Part VIII Special Conditions for Pasteurised or Sterilised Meat Products in Cans and Other Hermetically Sealed ContainersI1

a device for conveying empty cans hygienically to the work room;

equipment enabling cans to be thoroughly cleaned immediately before filling;

equipment for washing containers in potable water hot enough to remove grease after they have been hermetically sealed and before retorting;

a suitable room, area or installation for cooling and drying containers after heat treatment;

facilities for the incubation of samples taken from meat products packed in containers;

adequate facilities for checking whether cans are hermetically sealed and undamaged.

containers are removed from the heating equipment at a sufficiently high temperature to ensure rapid evaporation of moisture and are not touched by hand until completely dry;

containers in which gas appears to be present undergo a further examination;

the thermometers of heating equipment are checked against calibrated thermometers;

containers are:

check by sampling that a heat treatment is applied to meat products intended for storing at ambient temperature which is capable of destroying or inactivating all pathogenic micro-organisms and their spores. The operator or manager must keep a record of all relevant manufacturing parameters including (but not limited to) duration of heating, temperature, filling, size of containers. The heat treatment apparatus must be fitted with control devices making it possible to check that containers have undergone effective heat treatment;

check by sampling that the material use for the containers meets Community requirements relating to materials intended to come into contact with foodstuffs;

check on the daily output at intervals determined in advance, to ensure the efficacy of the sealing. To this end, suitable equipment must be available for examining perpendicular sections and the seams of the sealed cans;

undertake additional checks by sampling to ensure that—

such samples shall in each case be selected on the basis of a sampling schedule which takes account of the different risks inherent in different products and processes;

undertake such checks as are necessary to ensure that the cooling water contains a residual level of chlorine after use, unless the enforcement authority is satisfied that the water is potable water.

The enforcement authority may accept the addition of certain substances to the water used in retorts in order to prevent corrosion of cans and to soften and disinfect the water.

The enforcement authority may allow the use of recirculated water for cooling heat-processed containers. Such water shall be purified and have either been treated with chlorine or undergone some other approved treatment.

The recirculated water shall circulate in closed circuit so that it cannot be used for other purposes. However, where there is no risk of contamination, the water used for cooling containers and water from retorts may be used at the end of a working period for cleaning floors.