S4724

An Act concerning testing of certain ice products, and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Department of Health shall require the owners of ice vending machines and ice manufacturing plants to obtain and have analyzed by an approved laboratory, once per quarter of each calendar year, a sample of the ice product for microbial analysis as specified in subsection b. of this act. The laboratory analysis shall include testing for fecal and total coliform organisms.

b. Total coliforms shall not be greater 2.2 organisms per 100 milliliters using the Most Probable Number (MPN) method or not greater than one organism per 100 milliliters using the Membrane Filtration (MF) method. Fecal coliforms shall not be greater than zero organisms per 100 milliliters using either the MPN or MF method.

c. A sample that tests above the limits of fecal and total coliforms listed in subsection b. of this section shall be considered a positive or unsatisfactory result. A sample that tests below the limits of fecal and total coliforms listed in subsection b. of this section shall be considered a negative or satisfactory result. The owner of the vending machine or the manufacturing plant upon the receipt of an unsatisfactory result shall have the vending machine or manufacturing plant cleaned, sanitized, and resampled until a sample produces a satisfactory result. Thereafter, the vending machine or manufacturing plant shall be sampled on a weekly basis until two consecutive samples test negative for fecal and total coliforms. Copies of the weekly samples shall be submitted to the department upon receipt.

d. When three consecutive quarterly samples test negative for coliform organisms, microbial sampling may be extended to a period not exceeding once every six months. If a sample tests positive, the owner of the vending machine or manufacturing plant shall follow the procedure set forth in subsection c. of this section and revert to quarterly testing thereafter. The owner may resume extended testing provided under this subsection upon showing an additional three consecutive negative quarterly samples.

e. All reports of samples analyzed pursuant to this section shall be maintained for a period of not less than two years and shall be made available to the department upon request.

f. As used in this section:

“Approved laboratory” means a testing facility that has been approved by the Department of Health for fecal and total coliform testing.

“Quarter” or “Quarterly” means one three-month period, for a total of four periods per year, with at least 30 days between samples.

2. The Department of Health shall collect and analyze samples of vended and packaged ice products when necessary to determine if the product meets quality standards for fecal and total coliforms as set forth in section 1 of this act. Upon notification of a complaint or illness, the department may obtain and have analyzed a sample of the ice product and a sample of the source water of the ice product, and shall request from the owner of the vending machine or manufacturing plant all reports obtained of samples analyzed pursuant to section 1 of this act.

3. This act shall take effect within 30 days of the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires fecal and total coliforms testing by owners of ice vending machines and ice manufacturing plants. Owners of ice vending machines and manufacturing plants would be required to test their ice product on a quarterly basis. The bill requires that total coliforms should not be more than 2.2 organisms per 100 milliliters using the Most Probable Number (MPN) method or not more than one organism per 100 milliliters using the Membrane Filtration (MF) method. There is no amount of fecal coliforms that would be acceptable in a sample.

Any sample that tests above the limits of fecal and total coliforms set by the bill would be considered unsatisfactory and the owner of the ice vending machine or the manufacturing plant would need to have the machine cleaned, sanitized, and resampled until sampling produces a satisfactory result. Thereafter, the owner would be required to sample the ice on a weekly basis until two consecutive satisfactory results are received.

Additionally, if three consecutive samples from a vending machine or manufacturing plant are satisfactory, the owner may extend the testing to not more than once every six months. If, at any point, a sample result is unsatisfactory, the owner would need to revert to the quarterly schedule once the machine or plant has been cleaned, sanitized, and resampled. The owner would be required to keep all reports for a minimum of two years.

Additionally, the Department of Health may also collect and analyze samples of an ice product when necessary, and request copies from the owner of the testing performed pursuant to this bill.

As used in this bill, “approved laboratory” means a testing facility that has been approved by the Department of Health for fecal and total coliform testing and “quarter” or “quarterly” means a three-month period, for a total of four periods per year, with at least 30 days between samples.