# Jar, Bear Steralization



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Are you refering to new jars or used jars. New jars come clean w/ a protective coating of oil. I understand that the big packers, Dutch Gold and SueBee and such, run their containers thru a wash cycle, but most small outfits don't. They use new containers which are clean when they come.

An FDA inspection? You must be bottling a huge amount of honey to get the attention for the USDA's Food and Drug Administration. How does that happen?


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

Nope, we are fairly small, about $30K in revenue a year but we had to register with the Delaware Department of Agriculture and that put us on the FDA list. We are talking new jars not used. We buy bulk plastic bears and bulk jars from places like Dutch Gold and we are concnerned that the FDA will want us to show how we steralize them

anyone that can tell me what they do or don't do would be helpful.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Have you spoken to the Inspectors yet, to find out in what ways you will need to comply? Seems like they would be the authority.


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## T152 (Jun 15, 2012)

You could try Easy Clean, it's used in wine making and sanitizes most surfaces. It's called a "cleanser", but it sanitizes. The link below explains why it can't be called a sanitizer. You don't even have to rinse it off. You might want to with honey, but with wine we don't because we have hard water and don't want other yeasts or minerals to be introduced when we make our wine. It shouldn't make the honey taste different, but I'm not 100% sure. It's just a thought. All that I do is hand wash the jars (used and new) with Dawn and very hot water. Then I dry them and fill them with white honey.

You'll need to scroll down a little:

http://www.homebrewit.com/wine-beer-sanitizers.php


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

I have and they won't tell us. usually they do these as unnanounced but since we are not home during the day they made an exception


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Do the plastic jars come from the molder in a plastic bag, tied, in a carton?

Crazy Roland


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

Roland said:


> Do the plastic jars come from the molder in a plastic bag, tied, in a carton?
> 
> Crazy Roland


Yes they are


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## TokerM (Jul 31, 2012)

If they find violations, as in, you are not doing things 'their way,' they start by issuing warnings of things you need to fix, and you have a certain period of time to correct the issues, and they will reinspect. Things may have changed a lot since I saw a FDA inspection done to a store I worked at in the late 80s, but I think they still give time to get in compliance. They do on restaurants, I always see stories on the news of places that fail, then pass 2 days later after fixing issues.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

According to the VA Dept of Ag (who inspects us) a household dishwasher is not sufficient to sanitize containers. We are required to use a sanitizing fluid. We simply use regular chlorine bleach (at the proper concentration) as a rinse after washing. You must have chlorine test strips to insure that you have the proper concentration. Here's a helpful link: http://www.allqa.com/ChlorineSanitizing.htm

Are you certain that its the FDA that is inspecting your facility? Seems very odd that its not a state government agency.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

GageFamilyBeekeeping said:


> Yes they are


Then they need no further cleaning.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

I was once told that the bottles are sterile as they leave the blow molder, and IF you keep them in the original container, and IF you keep the bag sealed, you are in good shape, better than if you try to sterilize them.

Crazy Roland


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## danno (Dec 17, 2007)

I see you posted this thread on Monday so maybe your inspection is already done. If you still need to come up with something try the home brewing and wine making sanitizers. I use a iodine based and a acid based for beer making 
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/btf-iodophor-sanitizer-16oz.html
basedhttp://www.midwestsupplies.com/star-san.html
The iodophor could stain the bears if soaked to long. Both sanitize in a couple of seconds and dont require rinsing. They are also VERY safe to use


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Until the Inspectors tell you that you have to wash and sterilize your containers, you do not have to.


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

AstroBee said:


> Are you certain that its the FDA that is inspecting your facility? Seems very odd that its not a state government agency.


Yes, DE Depat of Ag already inspect us. FDA came, spent about two hours here, mostly questions and a short inspection of our kitchen. They did not even ask about container steralization.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

What is their authority? Why is a Federal Agency inspecting someone as small as you? Especially since this seems to be a State issue, not a Federal Issue.

What sorts of questions were they askling? What were they interested in knowing? Did they ask nto see your HLS Registration?


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

GageFamilyBeekeeping said:


> a short inspection of our kitchen.


Your household kitchen? 
Here it is the Ga Dept of Ag...once a year. Never heard of the FDA doing any inspections. It must be a separate building from the living household.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

GageFamilyBeekeeping said:


> spent about two hours here, mostly questions and a short inspection of our kitchen.


Two hours!!! Are you joking me? What in the world could they have been doing for two hours. My inspecting lasts about 15 minutes and that's including general small talk. This all seems like some sort of mix-up.


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## TokerM (Jul 31, 2012)

AstroBee said:


> Two hours!!! Are you joking me? What in the world could they have been doing for two hours. My inspecting lasts about 15 minutes and that's including general small talk. This all seems like some sort of mix-up.


Remember, we are talking about the _*Federal*_ government here..


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

I think their authority comes from the F in FDA, besides the fact that while we are not big we do engage in interstate commerce, Delaware is pretty small you know.

What's an HLS Registration?


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

I agree but they had a LOT of questions and inspected all of our business records as well as wanted to see hives etc. It was quite extensive

WE DID PASS!!!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

GageFamilyBeekeeping said:


> I think their authority comes from the F in FDA, besides the fact that while we are not big we do engage in interstate commerce, Delaware is pretty small you know.
> 
> What's an HLS Registration?


I wondered if the Interstate Transport part of your business was the reason FDA is involved.

HLS, Home Land Security. Did they mention that?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

GageFamilyBeekeeping said:


> I agree but they had a LOT of questions and inspected all of our business records as well as wanted to see hives etc. It was quite extensive
> 
> WE DID PASS!!!


In what way were they interested in your hives? Did they inspect the colonies or just look at them from a distance?


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

No on the HLS and Yes on the Interstate Transport


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## GageFamilyBeekeeping (Mar 10, 2011)

She was scared of the bees, so just from a distance


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