Authority: IC 16-19-3-4; IC 16-41-31-5

Affected: IC 16-41-31

Sec. 31. (a) Food shall be prepared with the least possible manual contact, with suitable utensils and on surfaces that prior to use have been cleaned, rinsed, and sanitized to prevent cross-contamination.

(b) Raw fruits and raw vegetables shall be thoroughly washed with potable water before being cooked or served.

(c) Potentially hazardous foods being processed shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to a temperature of at least one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit (140°F), except that:

1. (1) poultry, poultry stuffings, stuffed meats, and stuffings containing meat shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least one hundred sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit (165°F) with no interruption of the cooking process; and
2. (2) pork and pork products shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (150°F), or, if cooked in a microwave oven, to at least one hundred seventy degrees Fahrenheit (170°F).

(d) Reconstituted dry milk and dry milk products may be used in instant desserts and whipped products, or for cooking and baking purposes.

(e) Liquid, frozen, dry eggs, and egg products shall be used only for cooking and baking purposes.

(f) Potentially hazardous foods that have been cooked and then refrigerated, shall be reheated rapidly to one hundred sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit (165°F) or higher throughout before being served or before being placed in a hot food storage facility. Steam tables, bainmaries, warmers, and similar hot food holding facilities are prohibited for the rapid reheating of potentially hazardous foods.

(g) Nondairy creaming, whitening, or whipping agents may be reconstituted on the premises only when they will be stored in sanitized, covered containers not exceeding one (1) gallon in capacity and cooled to forty-five degrees Fahrenheit (45°F) or below within four (4) hours after preparation.

(h) Metal stem-type numerically scaled indicating thermometers, accurate to plus or minus two degrees Fahrenheit (±2°F), shall be provided and used to assure the attainment and maintenance of proper internal cooking, holding, or refrigeration temperatures of all potentially hazardous foods.

(i) Potentially hazardous foods shall be thawed:

1. (1) in refrigerated units at a temperature not to exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit (45°F);
2. (2) under potable, running water of a temperature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit (70°F) or below, with sufficient water velocity to agitate and float off loose food particles into the overflow;
3. (3) in a microwave oven only when the food will be immediately transferred to conventional cooking facilities as part of a continuous cooking process or when the entire, uninterrupted cooking process takes place in the microwave oven; or
4. (4) as part of the conventional cooking process.

(Indiana Department of Health; 410 IAC 7-15.5-31; filed Jul 29, 1992, 10:00 a.m.: 15 IR 2576; readopted filed Jul 11, 2001, 2:23 p.m.: 24 IR 4234; readopted filed May 22, 2007, 1:44 p.m.: 20070613-IR-410070141RFA; readopted filed Sep 11, 2013, 3:19 p.m.: 20131009-IR-410130346RFA; readopted filed Nov 13, 2019, 3:14 p.m.: 20191211-IR-410190391RFA; readopted filed Nov 14, 2025, 11:18 a.m.: 20251210-IR-410240588RFA)