§310.2 Identification of carcass with certain severed parts thereof and with animal from which derived.

(a) The head, tail, tongue, thymus gland, and all viscera of each slaughtered animal, and all blood and other parts of such animal to be used in the preparation of meat food products or medical products, shall be handled in such a manner as to identify them with the rest of the carcass and as being derived from the particular animal involved, until the post-mortem examination of the carcass and parts thereof has been completed. Such handling shall include the retention of ear tags, backtags, implants, and other identifying devices affixed to the animal, in such a way to relate them to the carcass until the post-mortem examination has been completed.

(b) The official State-Federal Department backtag on any carcass shall:

(1)(1) Be removed from the hide of the animal by an establishment employee and placed in a clear plastic bag. The bag containing the tag shall be affixed to the corresponding carcass.

(ii) The bag containing the tag shall be removed from the carcass by an establishment employee and presented with the viscera to the Program inspector at the point where such inspector conducts the viscera inspection.

(2)(i) Brucellosis and tuberculosis ear tags, herd identification ear tags, sales tags, ear bangles, and similar identification devices shall be removed from the animal's hide or ear by an establishment employee and shall be placed in a clear plastic bag and affixed to the corresponding carcass.

(ii) The bag containing the tag shall be removed from the carcass by an establishment employee and presented with the viscera to the Program inspector at the point where such inspector conducts the viscera inspection.

(3) In cases where both types of devices described in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section are present on the same animal, both types may be placed in the same plastic bag or in two separate bags.

(4) The circuit supervisor may allow the use of any alternate method proposed by the operator of an official establishment for handling the type of devices described in paragraph (b)(2) of

this section if such alternate method would provide a ready means of identifying a specific carcass with the corresponding devices by a Program inspector during the post-mortem inspection.

(5) Disposition and use of identifying devices.

(i) The official State-Federal Department backtags will be collected by a Program inspector and used to obtain traceback information necessary for proper disposition of the animal or carcass and otherwise handled according to instructions issued to the inspectors.

(ii) The devices described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section shall be collected by the Program inspector when required to obtain traceback information necessary for proper disposition of the animal or carcass and for controlling the slaughter of reactor animals. Devices not collected for these purposes shall be discarded after the postmortem examination is complete.

(6) Plastic bags used by the establishment for collecting identifying devices will be furnished by the Department.

[35 FR 15567, Oct. 3, 1970; 36 FR 12004, June 24, 1971]

$310.3 Carcasses and parts in certain instances to be retained.

Each carcass, including all detached organs and other parts, in which any lesion or other condition is found that might render the meat or any part unfit for food purposes, or otherwise adulterated, and which for that reason would require a subsequent inspection, shall be retained by the Program employee at the time of inspection. The identity of every such retained carcass, detached organ, or other part shall be maintained until the final inspection has been completed. Retained carcasses shall not be washed or trimmed unless authorized by the Program employee.

§310.4 Identification of carcasses and parts; tagging.

Such devices and methods as may be approved by the Administrator may be used for the temporary identification of retained carcasses, organs, and other parts. In all cases, the identification shall be further established by affixing

"U.S. Retained" tags as soon as practicable and before final inspection. These tags shall not be removed except by a Program employee.

$310.5 Condemned

carcasses and parts to be so marked; tanking; separation.

Each carcass or part which is found on final inspection to be unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise adulterated shall be conspicuously marked, on the surface tissues thereof, by a Program employee at the time of inspection, as “U.S. Inspected and Condemned." Condemned detached organs and other parts of such character that they cannot be so marked shall be placed immediately in trucks or receptacles which shall be kept plainly marked “U.S. Condemned," in letters not less than 2 inches high. All condemned carcasses and parts shall remain in the custody of a Program employee and shall be disposed of as required in the regulations in part 314 of this subchapter at or before the close of the day on which they are condemned.

$310.6 Carcasses and parts passed for cooking; marking.

Carcasses and parts passed for cooking shall be marked conspicuously on the surface tissues thereof by a Program employee at the time of inspection, "U.S. Passed for Cooking." All such carcasses and parts shall be cooked in accordance with part 315 of this subchapter, and until so cooked shall remain in the custody of a Program employee.

$310.7 Removal of spermatic cords, pizzles and preputial diverticuli. Spermatic cords and pizzles shall be removed from all carcasses. Preputial diverticuli shall be removed from hog carcasses.

$310.8 Passing and marking of carcasses and parts.

Carcasses and parts found to be sound, healthful, wholesome, and otherwise not adulterated shall be passed and marked as provided in part 316 of this subchapter. In all cases where carcasses showing localized lesions are passed for food or for cooking and

"U.S. Retained" tags are attached to the carcasses, the affected tissues shall be removed and condemned before the tags are removed. "U.S. Retained" tags shall be removed only by a Program employee.

§310.9 Anthrax; carcasses not to be eviscerated; disposition of affected carcasses; hides, hoofs, horns, hair, viscera and contents, and fat; handling of blood and scalding vat water; general cleanup and disinfection.

(a) Carcasses found before evisceration to be affected with anthrax shall not be eviscerated but shall be retained, condemned, and immediately tanked or otherwise disposed of as provided in part 314 of this subchapter.

(b) All carcasses and all parts, including hides, hoofs, horns, hair, viscera and contents, blood, and fat of any livestock found to be affected with anthrax shall be condemned and immediately disposed of as provided in part 314 of this subchapter, except that the blood may be handled through the usual blood cooking and drying equipment.

(c) Any part of any carcass that is contaminated with anthrax-infected material through contact with soiled instruments or otherwise shall be immediately condemned and disposed of as provided in part 314 of this subchapter.

(d) The scalding vat water through which hog carcasses affected with anthrax have passed shall be immediately drained into the sewer and all parts of the scalding vat shall be cleaned and disinfected as provided in paragraph (e) of this section.

(e)(1) That portion of the slaughtering department, including the bleeding area, scalding vat, gambrelling bench, floors, walls, posts, platforms, saws, cleavers, knives, and hooks, as well as employees' boots and aprons, contaminated through contact with anthrax-infected material, shall, except as provided in paragraph (e)(2) of this section be cleaned immediately and disinfected with one of the following

disinfectants

or other disinfectant 1approved specifically for this purpose by the Administrator:

(i) A 5 percent solution of sodium hydroxide or commercial lye containing at least 94 percent of sodium hydroxide. The solution shall be freshly prepared immediately before use by dissolving 21⁄2 pounds of sodium hydroxide or lye in 51⁄2 gallons of hot water and shall be applied as near scalding hot as possible to be most effective. (Owing to the extremely caustic nature of sodium hydroxide solution, precautionary measures such as the wearing of rubber gloves and boots to protect the hands and feet, and goggles to protect the eyes, should be taken by those engaged in the disinfection process. It is also advisable to have an acid solution, such as vinegar, in readiness in case any of the sodium hydroxide solution should come in contact with any part of the body.)

(ii) A solution of sodium hypochlorite containing approximately one-half of 1 percent (5,000 parts per million) of available chlorine. The solution shall be freshly prepared.

(iii) When a disinfectant solution has been applied to equipment which will afterwards contact product, the equipment shall be rinsed with clean water before such contact.

(2) In case anthrax infection is found in the hog slaughtering department, an immediate preliminary disinfection shall be made from the head-dropper's station to the point where the disease is detected and the affected carcasses shall be cut down from the rail and removed from the room. Upon completion of the slaughtering of the lot of hogs of which the anthrax-infected animals were a part, slaughtering operations shall cease, and a thorough cleanup and disinfection shall be made, as provided in paragraph (e)(1) of this section. If the slaughter of the lot has not been completed by the close of the day on which anthrax was detected, the cleanup and disinfection shall not be deferred beyond the close of that day.

1A list of disinfectants approved for this purpose is available upon request to the Scientific Services, Meat and Poultry Inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

(3) The first and indispensable precautionary step for persons who have handled anthrax material is thorough cleansing of the hands and arms with liquid soap and running hot water. It is important that this step be taken immediately after exposure, before vegetative anthrax organisms have had time to form spores. In the cleansing, a brush or other appropriate appliance shall be used to insure the removal of all contaminating material from under and about the fingernails. This process of cleansing is most effective when performed in repeated cycles of lathering and rinsing rather than in spending the same amount of time in scrubbing with a single lathering. After the hands have been cleansed thoroughly and rinsed free of soap, they may, if desired, be immersed for about 1 minute in a 1:1,000 solution of bichloride of mercury, followed by thorough rinsing in clean running water. Supplies of bichloride of mercury for the purpose must be held in the custody of the veterinary medical officer. (As a precautionary measure, all persons exposed to anthrax infection should report promptly any suspicious condition (sore or carbuncle) or symptom to a physician, in order that anti-anthrax serum or other treatment may be administered as indicated.)

[35 FR 15567, Oct. 3, 1970; 36 FR 11903, June 23, 1971]

§310.10 Carcasses with skin or hide on; cleaning before evisceration; removal of larvae of Hypodermae, external parasites and other pathological skin conditions.

When a carcass is to be dressed with the skin or hide left on, the skin or hide shall be thoroughly washed and cleaned before any incision is made for the purpose of removing any part thereof or evisceration, except that where calves are slaughtered by the kosher method, the heads shall be removed from the carcasses, before washing of the carcasses. The skin shall be removed at the time of post-mortem inspection from any calf carcass infested with the larvae of the "oxwarble" fly (Hypoderma lineata and Hypoderma bovis), or external parasites, or affected with other pathological skin conditions.

$310.11 Cleaning of hog carcasses before incising.

All hair, scurf, dirt, hoofs and claws shall be removed from hog carcasses, and the carcasses shall be thoroughly washed and cleaned before any incision is made for inspection or evisceration. §310.12 Sternum to be split; abdominal and thoracic viscera to be removed.

The sternum of each carcass shall be split and the abdominal and thoracic viscera shall be removed at the time of slaughter in order to allow proper inspection.

$310.13 Inflating carcasses or parts thereof; transferring caul or other fat.

(a)(1) Establishments shall not inflate carcasses or parts of carcasses with air, except as set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(2)(i) Any establishment slaughtering livestock that wishes to inflate carcasses or parts thereof with air, using procedures other than the approved methods listed below, shall submit a request for approval for experimental testing to the Administrator. Such a request shall include the purpose of the use of air, a detailed description of the procedure for injecting the air and evidence that the procedure can be performed in a sanitary manner.

(ii) The Administrator shall evaluate newly submitted procedures for the use of air. If the Administrator determines that any such procedure will likely result in wholesome, unadulterated meat product, then the Administrator shall approve experimental testing of the new procedure. In any situation where the Administrator finds a submitted procedure to be unlikely to result in wholesome, unadulterated meat product, the Administrator shall send written notification to the establishment of the denial of such approval. The establishment may re-submit for evaluation a testing procedure that has been denied, provided that modifications have been made to address the original reason for denial. The establishment also shall be afforded an opportunity to submit a written statement in response to the notification of denial. In those instances where there is a conflict of

facts, a hearing, under applicable rules of practice, will be held to resolve the conflict.

(iii) Final approval of an acceptable new proposed method shall be effectuated by modifying, through rulemaking procedures, the Federal regulations to include the new method.

(iv) Uses for which approval is granted are:

(A) Compressed air injection of cattle feet to facilitate removal of hair from feet intended for human consumption;

(B) Compressed air injection under the skin of cattle heads to facilitate head skinning;

(C) Compressed air injection into the skull in conjunction with a captive bolt stunner to hold the animal still for dressing operations; or

(D) Compressed air injected into the abdominal cavity of swine to facilitate the skinning operation and to minimize the loss of body fat.

The method of compressed air injection shall be a sanitary procedure that inIcludes air filtration and injection needle disinfection. Air filtration shall consist of not less than two stages. An initial stage of filtration shall occur at or near the use point and shall consist of an aerosol or coalescing filter, capable of filtration to not more than 0.75 micron, for the removal of oil and water. A subsequent stage of filtration shall occur at or near the point of needle hose attachment to the air line and shall be a particulate filter, capable of filtration to not more than 0.3 micron. The filters shall be maintained by inspecting regularly to assure they are working properly, and cleaned or replaced when necessary. The injection needle shall be disinfected by placement in water that is not less than 180 °F. for at least 10 seconds immediately prior to each injection.

(b) Transferring the caul or other fat from a fat to a lean carcass is prohibited.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0583-0015)

[54 FR 36756, Sept. 5, 1989, as amended at 55 FR 29565, July 20, 1990]

§310.14 Handling of bruised parts.

When only a portion of a carcass is to be condemned on account of slight