or serving food or that the establishment is open to the public.
(cc) Packaged means bottled, canned, cartoned, securely bagged, or securely wrapped, and does not include a wrapper, carry out box, or other non durable container used to containerize food for the purpose of facilitating food protection during service and receipt of the food by the consumer.
(dd) pH means the symbol for the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration that is a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution.
(ee) Potentially hazardous food (PHF) or time and temperature controlled for safety (TCS) food means any food that consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, crustacea and other aquatic animals, foods of plant origin that have been heat treated; garlic in oil mixtures that support the growth of Clostridium botulinum or toxin formation; cut melons, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes or mixtures of cut tomatoes that are not modified in a way so that they are unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxins formation; raw bean or seed sprouts; or other foods in a form capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms, or growth of C. botulinum. The term does not include food with a water activity (aw) value of 0.85 or less, or a hydrogen ion concentration (pH) level of 4.6 or below. A food may be deemed not potentially hazardous because of the combined effect of aw and pH other than as previously specified if supported by a food product assessment acceptable to the Department.
(ff) Processed fish means fish that has been cured, salted, marinated, dried, pickled, fermented or smoked for human consumption.
(gg) Ready-to-eat food means food that is in a form that is edible without additional preparation or heat treatment to achieve food safety in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
(hh) Reduced oxygen packaging means the reduction of the amount of oxygen in a food packaged by removing oxygen; displacing oxygen and replacing it with another gas or combination of gases; or otherwise controlling the oxygen content to a level below that normally found in the atmosphere (approximately 21% at sea level) and where the food being packaged requires control of Clostridium botulinum or Listeria monocytogenes in the final packaged form. Reduced oxygen packaging includes, but is not limited to, vacuum packaging, cook chill packaging, and sous vide processing.
(ii) Sanitization means effective bactericidal treatment by heat or chemical means that destroys pathogens on surfaces treated. Acceptable sanitization methods are:
(1) immersion for at least one-half minute in clean hot water at a temperature of at least 170 degrees Fahrenheit (76.7 degrees Celsius);
(2) immersion for at least one minute in a clean solution containing at least 50 parts per million of available chlorine at a temperature of at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9 degrees Celsius);
(3) immersion for at least one minute in a clean solution containing at least 12.5 parts per million of available iodine and having pH not higher than 5.0 and at a temperature of at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9 degrees Celsius);
(4) immersion for at least one minute in a solution of 200 parts per million quaternary ammonium at a temperature of at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9 degrees Celsius);
(5) immersion in a clean solution containing any other food grade chemical sanitizing agent that will provide the equivalent bactericidal effect of a solution containing at least 50 parts per million of available chlorine as hypochlorite which has been held at a temperature of at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9 degrees Celsius) for one minute;
(6) treatment with culinary-quality steam in the case of equipment too large to sanitize by immersion, but in which steam can be confined; or
(7) swabbing fixed equipment with a solution of at least twice the strength required for that sanitizing solution when used for immersion.
(jj) Single service articles means cups, containers, lids, or closures, plates, knives, spoons, stoppers, paddles, straws, place mats, napkins, doilies, wrapping materials, toothpicks and all similar articles which are intended by the manufacturer for single eating and drinking usage and generally recognized by the public as items to be discarded after one usage.
(kk) Shared kitchen means a commercial kitchen that is rented or leased by more than one food service establishment operator.
(ll) Sous vide processing is a type of reduced oxygen packaging in which raw or partially cooked food is placed in a hermetically sealed, impermeable bag, cooked in the bag, and either served or rapidly chilled, and refrigerated at temperatures that inhibit the growth of psychrotrophic pathogens.
(mm) Stand means a movable, portable or collapsible structure, framework, device, container, or other contrivance, other than a vehicle or pushcart, used for displaying, keeping or storing any food at a temporary food service establishment.
(nn) Temporary food service establishment means a food service establishment as defined in 24 RCNY Health Code Article 88. Additional to the provisions of this Article, a temporary food service establishment shall be operated at all times in compliance with the provisions of 24 RCNY Health Code Article 88 and all applicable provisions of this Code.
(oo) Utensil means any tableware, such as knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, dishes and the like, and kitchenware, implements or containers used for storage, preparation, transfer, conveyance or service of food.
(pp) Ware washing means the cleaning and sanitizing of utensils and food contact surfaces of equipment.
(Amended City Record 7/9/2015, eff. 8/8/2015)