Illinois Code § 15

§ 15.

Samples; packing methods. (a) The Department shall prescribe methods in conformity with the United States Department of Agriculture specifications for selecting samples of lots, cases or containers of eggs or egg products which shall be reasonably calculated to produce fair representations of the entire lots or cases and containers sampled. Any sample taken shall be prima facie evidence in any court in this State of the true condition of the entire lot, case or container of eggs or egg products in the examination of which the sample was taken. It shall be unlawful for any handler or retailer to pack eggs into consumer-size containers other than during the original candling and grading operations unless the retailer performs a lot consolidation. (b) A retailer that wishes to consolidate eggs shall implement and administer a training program for employees that will perform the consolidation as part of their duties. The program shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) laws governing egg lot consolidation: (A) same lot code; (B) same source; (C) same sell-by date; (D) same grade; (E) same size; (F) same brand; (2) temperature requirements; (3) egg is a hazardous food (FDA Guidelines); (4) sanitation; (5) egg quality (USDA guidelines); (6) original packaging requirements (replacement cartons shall not be utilized); and (7) record keeping requirements. (c) Training shall be conducted annually and may be conducted by any means available, including, but not limited to, online, computer, classroom, live trainers, and remote trainers. (d) A copy of the training material must be made available upon request from the Department. A copy of the training material may be kept electronically. (e) Eggs shall be consolidated in a manner consistent with training materials required by subsection (b). (f) Each store shall maintain a record of each egg carton consolidated. The records shall be maintained by the store at the physical location the eggs were consolidated at for a period not less than one year past the last sell-by date on the cartons consolidated. The records must be available for inspection upon request from the Department. The records may be kept electronically. Each lot consolidation shall be documented. The information documented shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) date of consolidation; (2) brand; (3) egg size; (4) distributor; (5) USDA plant number; (6) grade; and (7) best-by (sell-by/use-by) date. (g) An Illinois-based egg producer or Illinois-based egg producer-dealer may prohibit its brands from being included in an egg lot consolidation program. Any Illinois-based egg producer or Illinois-based egg producer-dealer that chooses to prohibit its brands from being included in an egg lot consolidation program shall notify a retailer in writing before entering into an agreement to distribute its eggs to the retailer. Producers or producer-dealers with agreements entered into prior to January 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-732) shall have 90 days after January 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-732) to notify retailers in writing of their choice to prohibit consolidation of their egg brands. Upon notification from an Illinois-based producer or Illinois-based producer dealer, a retailer shall not consolidate those brands. (Source: P.A. 99-732, eff. 1-1-17; 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)