1. A. Air for dairy product drying equipment shall conform with the following:

   1. 1. Air intake and pipeline filters shall consist of fiberglass with downstream backing dense enough to prevent fiberglass break off from passing through, cotton flannel, wool flannel, spun metal, electrostatic material, or other equally acceptable filtering media, which do not release to the air toxic volatiles or other contaminants or volatiles which may impart any flavor or odor to the product. Disposable media filters shall consist of cotton flannel, wool flannel, spun metal, non-woven fabric, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) absorbent cotton fiber, or suitable inorganic materials which, under conditions of use, are non-toxic and non-shedding. Chemical bonding material contained in the media shall be non-toxic, non-volatile, and insoluble under all conditions of use. Disposable media shall not be cleaned and reused.
   2. 2. The efficiency of the initial or primary supply air filters for air which will be heated before it comes in contact with non-food contact surfaces shall be designed, selected to operate at a face velocity, and installed in a manner which will allow the filter manufacturer’s rating to be 90 percent or higher, when tested in accordance with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Synthetic Dust Arrestance test (ASHRAE Standard 52.1-1992). The efficiency of the initial or primary supply air filters for air, which will not be heated before it comes in contact with non-food contact surfaces shall be of a design, selected to operate at a face velocity, and installed in a manner which will allow the filter manufacturer’s rating to be 85 percent or higher when tested in accordance with the ASHRAE Atmospheric Dust Spot Method (ASHRAE Standard 52.1-1992).
   3. 3. Air-intakes for drying equipment shall be located so as to minimize atmospheric contamination and shall be equipped with suitable single-service filters or multi-use systems approved by the state health officer.

2. B. Air under pressure which comes into direct contact with milk or dairy products or milk or dairy product contact surfaces shall comply with §929.I of this Part and the following:

   1. 1. Air intake and pipeline filters shall consist of fiberglass with downstream backing dense enough to prevent fiberglass break off from passing through, cotton flannel, wool flannel, spun metal, electrostatic material, or other equally acceptable filtering media, which do not release to the air toxic volatiles or other contaminants or volatiles which may impart any flavor or odor to the product. Disposable media filters shall consist of cotton flannel, wool flannel, spun metal, non-woven fabric, USP absorbent cotton fiber, or suitable inorganic materials which, under conditions of use, are non-toxic and non-shedding. Chemical bonding material contained in the media shall be non-toxic, non-volatile, and insoluble under all conditions of use. Disposable media shall not be cleaned and reused.
   2. 2. The efficiency of the initial or primary supply air filters for air which will be heated before it comes in contact with milk or dairy products or milk or dairy product contact surfaces shall be designed, selected to operate at a face velocity, and installed in a manner which will allow the filter manufacturer’s rating to be 90 percent or higher, when tested in accordance with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Synthetic Dust Arrestance test (ASHRAE Standard 52.1 - 1992). The efficiency of the initial or primary supply air filters for air, which will not be heated before it comes in contact with milk or dairy products or milk or dairy product contact surfaces shall be of a design, selected to operate at a face velocity, and installed in a manner which will allow the filter manufacturer’s rating to be 85 percent or higher when tested in accordance with the ASHRAE Atmospheric Dust Spot Method (ASHRAE Standard 52.1 - 1992).
   3. 3. Air which will come into direct contact with milk or dairy products or milk or dairy product contact surfaces shall first pass through the initial or primary supply air filters meeting the requirements of Paragraph 2 of this Subsection. The initially filtered air in the pipeline downstream from the initial or primary supply air filters shall be used as the supply air for downstream (secondary) air filters on the air pipeline. The efficiency of such secondary air filters shall be at least 98 percent in accord with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Standard J726 - June 1987 using the Air Cleaner (AC) coarse test dust. All air that comes into direct contact with milk or dairy products or milk or dairy product contact surfaces shall additionally pass through further downstream (tertiary) air filters on the air pipeline. The filter efficiency of the final filter before coming into direct contact with milk or dairy products or milk or dairy product contact surfaces shall be at least 99 percent as measured by the Dioctylphthalate Fog Method (DOP) test (with a mean particle diameter of 0.3 microns) per Military Standard 282 (MIL-STD-282: Method 102.9.1). When commercially sterile air is required, the final filter efficiency shall be at least 99.99 percent as measured by the DOP test.
3. C. Air exhausts from dryer systems shall be covered when dryers are not in operation.

Authority Note

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 40:4(A)(1)(a). Also see R.S. 40:5(2)(3)(5)(7)(15)(17) and R.S. 40:922.

Historical Note

HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health, LR 37:2905 (September 2011).