Section 29.23 Grading

MINNESOTA STATUTES AND CODES

29.23 GRADING.

Subdivision 1.Grades, weight classes and standards for quality.

All eggs purchased on the basis of grade by the first licensed buyer shall be graded in accordance with grade and weight classes established by the commissioner. The commissioner shall establish, by rule, and from time to time, may amend or revise, grades, weight classes, and standards for quality. When grades, weight classes, and standards for quality have been fixed by the secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the United States, they must be accepted and published by the commissioner as definitions or standards for eggs in interstate and intrastate commerce.

Subd. 2.Equipment.

The commissioner shall also by rule provide for minimum plant and equipment requirements for candling, grading, handling and storing eggs, and shall define candling. Equipment in use by a wholesale food handler before July 1, 1991, that does not meet the design and fabrication requirements of this chapter may remain in use if it is in good repair, capable of being maintained in a sanitary condition, and capable of maintaining a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) or less.

Subd. 3.Egg temperature.

Eggs must be held at a temperature not to exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) after being received by the egg handler except for cleaning, sanitizing, grading, and further processing when they must immediately be placed under refrigeration that is maintained at 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) or below. Eggs offered for sale by a retail food handler must be held at a temperature not to exceed 41 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius). Equipment in use prior to August 1, 1991, is not subject to this requirement. Shell eggs that have been frozen must not be offered for sale except as approved by the commissioner.

Subd. 4.Vehicle temperature.

A vehicle used to transport shell eggs from a warehouse, retail store, candling and grading facility, or egg holding facility must have an ambient air temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) or below.