Sec. 21a-41. (Formerly Sec. 19-193h). Sanitary provisions. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 21a-41. (Formerly Sec. 19-193h). Sanitary provisions. (a) Any food, beverage or ingredient sold or offered or exhibited for sale in a vending machine shall be obtained only from sources which comply with municipal health ordinances and applicable state and federal laws and regulations. Such products shall be clean and wholesome and free from spoilage and shall be processed, prepared, handled and stored in such manner as to be protected against contamination and adulteration. All product contact surfaces of containers and equipment shall be protected from contamination.

      (b) The machine location shall be such as to minimize the potential for contamination of the product, shall be easy to clean, and shall be kept clean.

      (c) The exterior construction of the vending machine shall be such as to facilitate cleaning and to minimize entrance of insects and rodents, and the exterior of the machine shall be kept clean. Service connections shall be such as to protect against unintentional or accidental interruption of service to the machine.

      (d) All interior surfaces and component parts of the vending machine shall be so designed and constructed as to permit easy cleaning, and shall be kept clean. All product contact surfaces of the machine shall be of smooth, nontoxic, corrosion-resistant and relatively nonabsorbent material, and shall be capable of withstanding repeated cleaning and bactericidal treatment by normal procedures. Such surfaces shall be protected against contamination.

      (e) Water used in vending machines shall be from an approved source and shall be of a safe and sanitary quality.

      (f) All wastes shall be properly disposed of and, pending disposition, shall be kept in suitable containers so as to prevent creating a nuisance.

      (g) Foods, beverages and ingredients, and product contact surfaces of containers, equipment and supplies, shall be protected from contamination while in transit to the machine location. Readily perishable foods and beverages while in transit shall be maintained at a temperature not higher than fifty degrees Fahrenheit or not lower than one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

      (h) Employees shall keep their hands clean, and shall wear clean outer garments, while engaged in handling foods or beverages or product contact surfaces of utensils or equipment.

      (i) No employee with any disease in a communicable form, or who is a carrier of such disease, shall work in any commissary or in vending machine operations in any capacity which brings him into contact with the production, handling, storage or transportation of foods, beverages, ingredients or equipment used in vending machine operations; and no operator shall employ in any such capacity and such person, or any person suspected of having any disease in a communicable form or of being a carrier of such disease. Any employee who has a discharging or infected wound, sore or lesion on hands, arms or any exposed portion of the body shall be excluded from those operations which will bring him into contact with foods, beverages, utensils or equipment used in vending machine operations. Any operator among whose employees there occurs a communicable disease or who suspects that any employee has contracted any disease in a communicable form or has become a carrier of such disease shall notify the commissioner immediately.

      (j) When suspicion arises as to the possibility of transmission of infection from any employee, the commissioner is authorized to require any or all of the following measures: (1) The immediate exclusion of the employee from all commissaries and vending machine operations; (2) the immediate closing of the commissaries and operations concerned until, in the opinion of the commissioner, no further danger of disease outbreak exists; (3) adequate medical examinations of the employee and of his associates, with such laboratory examinations as may be indicated.

      (1961, P.A. 579, S. 8.)

      History: Sec. 19-193h transferred to Sec. 21a-41 in 1983.