123 Health and hygiene of personnel. 55.101 Pasteurization of liquid eggs. 55.102 Gas packing dried whole eggs. 55.103 Heat treatment of dried whites. Subpart B-[Reserved] Subpart C-Official United States Standards for Palatability Scores for Dried Whole Eggs 55.125 Preparation of samples for palatability test. 55.126 Palatability scores for dried whole eggs. CROSS REFERENCE: For regulations governing the grading and inspection of shell eggs and United States standards, grades, and weight classes for shell eggs, see Part 56 of this chapter. AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 55 issued under sec. 205, 60 Stat. 1090, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 1624. 55.100 Subpart A-Grading and Inspection of Egg Products DEFINITIONS § 55.1 Meaning of words. Under the regulations in this part, words in the singular shall be deemed to import the plural and vice versa, as the case may demand. [20 F.R. 1865, Mar. 29, 1955] § 55.2 Terms defined. For the purpose of the regulations in this part, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall be construed, respectively, as follows: "Act" means the applicable provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1087; 7 U. S. C. 1621 et seq.), or any other act of Congress conferring like authority. "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Consumer and Marketing Service of the Department or any other officer or employee of the Department to whom there has heretofore been delegated, or to whom there may hereafter be delegated the authority to act in his stead. "Applicant" means any interested party who requests any grading or inspection service, or appeal grading or appeal inspection, with respect to any product. "Area Supervisor" means any employee of the Department in charge of poultry grading service in a designated geographical area. "Class" means any subdivision of a product based on essential physical characteristics that differentiate between major groups of the same kind, species, or method of processing. "Condition" means any condition (including, but not being limited to, the state of preservation, cleanliness, soundness, wholesomeness, or fitness for human food) of any product which affects its merchantability; or any condition, including but not being limited to, the processing, handling, or packaging which affects such product. "Department" means the United States Department of Agriculture. "Eggs of current production" means shell eggs which have moved through the usual marketing channels since the time they were laid and have not been held in refrigerated storage in excess of 60 days. "Grader" means any employee of the Department authorized by the Secretary, or any other person to whom a license has been issued by the Secretary, to investigate and certify, in accordance with the act and this part, to shippers of products and other interested parties the class, quality, quantity, and condition of such products. "Grading" means (1) the act of determining, according to the regulations, the class, quality, quantity, or condition of any product by examining each unit thereof or a representative sample drawn by a grader; (2) the act of issuing a grading certificate; or (3) the act of identifying, when requested by the applicant, any product by means of official identification pursuant to the act and this part. "Grading certificate" or "processing and packaging certificate" means a statement, either written or printed, issued by a grader, pursuant to the act and this part, relative to the class, quality, quantity, and condition of products. "Grading service" or "continuous inspection" means (1) any grading or inspection, in accordance with the act and the regulations, of any product, (2) continuous supervision, in any official plant, of the preparation or packaging of any product, or (3) any appeal grading or appeal inspection of any previously graded or inspected product. "Inspector" means any employee of the Department authorized by the Secretary, or any other person to whom a license has been issued by the Secretary, to inspect and certify the quality, quantity, and condition of products. "Interested party" means any person financially interested in a transaction involving any grading or appeal grading of any product. means (1) "National Supervisor" the officer in charge of the poultry grading service of the Service, and (2) such other employee of the Service as may be designated by him. "Office of grading" means the office of any grader or inspector. "Official plant" means any plant in which the facilities and methods of operation therein have been found by the Administrator to be suitable and adequate for grading service or continuous inspection in accordance with this part and in which grading service is carried on. "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, business trust, corporation, or any organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not. "Product" or "products" means eggs (whether shell, liquid, frozen, or dried) and egg products. Such term shall also include any food product which is prepared or manufactured from any product if such product constitutes a substantial portion, by weight, of all the ingredients used in the preparation or manufacture of such food product. "Quality" means the inherent properties of any product which determine its relative degree of excellence. "Regulations" means the provisions in this part. "Sampling" means the act of taking samples of any product for grading. "Sanitize" means the application of a bactericidal treatment which is approved as being effective in destroying microorganisms, including pathogens. "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department or any other officer or employee of the Department to whom there has heretofore been delegated, or to whom there may hereafter be delegated, the authority to act in his stead. "Service" means the Consumer and Marketing Service of the Department. "Shell eggs" means the shell eggs of the domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose, and guinea. "Stabilization" means the subjection of any egg product to a desugaring process. [20 F.R. 1865, Mar. 29, 1955, as amended at 20 F. R. 9893, Dec. 23, 1955; 21 F. R. 2028, Mar. 31, 1956; 31 F.R. 14983, Nov. 29, 1966; 31 F.R. 16516, Dec. 28, 1966; 34 F.R. 20036, Dec. 23, 1969] § 55.2a Designation of official certificates, memoranda, marks, other identifications, and devices for purposes of the Agricultural Marketing Act. Subsection 203 (h) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended by Public Law 272, 84th Congress, provides criminal penalties for various specified offenses relating to official certificates, memoranda, marks or other identifications, and devices for making such marks or identifications, issued or authorized under section 203 of said act, and certain misrepresentations concerning the inspection or grading of agricultural products under said section. For the purposes of said subsection and the provisions in this part, the terms listed below shall have the respective meanings specified: (a) "Official certificate" means any form of certification, either written or printed, used under this part to certify with respect to the sampling, inspection, class, grade, quality, size, quantity, or condition of products (including the compliance of products with applicable specifications). (b) "Official memorandum" means any initial record of findings made by an authorized person in the process of grading, inspecting, or sampling pursuant to this part, any processing or plantoperation report made by an authorized person in connection with grading, inspecting or sampling under this part, and any report made by an authorized person of services performed pursuant to this part. (c) "Official mark" means the grade mark, inspection mark, and any other mark or symbol formulated pursuant to the regulations in this part, stating that the product was graded or inspected, or for the purpose of maintaining the identity of the product. (d) "Official identification" means any United States (U. S.) standard designation of class, grade, quality, size, quantity, or condition specified in this part or any symbol, stamp, label, or seal indicating that the product has been officially graded or inspected and/or indicating the class, grade, quality, size, quantity, or condition of the product approved by the Administrator and authorized to be affixed to any product, or affixed to or printed on the packaging material of any product. (e) "Official device" means a printed label, or other method as approved by the Administrator for the purpose of applying any official mark or other identification to any product or the packaging material thereof. [20 F.R. 9893, Dec. 23, 1955, as amended at 34 F.R. 20036, Dec. 23, 1969] ADMINISTRATION § 55.3 Authority. The Administrator shall perform, for and under the supervision of the Secretary, such duties as the Secretary may require in the enforcement or administration of the provisions of the act and this part. The Administrator is authorized to waive for a limited period any particular provisions of the regulations to permit experimentation so that new procedures, equipment, and processing techniques may be tested to facilitate definite improvements and at the same time to determine full compliance with the spirit and intent of the regulations. [20 F.R. 1865, Mar. 29, 1955' GENERAL § 55.4 Kinds of service available. The regulations in this part provide for the following kinds of service: (a) Continuous inspection of processing liquid and frozen egg products in official plants. (b) Continuous inspection of processing dried egg products in official plants. (c) Sampling and laboratory analysis of liquid, frozen, and dried egg products prepared in official plants. (d) Condition inspection of egg products which were prepared in official plants. (e) Condition inspection, sampling, and laboratory analysis of frozen egg products which were prepared in nonofficial plants. (f) Laboratory analysis of samples (with or without added ingredients) of dried and frozen egg products which were prepared in nonofficial plants and which are submitted to the laboratory by the applicant. [20 F.R. 1865, Mar. 29, 1955, as amended at 27 F.R. 8580, Aug. 28, 1962; 34 F.R. 20036, Dec. 23, 1969] § 55.5 Where grading service is offered. Any product may be graded or inspected wherever a grader or inspector is available and the facilities and the conditions are satisfactory for the conduct of the grading service. [31 F.R. 16516, Dec. 28, 1966] § 55.6 Basis of service. (a) Products shall be graded or inspected in accordance with such standards, methods, and instructions as may be issued or approved by the Administrator. All grading service shall be subject to supervision at all times by the applicable State supervisor, egg products supervisor, area supervisor, and National Supervisor. Whenever the supervisor of a grader or inspector has evidence that such grader or inspector incorrectly graded or inspected a product, such supervisor shall take such action as is necessary to correct the grading or inspection and to cause any improper official identification which appears on the product or containers thereof to be corrected prior to shipment of the product from the place of the initial grading or inspection. (b) Whenever grading or inspection service is performed on a sample basis, such sample shall be drawn in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph except sampling for the presence of salmonellae shall be in accordance with set the provisions forth in § 55.77(p). (1) When frozen egg products are packed in 30-pound or larger containers, a sufficient number of randomly selected containers shall be selected equivalent to not less than the square root of the total number in the lot. When frozen egg products are packed in smaller containers, the number of containers to be selected shall be not less than the figure obtained by dividing the total net weight of the lot by 30 and extracting the square root thereof. For sampling purposes, a lot shall consist of not more than 45,000 pounds. (2) Samples of dried egg solids of appropriate size shall be drawn in approximately equal portions from four randomly selected containers in each lot. For sampling purposes, a lot shall consist of not more than 15,000 pounds. If the lot consists of less than four containers, the sample shall be drawn in equal portions from each container in the lot. (c) Condition inspection of frozen egg products prepared in nonofficial plants shall be on a container-by-container basis. No certification of product shall be made other than the reporting of the organoleptic condition for the containers of product in the lot as determined by examination of the product. 131 F.R. 14983, Nov. 29, 1966, and 34 F.R. 20036, Dec. 23, 1969] PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES § 55.10 Licensed graders and inspectors. (a) Any person who is a Federal or State employee, possessing proper qualifications as determined by an examination for competency and who is to perform services pursuant to this part, may be licensed by the Secretary as a grader or inspector. (b) All licenses issued by the Secretary are to be countersigned by the officer-in-charge of the poultry grading service of the Consumer and Marketing Service or by any other official of such Service designated by such officer. (c) No person may be licensed to grade or inspect any product in which he is financially interested. [31 F.R. 16516, Dec. 28, 1966] § 55.11 Authorization to perform limited grading or inspection services. Any person who is employed by any official plant and possesses proper qualifications, as determined by the Administrator, may be authorized to inspect liquid and frozen eggs that are produced under the supervision of an inspector. No person to whom such authorization is granted shall have authority to issue any grading certificates, grading memoranda, or other official documents; and all eggs (whether shell, liquid, or frozen) which are graded or inspected by any such person shall thereafter be check graded or check inspected by a grader or inspector. Each authorization shall be signed by the grader or inspector who determined the qualifications of the person authorized to perform such limited grading or inspection services. When the employee of an official plant ceases to perform such limited grading or inspection services at the plant, his authorization shall be automatically canceled. [31 F.R. 2772, Feb. 16, 1966] Pending final action by the Secretary, the person who countersigns the license or signs the authorization to perform limited grading or inspection services may, whenever he deems such action necessary, suspend any license or authority to perform limited grading or inspection services issued pursuant to this part, by giving notice of such suspension to the respective licensee or person authorized to perform limited grading or inspection services, accompanied by a statement of the reasons thereof. Within 7 days after the receipt of the aforesaid notice and statement of reasons by the licensee or person authorized to perform limited grading or inspection service, he may file an appeal in writing, with the Secretary, supported by any argument or evidence that he may wish to offer as to why his license or authorization should not be suspended or revoked. After the expiration of the aforesaid 7-day period and consideration of such argument and evidence, the Secretary will take such All graders, inspectors, and supervisors of packaging shall each have in possession at all times, and present upon request, while on duty, the means of identification furnished by the Department to such person. [31 F.R. 16516, Dec. 28, 1966] § 55.16 Political activity. All graders and inspectors are forbidden during the period of their respective appointments or licenses, to take an active part in political management or in political campaigns. Political activities in city, county, State, or national elections, whether primary or regular, or in behalf of any party or candidate, or any measure to be voted upon, is prohibited. This applies to all appointees, including, but not being limited to, temporary and cooperative employees and employees on leave of absence with or without pay. Willful violation of this section will constitute grounds for dismissal in the case of appointees and revocation of licenses in the case of licensees. [31 F.R. 16516, Dec. 28, 1966] § 55.17 Authority and duties of inspectors performing service on a resident inspection basis. (a) Each inspector is authorized: (1) To make such observations and inspections as he deems necessary to enable him to certify that egg products have been prepared, processed, stored, |