Environmental Health

• N.J.A.C. 8:21-7 FROZEN DESSERTS

• N.J.A.C. 8:21-8 IMITATION MILK, IMITATION LOW FAT MILK AND IMITATION FLUID MILK PRODUCTS

• N.J.A.C. 8:21-10 DESIGNATED FLUID MILK PRODUCTS

• N.J.A.C. 8:21-9 LICENSING OF FOOD AND COSMETIC MANUFACTURING AND WHOLESALE ESTABLISHMENTS – CHEESE

• N.J.A.C. 8:21-13 RULES GOVERNING WHOLESALE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS – CHEESE

• Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (2019)

Apply or Renew a Milk Plant License

1. Download and complete the appropriate application form.
   • Apply or Renew a Milk Plant or Bulk Milk Hauler Permit (M-3)
     
     
2. Submit the application fee online. (checks and all credit cards accepted)
   • New License & Renewals: Submit Payment
     
     
3. After you are finished, you will receive a payment confirmation number. Keep this number for your application.
   
   
4. Send your completed application and payment confirmation number via email.
   • In the subject line, include: Milk Plant Application.
   • Attach your completed application form and any other additional attachments (as specified in the application) directly to the email.
   • Include your payment confirmation number in the email.
   • Send your application email to: dairyproject@doh.nj.gov.

Start a New Milk Plant or Bulk Milk Hauler Business

For information about starting a new milk plant or bulk milk hauler in New Jersey, see Starting Up a Dairy in New Jersey.

Apply as a New Wholesale Cheese Plant

The following information is for operations that propose to pasteurize milk, either raw or already pasteurized, and then process it into cheese:

For wholesale cheese plants, NJDOH uses a combination of the FDA’s Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) and our own wholesale food regulations.  The state wholesale food regulations, Chapter 21 Subchapter 13 are also applicable to cheese plants.

For processing any raw milk, NJDOH requires that you test each batch of raw milk (in the bulk milk tank) for beta-lactam antibiotics.  Tetracyclines, for now, are optional.  You would need to obtain an antibiotic test kit, become proficient in operating it, and then become standardized by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Laboratory Evaluation Officer (LEO).  You must maintain the results in the manner that the LEO instructs you to do.

When you are ready to do so, you will need to do the following:

1. Complete the Wholesale Food-Cosmetic Establishment Application.
   
   
2. Submit the application fee online. (checks and all credit cards accepted)
   • After you finish the online payment, you will receive a payment confirmation number. Include the payment confirmation number in your submitted application package.
     
     
3. Attach floor plans.
   
   
4. Attach equipment specifications, specifically pasteurization, temperature recording, filling, and packaging equipment to determine whether they are Pasteurized Milk Ordinance-compliant.
   
   
5. Attach a description of operations – pasteurizing raw milk, handling/transferring raw and pasteurized milk, re-pasteurizing pasteurized whole milk, using curd wheels, etc. Generally it is more sanitary to pump/pipe raw milk from the bulk milk tank to the pasteurizer, but filling/transporting milk cans is acceptable if performed in a sanitary manner.

Submit all documents together in one package so that nothing gets separated.

Each operation is unique and the above statements are general guidelines.  Please contact the Dairy Project at dairyproject@doh.nj.gov if your proposed operation varies from the above.

New applications may be submitted by mail to:

US Postal Service

NJ Department of Health
Public Health & Food Protection Program
Attn: Dairy Project
P.O. Box 369
Trenton, NJ 08625

UPS/FedEx

NJ Department of Health
Public Health & Food Protection Program
Attn: Dairy Project
135 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608

Renew an Existing Wholesale Food-Cosmetic License

Follow the instructions provided on the Wholesale Food-Cosmetic application page.

Start a New Wholesale Cheese Plant

For information about starting a new wholesale cheese in New Jersey, see Starting Up a Dairy in New Jersey.

Apply for a New Frozen Desserts Manufacturer License

1. Download and complete the New Frozen Desserts Manufacturer License Application (M-5).
   
   
   • The initial application must be completed in full. Include ownership, trade name, establishment phone number, location of the establishment including street or road name, mailing address, name of the supplier of frozen desserts mix with thier Plant Code number, and estimated gallonage of product to be manufactured.
     
     
   • The application must be signed by the applicant and by a notary public.
     
     
   • Attach a copy of the most recent sanitary inspection report conducted by the local health agency of the facility to be licensed, if applicable.
     
     
   • All local permits must be obtained, including but not limited to a Certificate of Occupancy for the manufacturing of frozen dessert products.
     
     
   • For dairy-based frozen desserts, if your firm will utilize a manufactured ice cream mix, then the mix must originate from an Interstate Milk Shipper listed plant. The plant # must be on each container of mix. The list of IMS plants is available on the Interstate Milk Shippers List webpage. If you will be manufacturing your own frozen dessert mix from scratch, then you will be required to pasteurize it. Pasteurization equipment and procedures must be conducted in accordance with the most recent version of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, which is adopted by reference in Title 8 Chapter 21, The Food and Drug Rule.
     
     
   • A minimum of four laboratory analyses of Standard Plate Count and Coliforms from four different production lots per type of standard of identity (ice cream is one, water ice is another, etc.) must be conducted and available for review at the time of inspection. You may use any laboratory certified by the regulatory agency of the laboratory’s state to conduct these analyses. Failure to have these analytical reports and/or results that do not meet the standards in N.J.A.C. 8:21-7.28 will result in the automatic issuance of a Conditionally Satisfactory rating. Your license cannot be issued until a Satisfactory rating is obtained.
     
     
   • Minimum time required from receipt of application by our Department to issuance of a hard copy permit is 4 weeks. The sanitary inspection conducted by the local health authority for issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy allows you to operate your establishment while the application is being processed.
     
     
2. Submit the application fee online. (checks and all credit cards accepted)
   • After you are finished, you will receive a payment confirmation number. Include the payment confirmation number with your application submission.

New applications may be submitted by mail to:

US Postal Service

NJ Department of Health
Public Health & Food Protection Program
Attn: Dairy Project
P.O. Box 369
Trenton, NJ 08625

UPS/FedEx

NJ Department of Health
Public Health & Food Protection Program
Attn: Dairy Project
135 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608

Renew an existing Frozen Desserts Manufacturer License

1. Download and complete the Frozen Desserts Manufacturer License Renewal Application (M-5).
   
   
2. Submit the application fee online. (checks and all credit cards accepted)
   • After you are finished, you will receive a payment confirmation number. Keep this number for your application.
     
     
3. Send your completed application and payment confirmation number via email.
   • In the subject line, include: Frozen Desserts Renewal.
   • Attach your completed application form directly to the email.
   • Include your payment confirmation number in the email.
   • Send your application email to: dairyproject@doh.nj.gov.

Start a New Frozen Desserts Manufacturer Business

For information about starting a new frozen desserts manufacturer business in New Jersey, see Starting Up a Dairy in New Jersey.