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SANITARY INSPECTION AT A COMMISSARY
Sanitary inspections of the commissary store are conducted periodically by a
commissioned Medical or Veterinary Corps officer. These inspections are conducted
using MIL-STD-903C, Sanitary Standards for Commissaries. The contents of Military
Standard 903C have much in common with Military Standard 909 which is a more
recent publication. The standards that are included in both references are exactly the
same. MIL STD 903C includes a detailed checklist for sanitary compliance, which is the
DD Form 2460, Commissary Sanitary Compliance Checklist. This checklist in included
in the subcourse in Appendix C. You will want to refer to this checklist as you study this
lesson. Military Standard 903C establishes certain minimum sanitary requirements for
military commissary stores and a system of recording specific violations of these
requirements to assure that military food protection programs are effective. The
commissary officer is responsible for correcting any unsanitary conditions. At the
discretion of the Deputy for the Veterinary Activities, more frequent sanitary inspections
can be conducted by a veterinary officer or a qualified enlisted person, usually a
veterinary food inspection specialist. Some of the areas included in these sanitary
inspections are listed below.
a. Construction and Repair of Equipment and Utensils. All equipment and
utensils must be designed to be smooth, easily cleaned and sanitized, and durable.
They must be constructed of sanitary materials that are nontoxic under use conditions
and are durable (that is, no wood). All equipment and utensils must meet the standards
(approval) of the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). All supervisors should be
issued bimetallic thermometers to monitor temperatures. Unprotected type
glass/mercury or alcohol type thermometers should not be used.
b. Meat Market.
(1) Hot water, detergent, and chemical sanitizer. An ample supply of hot
water, a suitable detergent, and a chemical sanitizer must be available in the meat
market at all times for use in cleaning and sanitizing all meat market equipment parts,
product contact surfaces of equipment, display trays, and other immersible articles used
in the market.
(2) Standards for equipment and meat market area. Walls, floors, ceiling,
dunnage, trolleys, hooks, trees, and permanent shelving in meat processing room,
refrigerated storage rooms, or refrigerators must be kept in good repair and kept clean
and free of chipping or peeling paint, free of mold, and free of objectionable odors at all
times. Floors and all equipment and utensils the meat market must be cleaned and
sanitized daily, or more often if necessary.
MDO717
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