SECTION 748.3441. What general requirements apply to food service and preparation?

(a) All food and drinks must be of safe quality and must be stored, prepared, distributed, and served under sanitary and safe conditions.

(b) You must sanitize food service equipment, dishware, and utensils after each use. All eating and cookware must be properly stored.

(c) You must keep furniture, equipment, food contact surfaces, and other areas where food is prepared, eaten, or stored clean and in good repair.

(d) If your operation lacks adequate facilities for sanitizing dishes and utensils, you must only use disposable, single-use items.

(e) You must discard single-service napkins, bibs, dishware, containers, and utensils after each use.

(f) You must wash re-useable napkins and bibs after each use.

(g) You must wash re-useable tablecloths when soiled.

(h) Persons who handle food and/or eating utensils for the group must:

(1) Maintain personal cleanliness;

(2) Keep hands clean at all times;

(3) Wash his hands with soap and water thoroughly after each visit to the toilet;

(4) Be free of infections commonly transmitted through the handling of food or drink and free of communicable diseases; and

(5) Minimize food contamination through the use of utensils.

(i) Food packages must be in good condition and protect the integrity of the contents, so food is not exposed to adulteration or potential contaminants. You must discard cans that are leaking, bulging, or rusted.

(j) When you serve an infant or toddler:

(1) If the child is capable of sitting up, you must serve food on plates, napkins, or other sanitary holders, such as a high chair tray; and

(2) You must not serve foods that present a risk of choking.

(k) When you prepare a meal at the operation, the food preparation area must be in a separate space from the eating, play, and bathroom areas.

(l) Fruits and vegetables must be properly washed before use.

(m) Food must be thawed in the refrigerator, in cold water in a leak-proof bag, or in the microwave.

(n) Food must be protected from contamination.

(o) You must keep raw meat, poultry, fish, and their juices away from other food. After cutting raw meat, you must wash your hands, the cutting board, the knife, and the countertops with hot, soapy water. You must sanitize cutting boards by using a solution of one-teaspoon chlorine bleach in one quart of water.

(p) You must maintain hot food at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above.

(q) You must refrigerate perishable food at proper temperatures:

(1) Within one hour after use when the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit; or

(2) Otherwise, within two hours.

(r) Uneaten food from a person's plate must not be served again or used in the preparation of other dishes.

(s) You must not permit animals to be in the area of food storage, food preparation, and dining.

(t) This rule does not apply to cottage homes.

Source Note: The provisions of this §748.3441 adopted to be effective January 1, 2007, 31 TexReg 7377; amended to be effective September 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 7497; transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909