Manual of Naval Preventive Medicine
Chapter 1: Food Service Sanitation
Section VI: Sanitary Precautions to be Observed When Preparing and Serving Food

1-47. The Vending of Food and Beverages.

Department of the Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

1. Introduction

a. General. This article is based on the current FDA Food Protection Unicode and the latest revision of The Vending of Food and Beverages, a Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW) Publication No. (FDA) 78-2091. These publications establish uniform minimum sanitary requirements for machine dispensing of food and beverages. This article will provide guidance for Navy and Marine Corps personnel concerned with the sanitary vending of food and beverages; it applies to all vending machines located on Navy and Marine Corps facilities.

b. Responsibilities. Commanding officers are responsible for the sanitary control of all food and beverages dispensed on Navy and Marine Corps ships (both USS and USNS) and stations. Therefore, the medical officer (or representative) must ensure compliance with these standards for the operation and maintenance of automatic food and beverage dispensing on Navy and Marine Corps ships and stations. Navy and Marine Corps exchange officers must ensure compliance with the standards by maintaining close liaison with their medical officers and by having supervisors periodically observe vending machine servicing and operation. Any sanitation discrepancies noted should be reported to the medical officer or representative. All proposed or new installations of vending machines must be coordinated with the medical officer or his representative to ensure that the machine and areas of installation meet sanitary standards.

2. Definitions. The food service sanitation definitions listed in Article 1-3 are applicable to vending machine operations.

3. Vending Machine Food. Food exposed for sale, offered for sale, sold through vending machines and offered to patrons of vending machines will be provided the same protection as provided by any other food service facility. It must be sound and free from spoilage, filth, and other contamination and must be safe for human consumption. The food must be obtained from approved sources (see the Directory of Sanitarily Approved Food Establishments for Armed Forces Procurement or other government inspection directories listed in Article 1-5) and comply with all laws (see 21 CFR) relating to food and labeling.

4. Vending Machines

a. Machines vending potentially hazardous food must be provided with refrigeration or heating units and thermostatic controls which ensure the maintenance of safe food temperatures.

b. Machines vending potentially hazardous food must have automatic controls which prevent the machines from vending food in the event of power failure, mechanical failure or other condition which results in noncompliance with food temperature requirements.

c. Service connections to machines vending potentially hazardous food must be designed to discourage unauthorized or unintentional disconnection.

d. The vending stage of a vending machine with a delivery tube or chute must be provided with a tight fitting, self-closing door or cover, except that: in a controlled location vending machine, the cup filling area or platform does not require a door or cover if there is no opening into the cabinet interior at that point other than those for the dispensing tube(s) or trapped waste tubing.

e. The dispensing compartment of prepackaged candy and similar product vending machines must be equipped with a self-closing lid.

f. In vending machines designed to store cartoned beverages, diversion devices and retention pans or drains for leakage must be provided.

g. A vending machine dispensing liquid product in bulk must be:

(1) Provided with an internally mounted container for the collection of drip, spillage, overflow or other internal wastes;

(2) Equipped with an automatic shutoff device at the waste pail or other devices or valves which will place the machine out of operation before the waste pail overflows;

(3) Equipped with a means for the shutoff devices or valves required in paragraphs (1) and (2) to prevent water or liquid products from continuously running in the event of failure of any single control, high level control or other flow control device in the water or liquid products system.

h. Controlled location vending machines that are connected to a water supply and have no internal waste containers must be equipped with at least two independently operated controls to prevent the continued flow of water in the event of failure of any single-flow control device.

i. Vending machine exteriors must be designed and fabricated to minimize the entrance of insects and rodents.

j. Vending machine door and panel access openings to the food and container storage spaces must be tight fitting and, if necessary, gasketed to prevent the entrance opf dust, moisture, insects, and rodents.

k. Ventilation louvers or openings into vending machines must be effectively screened.

(1) Screening material for openings into vending machine condenser units which are not separated from food and container storage spaces must be not less than 8 mesh to the inch or equivalent.

1. Vending machine service connection openings through an exterior wall of the machine must be grommeted and closed with no opening over 1/32 inch.

5. Personal Hygiene. Personal hygiene for vending machine service personnel is that required for all food service personnel. It includes thoroughly washing hands, not using tobacco, wearing clean outer garments, etc. when engaging in any vending machine servicing operation which may bring them into contact with food or with food-contact surfaces of utensils, containers or equipment.

6. Equipment Location. Vending machines, ovens, and other equipment must be located in a room, area, or space which can be maintained in a clean condition and which is protected from overhead leakage or condensation from water, waste, or sewer piping. The immediate area in which the equipment is located will be well lighted and ventilated. Each vending machine must be located so that the space around and under the machine can be easily cleaned and maintained and so that insect and rodent harborage is not created. The floor area where vending machines are located will be reasonably smooth, of cleanable construction, and capable of withstanding repeated washing and scrubbing. Adequate hand washing facilities must be available for use by employees servicing or loading bulk food machines.

7. Machine Cleaning and Sanitizing. Food-contact surfaces and nonfood-contact surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized as other food service utensils and equipment. See Section II. The cavities and door edges of microwave ovens must be cleaned at least once a day to keep them free of encrusted grease deposits and other accumulated soil. A record of vending machine cleaning operations must be maintained by the operator. It will be located in each machine or must be made available at the time of inspection and must be current for at least the past 30 days.

8. Water Supply

a. All water used in vending machines must be potable and meet the minimum standards required by 40 CFR 141. COMNAVMEDCOMINST 6240.1 and Chapter 5 of this manual also apply. Water used as a food ingredient must be piped to the vending machine under pressure, except that in controlled locations vending machine water may be obtained from an approved source and transported to the machines in containers that are clean and sanitized.

b. External water fill ports or drawers of controlled location vending machines must be designed so that covers and drawers are secured to the machine. Where unauthorized persons may have access to those machines, external fill port covers or drawers must be equipped with locks or similar safeguards.

c. If used, water filters or other conditioning devices must be equivalent or listed by NSF. See NSF Standard No. 42 for devices producing aesthetic effects and NSF Standard No. 61 for devices installed for health effects. These devices/filters must be of a type which can be disassembled for recommended (by the manufacturer) for cleaning or replacement of the element. Replacement elements must be handled in a sanitary manner.

d. To prevent leaching of toxic materials caused by possible interaction of carbonated water, piping and contact-surfaces, post-mix soft drink vending machines which are designed with an incoming water supply air gap must have no copper tubing or other potentially toxic water system tubing between the air gap and the downstream, carbonated water dispensing nozzle.

e. To prevent leaching of toxic materials caused by possible interaction of carbonated water, piping and contact-surfaces, post-mix, soft drink vending machines which are directly connected to the external water supply system must be equipped with a double (or two single) check valve and a vented valve or similar backflow preventer immediately upstream from the carbonator, with no copper tubing or other potentially toxic tubing or contact surfaces in or downstream from the check and vented valves.

f. Where check valves are used to prevent the backflow of carbon dioxide into accessible upstream copper or other potentially toxic piping or tubing, a screen of not less than 100 mesh to the inch must be installed in the water line immediately upstream from the check valves in a location which permits servicing or replacement.

g. In all vending machines in which carbon dioxide is used as a propellant, all food-contact surfaces from the check valves or other protective devices, including the devices, will be of such material as to preclude the production of toxic substances which might result from interaction with carbon dioxide or carbonated water.

9. Waste Disposal

a. Self-closing, leak-proof, easily cleanable, insect and rodent-proof waste receptacles must be provided in the vicinity of each machine or machines to receive used cups cartons, wrappers, straws, closures, and other items. Plastic bags or wet-strength paper bags may be used to line the receptacles. All trash and other waste material must be removed from machine locations on a daily basis. Soiled waste receptacles will be cleaned on a weekly basis.

b. Except as noted in 4.g.(1) above, and those machines dispensing only packaged food with crown closures where closure receptacles are located within the machine, waste receptacles must not be located within vending machines.

c. Suitable racks or cases must be provided near machines which dispense multiuse containers or bottles.

d. If liquid wastes from drip, spillage, or overflow which originate within the machine are discharged into a sewage system, the connection to the sewer must be through an air gap.

10. Letter of Compliance

a. Any proponent, owner, manufacturer, distributor, or operator who places a vending machine into operation on a Navy or Marine Corps installation will be required to furnish a letter stating that the particular equipment, identified by model number and name complies with the requirements of the publication, "The Vending of Food and Beverages-A Model Sanitation Ordinance, Food and Drug Administration." This letter of compliance is the responsibility of the proponents of the vending devices.

b. Upon request, the National Automatic Merchandising Association, 20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606, will furnish a "Listing of Letters of Compliance" which contains the names of manufacturers whose vending machines have been tested and found to meet established standards.

11. Inspections

a. The installation medical authority will select vending machine locations for inspection which assures the inspection of representative machines and locations throughout the facility. For machines dispensing potentially hazardous foods, the frequency of inspection will be determined by the installation medical authority but must not be less than one inspection every quarter.

b. The installation medical authority may establish a low priority schedule for machines exclusively vending nonpotentially hazardous food or he may inspect these machines only when there is reason to believe that unsanitary conditions exist.

c. Vending machine kitchens (commissaries), if lo" cased on Navy or Marine Corps installations, will be inspected at least monthly. Those vending machine commissaries located off station and providing food for on station vending machines will be listed in the Directory of Sanitarily Approved Food Establishments for Armed Forces Procurement which is published by the U.S. Army.

d. Inspection reports will be forwarded as outlined in Article 1-66.2 of this chapter. The inspection form provided as Figure 1-4 may be duplicated and used for vending machine inspections, locally prepared inspection forms tailored to a particular installation are also authorized.

e. Vending machines which present critical deficiencies which may be an immediate health hazard to operators, employees, or consumers must be secured from use. Other deficiencies must be corrected as soon as possible but in any event no later than the next inspection.

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited.

The listing of any non-Federal product in this CD is not an endorsement of the product itself, but simply an acknowledgement of the source. 

Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

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