•   The rule revises ch. ATCP 70, Food Processing Plants, to clarify that egg producers, with flocks of not more than 150 birds, are exempt from food processing plant licensing requirements, provided they only sell eggs directly to consumers on the premises where the eggs are laid, at a farmers' market, or on an egg-sales route.

•   The rule revises ch. ATCP 70, Food Processing Plants, to clarify that egg producers, with flocks of more than 150 birds, who only collect nest-run eggs to sell to licensed egg handlers, are exempt from food processing plant licensing requirements, provided they register with the department.

•   The rule refers egg handlers who hold a food processing plant license to specific sections of ch. ATCP 88 that relate to construction, maintenance, sanitation, packaging and labeling requirements for egg handling.

•   The rule also revises the Wisconsin Food Code found in the appendix of ch. ATCP 75, Retail Food Establishments, to clarify that eggs sold by egg handlers holding a food processing plant license issued by another state, or who are selling eggs directly to the consumer and exempted under s. ATCP 88.02, are allowed to sell eggs at retail. The rule also updates the cited location of restricted egg tolerances from ss. ATCP 88.06 to ATCP 88.26.

•   The rule retitles ch. ATCP 88 from “Egg Grading, Handling, and Labeling" to “Eggs", reflecting the broader scope of the rule. The revised rule organizes provisions into six subchapters to improve ease of use, reorganizes and renumbers existing provisions that are retained from the current rule, and creates new provisions throughout the rule.

•   Section ATCP 88.01 — Definitions. The rule adds definitions to Ch. ATCP 88 for “ambient temperature," “balut," “check," “egg handler," “egg producer," “egg sales route," “farmers' markets," “incubator reject," “leaker," “loss," “nest-run," “official egg products plant," “restricted egg," “storage," and “U.S. Consumer Grade B". The rule also expands the definition of “egg", now limited to chicken eggs, to include turkey, duck, goose, guinea, or other avian species whose eggs are used for human consumption. The rule also separates each federal regulation, related to eggs, into a discrete definition. These changes provide additional support and clarity to the regulatory requirements in the rule.

•   Section ATCP 88.02 — Licensing and registration. The rule creates a provision describing food processing plant, food warehouse, and retail food establishment licensing and registration requirements for egg handling. The rule continues to require anyone who conducts egg handling activities to acquire a food processing plant license, but specifies two exemptions: 1) Egg producers who collect, pack, and store eggs, from a flock of not more than 150 birds, and only sell eggs directly to the consumer at the premises where the eggs are laid, a farmers' market, or on an egg sales route. The rule requires those exempted producers to label packages of eggs, sold under this exemption, as ungraded and uninspected, and include the seller's name, address, and pack date. 2) Egg producers who collect nest-run eggs from a flock of more than 150 birds, register with DATCP, and sell the nest-run eggs to a licensed egg handler. The revision clarifies that a retail food establishment license is required to sell eggs directly to consumers at sites other than the premises where the eggs were laid, including sales at farmers' markets and on egg sales routes. A retail food establishment license is not required for eggs sold directly to consumers at the egg producer's premises.

•   Section ATCP 88.04 — Federal registrations and records. Under federal law, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) require registration for certain egg producers and handlers, so these agencies may identify those egg producers and handlers required by federal law to meet federal regulations designed to reduce the risk of Salmonella enteritidis contamination and ensure the sale of wholesome eggs in commerce. This revision to ATCP 88 requires egg producers to register with the FDA if they are required to do so under 21 CFR 118.11 of the federal egg safety rule. Generally, egg producers with flocks of 3,000 birds or more are required to register with the FDA and meet requirements designed to reduce the risk of Salmonella enteritidis contamination. To ensure Wisconsin egg producers are meeting critical safety requirements in the federal egg safety act, the revised rule also requires Wisconsin egg handlers, receiving eggs from producers who own 3,000 or more laying birds, to maintain records showing that the producers are registered with the FDA. The rule also requires egg handlers who grade and pack eggs for the ultimate consumer to register with the USDA, if required to do so under 7 CFR 57.690 of the federal egg products inspection act. Egg producers and egg handlers are not required to register if they are exempted under the federal egg safety rule or federal egg products inspection act.

•   Section ATCP 88.06 — Egg handling and storage facilities. The rule lists requirements, consistent with those for all food processing plants, related to construction and maintenance of egg handling and storage facilities, doors and windows, lighting, toilet facilities, cleaning facilities, garbage and refuse disposal, and control of pests.

•   Section ATCP 88.08 — Egg handling rooms. The rule retains the requirement that egg storage areas maintain eggs at appropriate temperatures and be equipped with temperature measuring devices. The rule also retains the requirement that candling areas be dark enough to permit accurate determinations of egg quality. The rule adds cleanliness requirements for egg washing and egg grading rooms.

•   Section ATCP 88.10 — Operations water. The rule specifies requirements to ensure water, used in egg handling facilities, is tested and meets drinking water standards. Egg handling facilities are required to keep the results of all health-related tests conducted on operations water.

•   ATCP 88.12 — Equipment and utensil requirements. The rule presents requirements to ensure equipment and utensils used in egg handling establishments are of sanitary design and construction.

•   ATCP 88.14 — Cleaning and sanitizing equipment and utensils. The rule requires that all egg contact surfaces of equipment and utensils be cleaned and sanitized after each day's use, or more frequently if necessary. It outlines the procedure for obtaining department approval for alternative cleaning and sanitizing procedures and methods for storing equipment and utensils.

•   Section ATCP 88.16 — Personnel standards. The rule lists requirements for personnel, including cleanliness, clothing and jewelry, employee health, and prohibitions against consumption of food or beverages, or use of tobacco in egg handling rooms.

•   Section ATCP 88.18 — Temperature standards. The current rule identifies temperature standards for eggs before and after packing. It prohibits the sale of shell eggs that have been frozen. The revised rule maintains those standards and adds temperature standards for eggs during transport and at retail sale, with retail sale temperature standards consistent with the Wisconsin Food Code. The revised rule adds temperature standards for baluts, which are edible fertile eggs.

•   Section ATCP 88.20 — Egg cleaning and storage operations. The revised rule modifies requirements for egg cleaning and storage. It no longer cites the reference to the “List of Proprietary Substances and Nonfood Compounds", which is no longer published by USDA, as a reference for identifying acceptable egg-cleaning or -sanitizing compounds. Instead the rule requires that compounds meet requirements found in 21 CFR part 178.1010 and be registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The revised rule adds provisions requiring that dirty eggs, which cannot be cleaned, shall be discarded and that eggs shall be handled and stored in a safe, sanitary and orderly manner to protect the safety of the eggs and allow for ready inspection and movement of eggs.

•   Section ATCP 88.22 — Candling. The rule requires use of a candling light or automated grading equipment for determining the interior and exterior quality of eggs, and use of a candling light to verify the performance of automated grading equipment.

•   Section ATCP 88.24 — Grading standards for chicken eggs. The revised rule clarifies that grading standards apply to chicken eggs only. The rule maintains the current requirement that graded eggs sold or distributed in Wisconsin shall be labeled for grade and meet grade B or better standards under the United States grade standards, unless they are clearly labeled as “ungraded." The rule maintains the current size or weight class requirement for chicken egg sizes. The rule adds a table illustrating weights for each size or weight class.

•   Section ATCP 88.26 — Minimum tolerance standards. The revised rule maintains the prohibition against selling eggs graded as less than grade B, whether labeled as “graded" or “ungraded," unless the eggs are sold on the premises directly to a consumer and the eggs are labeled as “ungraded."

•   Section ATCP 88.28 — Restricted eggs. The revised rule adds a prohibition against the sale of restricted eggs and provisions describing the disposition of restricted eggs.

•   Section ATCP 88.30 — Shell egg protection. The rule maintains the current provision that oiling eggs, to protect shells, shall be performed in a manner that prevents egg contamination and preserves egg quality. The revised rule removes the requirement that oil used to protect eggs must be listed in the “List of Proprietary Substances and Nonfood Compounds", which USDA no longer publishes, and substitutes a requirement that oil must comply with 21 CFR parts 172.878 and 178.3620(a) relating to mineral oil.

•   Section ATCP 88.32 — Egg packing. The rule maintains current requirements related to egg packing, but revises the title of ATCP 82.32 (1) to clarify that mandatory packing practices maintain egg quality. The revised rule adds provisions that eggs may be packed in used, clean cartons as long as the seller obliterates all carton markings that do not pertain to the eggs being sold.

•   Section ATCP 88.34 — Egg labeling. The rule maintains the current requirements related to egg labeling, except that it adds the requirement that egg cartons include a label with the statement “SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly." The rule specifies the font size and location of the safe handling label. The rule maintains requirements related to the packing date, expiration date, and use by date and requirements related to egg shipping containers.

•   Section ATCP 88.36 — Labeling of baluts. The rule adds a provision establishing labeling requirements for baluts, including a label clearly indicating that baluts should be stored at a temperature of 41°F or colder.

•   Section ATCP 88.38 — Deceptive practices. The rule retains the current provisions against deceptive practices, with an added prohibition against any nutrient content or health claims that do not comply with the requirements of 21 CFR part 101.

•   Section ATCP 88.40 — Dealers buying eggs from producers; receipts. The revised rule maintains the provision related to receipts provided by dealers buying eggs from producers except that, for clarity, it reorganizes the provisions into three, rather than two provisions.

  Section ATCP 88.42 — Recall plan. The revised rule requires egg handlers to develop a written plan for recalling eggs in the event of a foodborne illness linked to the eggs handled at the establishment. The rule identifies the recall plan contents, and requires the egg handler to update the plan as necessary and make it available to the department for inspection and copying upon request.