21 CFR 117.37: Sanitary facilities and controls

Each plant must be equipped with adequate sanitary facilities and accommodations including:

(a)Water supply. The water supply must be adequate for the operations intended and must be derived from an adequate source. Any water that contacts food, food-contact surfaces, or food-packaging materials must be safe and of adequate sanitary quality. Running water at a suitable temperature, and under pressure as needed, must be provided in all areas where required for the processing of food, for the cleaning of equipment, utensils, and food-packaging materials, or for employee sanitary facilities.

(b)Plumbing. Plumbing must be of adequate size and design and adequately installed and maintained to:

(1)Carry adequate quantities of water to required locations throughout the plant.

(2)Properly convey sewage and liquid disposable waste from the plant.

(3)Avoid constituting a source of contamination to food, water supplies, equipment, or utensils or creating an unsanitary condition.

(4)Provide adequate floor drainage in all areas where floors are subject to flooding-type cleaning or where normal operations release or discharge water or other liquid waste on the floor.

(5)Provide that there is not backflow from, or cross-connection between, piping systems that discharge waste water or sewage and piping systems that carry water for food or food manufacturing.

(c)Sewage disposal. Sewage must be disposed of into an adequate sewerage system or disposed of through other adequate means.

(d)Toilet facilities. Each plant must provide employees with adequate, readily accessible toilet facilities. Toilet facilities must be kept clean and must not be a potential source of contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, or food-packaging materials.

(e)Hand-washing facilities. Each plant must provide hand-washing facilities designed to ensure that an employee's hands are not a source of contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, or food-packaging materials, by providing facilities that are adequate, convenient, and furnish running water at a suitable temperature.

(f)Rubbish and offal disposal. Rubbish and any offal must be so conveyed, stored, and disposed of as to minimize the development of odor, minimize the potential for the waste becoming an attractant and harborage or breeding place for pests, and protect against contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, food-packaging materials, water supplies, and ground surfaces.