Any person or entity who manufactures, transports, stores, or sells ice shall comply with all of the following:
(a) A room in which ice is manufactured shall be used for no other purpose than the manufacture of ice and the production of refrigeration, and may contain refrigeration equipment and machinery. This subdivision shall not apply to any food facility as defined in Section 113785.
(b) Ice storage or processing areas shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition and no noxious or offensive odors, smoking, or other air pollution shall be permitted therein.
(c) Cover tops for tank cans shall have a smooth, painted, or treated surface, and shall be cleaned daily. Water used for cleaning shall not be permitted to drip into freezing cans. Only potable water shall be used in sprays and in the thaw tanks for the removal of ice from cans. Water coverage tanks shall be covered and provided with filtered vents.
(d) Crushed, cubed, or shaved ice, intended for human consumption, shall be stored in a manner that prevents its pollution or contamination.
(e) Soil, waste, or drain pipes shall not be installed or maintained above any ice platform, loading space, ice container, ice storage room, dip tank or any place where leakage from the pipes may drop into, or upon any ice or upon any area or equipment used in the manufacture of ice, unless a safety device shall be installed under the pipes drained to an open receptacle or drain so as to prevent pollution of ice, water, or equipment used in the manufacture of the ice.
(f) Block ice-loading platforms shall be washed with water as often as necessary to keep them in a clean and sanitary condition, but not less than once each day.
(g) Block ice pullers and block ice storage-room employees shall wear rubber overshoes while on duty. The rubber overshoes shall be removed when the employee leaves the storage or tank room, except that if the rubber overshoes are not removed, they shall be cleaned and disinfected before reentering the storage or tank room. The use of street shoes without rubber overshoes in these areas is prohibited.
(h) All frozen unpackaged ice blocks intended for sale for human consumption or for the refrigeration of food products shall be washed thoroughly with potable water. Ice manufactured for industrial purposes need not be washed prior to shipping but shall be handled and stored separately from ice intended for human consumption.
(i) Ice shall be handled only with clean tongs, ice-carrying bags, scoops, or other sanitary containers, and shall not be directly handled with bare hands.
(j) Single service supplies shall be stored, dispensed, and handled in a sanitary manner and shall be used only once.
(k) Persons not directly involved in the manufacture, processing, packaging, or storing of ice, in the maintenance of facilities and equipment used therefore, or in the management, supervision, or inspection thereof, shall not be permitted in any area where ice is manufactured, processed, packaged, or stored, unless personal cleanliness and hygienic practices are taken to prevent contamination of the product. These areas shall have signs posted to this effect.
( l) Bacteriological tests of the finished ice shall be conducted not less than biannually, chemical and physical tests annually, and radiological tests every four years, to insure that ice manufactured for human consumption or for the refrigeration of food products complies with the primary drinking water standards adopted by the department pursuant to Section 116365.
(m) No ice produced out of state shall be sold or distributed within this state unless it complies with this article.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018