(a) All ingredients and other articles used in the preparation of any product shall be clean, sound, healthful, wholesome, and otherwise such as will not result in the product being adulterated. Official establishments shall furnish inspectors accurate information on all procedures involved in product preparation including product composition and any changes in such procedures essential for inspectional control of the product.

(b)

(1) The only animal casings that may be used as containers of product are those from sheep, swine, or goats. Casings from cattle may be used as containers of products. However, if casings from cattle are derived from the small intestine, the small intestine must comply with the requirements in 9 CFR 310.22(d). Establishments that use casings derived from the small intestine of cattle as containers for products must demonstrate, through documentation, that the small intestine from which the casing was derived complies with the requirements in 9 CFR 310.22(d).

(2) Casings for products shall be carefully inspected by Program employees. Only those casings which have been carefully washed and thoroughly flushed with clean water immediately before stuffing and are suitable for containers, are clean, and are passed on such inspection shall be used, except that preflushed animal casings packed in salt or salt and glycerine solution or other approved medium may be used without additional flushing provided they are found to be clean and otherwise acceptable and are thoroughly rinsed before use.

(3) Hog and sheep casings intended for use as containers of product may be treated by soaking in or applying thereto sound, fresh pineapple juice or papain or bromelin or pancreatic extract to permit the enzymes contained in these substances to act on the casings to make them less resistant. The casings shall be handled in a clean and sanitary manner throughout and the treatment shall be followed by washing and flushing the casings with water sufficiently to effectively remove the substance used and terminate the enzymatic action.

(4) On account of the invariable presence of bone splinters, detached spinal cords shall not be used in the preparation of edible product other than for rendering where they constitute a suitable raw material. Detached spinal cords from cattle 30 months of age and older shall not be used as raw materials for edible rendering.

(5) Testicles if handled as an edible product may be shipped from the official establishment as such, but they shall not be used as an ingredient of a meat food product.

(6) Tonsils shall be removed and shall not be used as ingredients of meat food products.

(7) Blood from livestock prepared in accordance with §310.20 of this subchapter may be used as an ingredient of a meat food product for which a standard is prescribed in part 319 of this subchapter, if permitted by such standard, and may be used in any meat food product for which no such standard is prescribed in part 319 of this subchapter if it is a common and usual ingredient of such product.

(8) Intestines shall not be used as ingredients in any meat food product for which a standard is prescribed in part 319 of this subchapter and shall not be used in other products unless the products are labeled in accordance with §317.8(b)(3) of this subchapter. When small intestine from cattle is used in a meat food product or for edible rendering, it must comply with the requirements in 9 CFR 310.22(d).

(9) Poultry products and egg products (other than shell eggs) which are intended for use as ingredients of meat food products shall be considered acceptable for such use only when identified as having been inspected and passed for wholesomeness by the Department under the regulations in 7 CFR part 59 or 9 CFR part 362 or 381 and when found to be sound and otherwise acceptable when presented for use. Poultry products and egg products (other than shell eggs) which have not been so inspected and passed for wholesomeness shall not be used in the preparation of such meat food products.

(10) Dry milk products which are intended for use as ingredients of meat food products shall be considered acceptable for such use only when produced in a plant approved by the Department under the regulations in 7 CFR part 58, and when found to be sound and otherwise acceptable when presented for use. Dry milk products prepared in a plant not so approved shall not be used in the preparation of such meat food products.

(11) [Reserved]

(12) Ingredients for use in any product may not bear or contain any pesticide chemical or other residues in excess of level permitted in §318.16.

(13) Use of “Mechanically Separated (Kind of Poultry),” as defined in §381.173 of this chapter, in the preparation of meat food products shall accord with §381.174 and all other applicable provisions of this subchapter.

[35 FR 15586, Oct. 3, 1970, as amended at 38 FR 14368, June 1, 1973; 38 FR 29214, Oct. 23, 1973; 39 FR 1973, Jan. 16, 1974; 41 FR 23702, June 11, 1976; 49 FR 19623, May 9, 1984; 50 FR 6, Jan. 2, 1985; 60 FR 55982, Nov. 3, 1995; 69 FR 1874, Jan. 12, 2004; 70 FR 53050, Sept. 7, 2005; 72 FR 38730, July 13, 2007]