§ 50-137. Design and fabrication.

(a)

Generally. All equipment and utensils of a food service establishment, including plasticware, shall be designed and fabricated for durability under conditions of normal use and shall be resistant to denting, buckling, pitting, chipping and crazing.

(1)

Food contact surfaces shall be easily cleanable, smooth and free of breaks, open seams, cracks, chips, pits and similar imperfections and free of difficult-to-clean internal corners and crevices. Cast iron may be used as a food contact surface only if the surface is heated, such as in grills, griddle tops and skillets. Threads shall be designed to facilitate cleaning; ordinary V-type threads are prohibited in food contact surfaces, except that in equipment such as ice makers or hot oil cooking equipment and hot oil filtering systems, such threads shall be minimized.

(2)

Equipment containing bearings and gears requiring unsafe lubricants shall be designed and constructed so that the lubricant cannot leak, drip or be forced into food or onto food contact surfaces. Only safe lubricants shall be used on equipment designed to receive lubrication of bearings and gears on or within food contact surfaces.

(3)

Tubing conveying beverages or beverage ingredients to dispensing heads may be in contact with stored ice, provided that such tubing is fabricated from safe materials, is grommeted at entry and exit points to preclude moisture (condensation) from entering the ice machine or the ice storage bin and is kept clean. Drainage or drainage tubes from dispensing units shall not pass through the ice machine or the ice storage bin.

(4)

Sinks and drainboards shall be self-draining.

(b)

Accessibility. Unless designed for in-place cleaning, food contact surfaces shall be accessible for cleaning and inspection:

(1)

Without being disassembled;

(2)

By disassembling without the use of tools; or

(3)

By easy disassembling with the use of only simple tools such as a mallet, a screwdriver or an open-end wrench kept available near the equipment.

(c)

In-place cleaning. Equipment intended for in-place cleaning shall be so designed and fabricated that:

(1)

Cleaning and sanitizing solutions can be circulated throughout a fixed system using an effective cleaning and sanitizing regimen;

(2)

Cleaning and sanitizing solutions will contact all interior food contact surfaces; and

(3)

The system is self-draining or capable of being completely evacuated.

(d)

Pressure spray cleaning. Fixed equipment designed and fabricated to be cleaned and sanitized by pressure spray methods shall have sealed electrical wiring, switches and connections.

(e)

Thermometers. Indicating thermometers required for immersion into food or cooking media shall be of metal stem-type construction, numerically scaled and accurate to plus-minus two degrees Fahrenheit.

(f)

Non-food-contact surfaces. Surfaces of equipment not intended for contact with food, but which are exposed to splash or food debris or otherwise require frequent cleaning, shall be designed and fabricated to be smooth, washable, free of unnecessary ledges, projections or crevices and readily accessible for cleaning and shall be of such materials and in such repair as to be easily maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.

(g)

Ventilation hoods. Ventilation hoods and devices shall be designed to prevent grease or condensation from collecting on walls and ceilings and from dripping into food or onto food contact surfaces. Filters or other grease-extracting equipment shall be readily removable for cleaning and replacement if not designed to be cleaned in place.

(h)

Existing equipment. Equipment that was installed in a food service establishment prior to the effective date of the ordinance from which this article derives and that does not fully meet all of the design and fabrication requirements of this section shall be deemed acceptable in that establishment if it is in good repair, capable of being maintained in a sanitary condition and the food contact surfaces are nontoxic. Replacement equipment and new equipment acquired after the effective date of the ordinance from which this article derives shall meet the requirements of this article.

(Code 1970, § 11-76; Ord. No. 80-24, §§ 4.7—4.14, 9-23-80)