Not all meat-processing facilities are the same. It is important to know the different types of
slaughter and processing plants operating in the United States and more importantly for farmers,
the markets they are allowed to process for. The following section describes these various
facilities. Not all of these slaughtering and processing plants are available in New York.
A red meat plant can simultaneously do work that is custom-exempt, retail-exempt and state or
federally inspected; a poultry plant cannot.36 Depending on the state, a plant may or may not be
both state and federally inspected. There are several federal poultry processing exemptions, all of
which are complex and only exempt facilities processing less than 20,000 birds per calendar
year.
1. USDA-Inspected Meat Processing Facilities
The USDA issues a “grant of inspection” to approved facilities; USDA facilities for this reason
are not “licensed” but “inspected.” USDA inspected meat processing facilities that have been
issued a “grant of inspection” may butcher and/or process amenable livestock under the Federal
Meat Inspection Act. A USDA plant must conform to Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
entitled “Animals and Animal Products.”37
Federal meat inspection requires that a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
inspector inspect the carcasses at a USDA inspected slaughterhouse. The inspector must verify
that the establishment address all federal regulations outlined in the code. He must verify not
only that the carcass is wholesome but also that the facilities, equipment and procedures conform
to the owner’s Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP) and the 9 CFR 416 Sanitation
Performance Standards (SPS). The inspector also verifies that the establishment is following
their 9 CFR 417 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for producing safe
food. Currently, the salary of this inspector is paid for by federal tax dollars.
There are strict federal mandates regarding the 1) health of the animals permitted to enter the
plant; 2) care of the animals at the plant; 3) parts of the animal that can be used for human
consumption; and 4) disposal of animal parts not used for human consumption.
Inspected meat from these USDA inspected plants can be sold anywhere in the United States and
exported to sell or trade in international markets.
An official establishment is required by 9 CFR 416 to have sanitary:
1) Establishment ground and facilities, including pest control, sound construction, adequate
lighting and ventilation, potable water, lavatories and waste receptacles.
2) Equipment and utensils, which facilitate thorough cleaning, and receptacles for inedible
materials.
3) Operations, including sanitary food contact and non-food contact surfaces, safe
chemicals, and protection of product.
4) Employee hygiene, including employee cleanliness, clothing and disease control.
5) Employee welfare facilities (lunch locker, bathroom)
6) Inspection facilities (private room with filing cabinet and chair; bathroom facilities
can be shared with employees). 7) Livestock must be stunned prior to slaughter unless the plant has a religious
exemption.
For more information on building designs and requirements for USDA inspected plants, refer to
the Guide to Designing a Small Red Meat Plant with Two Sizes of Model Designs, published by
Iowa State University and available through the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network
(NMPAN) website (http://www.nichemeatprocessing.org/) under Tools for
BusinessesResource OverviewPlant Design and Construction.
There are some conditions where meat is exempted from having to conform to all or part of this
code. These “exemptions” are listed later in the resource guide.
2. State or Locally Inspected “Custom Exempt” Slaughterhouses
A custom exempt slaughterhouse may offer slaughtering services without federal inspection and
oversight. The federal code provides for this exemption and allows the owner of an animal to
forgo having the animal slaughtered under federal or state inspection if the meat and byproducts
from that animal are consumed by the owner and his or her household – as opposed to being
sold.38 Carcasses at these slaughterhouses are exempt from federal inspection because these
plants are limited only to custom slaughter and processing. Carcasses and meat leaving custom
slaughterhouses are not inspected and must be stamped “Not for Sale.”
Custom exempt slaughter is a service provided only to an animal’s owner. In New York, a
person does not have to be present to take ownership of an animal. For example, if a farmer or
live animal market sells live animals for (often dubbed “freezer trade”), a household consumer
can take ownership of the animal over the phone and have the animal delivered to a custom
slaughterhouse for butchering and processing according to their directions. The farmer or live
animal market needs to know the new owner’s name and address and the animal must be clearly
identified throughout the slaughter/processing operations so that the products the owner receives
are from the animal that was selected by or for them.
Custom exempt slaughterhouses are not to be confused with state licensed plants that undergo
state inspection of carcasses for intrastate sales. They also should not be confused with whitetail
butcher shops, which only process hunter harvested wild deer, and come under the jurisdiction in
New York, by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Some custom slaughterhouses
have not applied to have an approved kill floor and are also set up primarily to process white tail
deer for hunters who harvest those animals within the state. (Hunter-harvested deer carcasses
cannot cross state lines without first being butchered to the imported state’s specification. In
many cases, this means complete de-boning.)
Carcasses are not inspected under custom slaughter. However, custom exempt facilities are
inspected periodically. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has jurisdiction over all
amenable red meat processing in the United States. The USDA may however opt to subcontract
out review of custom facilities. In 2010 inspection of New York custom facilities was once again
undertaken by the USDA FSIS directly, but prior to that they had been contracting the work out to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM). This has added more administration and paperwork for processors and created some confusion and concern as to the level of the inspection undertaken.
The USDA FSIS is responsible for locating inspectors to inspect slaughtering and processing
facilities. Inspectors may be temporarily assigned or rotated throughout a region.
Livestock custom exempt slaughterers need to follow the 9 CFR 416 SPS regulations found here:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/9/part-416.
Federal guidelines can and do change; thus, one of the first steps in opening a custom
slaughterhouse in NY is to contact NYSDAM Division of Food Safety Inspection. Local health
departments are also involved because they must approve the slaughterhouse septic system prior
to opening and will be responsible for testing any well water to validate it as potable twice
yearly.
3. DUAL LICENSES for Custom Exempt and 5-A Slaughtering
At one time, an establishment may have held dual licenses for custom exempt operations and a
NYSDAM 5-A (see description of 5-A on the next page) activities within a singular, shared
establishment; but in recent years this dual licensing is no longer being permitted without full
separation. According to NYSDAM this doesn’t have to require separate facilities, but may
simply involve separation of the two activities, by room layout as the floor plan below
demonstrates. In this case both the 5-A facility and the custom exempt facility can share the
processing room. The processing room may also be eligible for licensing as a 20-C establishment
(for value-added food processing, or what’s also sometimes called a “commercial kitchen”).
Hanging carcasses and frozen product of inspected and non-inspected product must be separated.
This can be accomplished by designated areas within the cooler and freezer for each type of
product.
5-A Non-Amenable Slaughtering and Processing Facilities
These are specialized state licensed facilities that conduct butchering and/or processing
operations that are exempt from federal inspection but require NY licenses in order to operate.
One type of 5-A classification is for plants that process non-amenable farm raised game species
such as bison, farmed deer, and rabbits. Non-amenable livestock and poultry species can be
slaughtered at a 5-A licensed plant without federal inspection.
Products manufactured from this facility may be offered for sale by the farmer who raised them.
The slaughterhouse may also buy the meat from the farmer and market it themselves in a meat
shop affiliated with the slaughterhouse or sell the meat to a wholesaler or retail outlet.
The meat can be sold within state or across state lines but must be sold directly to an end
consumer or a restaurant, hotel, boarding house, caterer or similar retail business. Both states
must agree to the transaction. Some states, in an effort to protect their wild game populations and
protect their own game meat industries, have opted not to allow product into their state from
outside of it. For example, Vermont does not permit farm-raised deer carcasses from NY to come
into the state.
If non-amenable meat is mixed with amenable meat or fat, then it is required to be inspected.
Commercial processors must be aware that non-amenable meat cannot contain nitrate or nitrite
because FDA has not approved that per 21 CFR 172.175. USDA does allow an amenable
product to contain cure.
The carcasses are not inspected, though the owner/operator of the 5-A facility has the right to
reject a carcass or product. All non-amenable species must also have certified health papers from
the farmer’s veterinarian stating that the animals are in good health and are eligible to enter the
food chain.
The 5-A facilities are inspected by state employees and are held to a higher standard than regular
custom exempt plants. For example, according to 5-A regulation 245.2(f)(2), the plant must have
hot water at 180ºF and/or use an approved sanitizer. A blueprint or schematic of the plant must
be submitted and approved prior to licensing. HACCP plans documenting the handling of
products for resale may be required.
a) Licensing
To obtain a license, an applicant will need to provide evidence of his or her qualifications and the
suitability of his or her establishment and product.39 By early 2020 NYSDAM expects to have a
new applicant package available on their website at https://www.agriculture.ny.gov/food
business-licensing. The process of building a new 5-A facility starts by going through the
checklist in the packet, including getting pre-approval from the local zoning officials, before
submitting a completed application for NYSDAM to review.
Facilities that have a license can “conduct only the slaughtering operations that are listed on their
license application and have been approved.”40 A license can be denied, suspended, or revoked for various reasons, including falsifying material in an application, inadequate sanitation, adulteration of product, failure to provide requested
records or information, and failure to comply with Article 5-A.41 In addition, after three
consecutive failed inspections, a license will be revoked.42
b) Unlawful Acts
Slaughterhouses cannot do the following: operate in an unclean and unsanitary manner; expose
products to “insects, live animals or injurious contamination;” “slaughter, possess or sell
unwholesome meat,” such as meat “from a diseased animal;” feed uncooked offal to hogs; or
“slaughter or butcher domesticated dog or domesticated cat.”43
An example of a 5-A non-amenable slaughtering and processing facility floor plan as provided by NYSDAM.
5. 5-A Poultry Slaughtering and Processing Facilities
Another 5-A classification is granted for plants that slaughter and/or process amenable poultry
under circumstances that allow them to be exempt from federal inspection. There are several
allowable exemptions important to poultry growers wanting to market their own birds
themselves within state to household consumers, retail stores, restaurants, and distributors. These
exemptions are also important to live poultry markets and to custom processors.
The many poultry exemptions vary with regard to how many birds can be processed, whom the
birds can be processed for, the type of processing that can be done, and what market channels the
resulting poultry products can be sold through. A plant is permitted to operate under only one
poultry exemption. Therefore, poultry growers should study the exemptions carefully to choose
the exemption that best meets their needs.
By early 2020 NYSDAM expects to have a new applicant package available on their website at
https://www.agriculture.ny.gov/food-business-licensing. The process of building a new 5-A
facility starts by going through the checklist in the packet, including getting pre-approval from
the local zoning officials, before submitting a completed application for NYSDAM to review.
a) 5-A Facility Design
Separate Killing and Evisceration rooms are required in NYSDAM licensed 5-A facilities. For
further cutting, a separate processing and packaging room is required. A 2- or 3 bay equipment
wash sink should be located in the eviscerating room. Hand-wash sinks are required in the killing
room and eviscerating room. A hand-wash sink is also required in the separate processing room.
Separating walls are preferred. While it is uncommon, 245.2(o) does allow for a complete
cleanup of processing rooms in lieu of physical separation. This is reviewed on a case-by-case
basis, so if this is something you want in your facility design, it’s best to talk to your local
inspector.
If poultry crates or cages are stored at a facility, a separate area for cleaning and storage must be
provided. This can be a separate shed.
b) 5-A Facility Location
In cities with a population of a million or more (which in NYS only includes New York City),
“any place or establishment where animals and/or fowls are slaughtered or butchered for food”
must be separated from a residential dwelling by at least 1,500 feet in order to obtain a license.44
6. 20-C Processing Facilities
These facilities are New York state licensed commercial kitchens. People holding a 20-C license
cannot slaughter livestock or poultry. Instead, they are permitted to further process 1) red meat
that was butchered, inspected, and passed at a USDA slaughterhouse or 2) poultry under a
legally accepted federal exemption or non-amenable meats properly slaughtered at a 5-A facility.
Processing operations are limited to those activities that are usually conducted at retail stores,
restaurants, and caterers. This would include dividing carcasses or wholesale cuts into retail cuts,
cutting, slicing, trimming, grinding, freezing, breaking up bulk shipments, and wrapping or
rewrapping.
The holder of the establishment’s 20-C license can then sell these products to consumers
including instate restaurants, hotels and institutions as long as 1) the sale amount does not exceed
a “normal retail quantity” and 2) sales to HRI (hotels, restaurants, and institutions) do not exceed
a) 25% of the total value of total sales of product, and b) the dollar limitation per calendar year set by the FSIS Administrator every year and published in the Federal Register. Essentially 20-C establishments are permitted to retail product but are not allowed to wholesale product.
A 20-C commercial kitchen is also permitted to further process meat and poultry by curing,
cooking, and smoking. They may also render and refine fat. However, the holder of the 20-C
license is then limited to selling these products directly to household consumers rather than to
restaurants, hotels and other institutions.
Direct sales to household consumers can take place from the retail establishment adjoining the
commercial kitchen or at the license holder’s farm (for example, from an on-farm farm stand).
Direct sales to consumers can also take place from the farm’s produce or food stall at a public
farmers’ market.
A commercial kitchen can also further process custom exempt meats and poultry products for the
products’ owners. However, the processed products cannot be sold and must be consumed solely
by the product’s household and nonpaying guests and employees. The custom prepared products
must be kept separate from all “For Sale” product at all times and must be clearly marked “Not
for Sale” (or, in the case of poultry products, “Exempted – P.L. 90-492”) immediately after being
prepared and packaged.
At the discretion of the NYSDAM Division of Food Safety & Inspection, multiple 20-C licenses
can be held for a single commercial kitchen facility. The facility and its staff can be employed or
rented out by one or more other businesses. However, each business must have a separately
scheduled time for facility use. The granting of multiple licenses is on a case-by-case basis.
The Cornell Food Venture Center maintains a partial and periodically updated list of
shared-used and commercial kitchens in New York. See New York Shared-use &
Commercial Kitchens, Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Food Venture
Center, https://cfvc.foodscience.cals.cornell.edu/kitchens-supplies/small-co-packers
commercial-kitchens/new-york/.
For more information about Article 20-C licenses, see below in Section XXIII.A.1
“Article 20-C Food Processing Establishments.”
a) Meat Lockers
Meat lockers are an option for farmers who need to age product or store a quantity of product. If
farmers are considering their own cutting or sausage-making and can find a USDA kill floor and
a 20-C kitchen, then locker space for fresh-chilled or frozen product becomes a concern. Each
business using the meat locker needs separate space with their own lock, perhaps separated by
wire mesh. Alternatively, the locker needs to employ a manager who is responsible for managing
product movement. The person or corporation that owns and operates the meat locker must obtain an Article 19
Refrigerated Warehouse/Locker Plant license.45 For more information about this license, see
below in Section XXIII.A.5 “Article 19 Refrigerated Warehouse/Locker Plant.”
7. Retail-Exempt
A retail exemption allows a meat processor to sell meat at its own retail storefront without a
HACCP plan or daily inspections from FSIS or state inspectors.46 However, the processor is still
subject to periodic inspection by USDA FSIS and/or state authorities.47 The meat used to
manufacture retail products (fresh cuts or processed meats) must come from livestock inspected
by USDA FSIS or the state inspection agency in the same state as the processor.48
A retail-exempt processor can also sell a limited amount of meat or poultry to hotel, restaurant,
or institutional customers (HRI), as long as the meat product has NOT been cooked, cured,
smoked, rendered, refined, or otherwise processed. The processor can bone, cut up, stuff, smoke,
render or salt but cannot can poultry sold under the Retail Store Poultry Exemption.49 In 2018,
the monetary limit for retail-exempt sales to hotels, restaurants, and similar institutions was
whichever of the following two dollar amounts was less: 1) 25% of the dollar value of the
processor’s total sales or 2) during the calendar year, $75,700 for red meat and meat products and
$56,600 for poultry products.50 FSIS re-determines the limits on retail-exempt wholesaling each
year;51 thus, please check with FSIS as to the current limits on retail-exempt wholesaling.
For more information, see the section entitled “Retail-Exempt” in Meat Inspection,
Extension (Aug. 27, 2018), https://articles.extension.org/pages/15944/meat-inspection.
