HF 149

1st Engrossment - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to food; regulating the serving, selling, and 
  1.3             labeling of certain religion-sanctioned food; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 31.661; proposing 
  1.5             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 31.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [31.658] [HALAAL PRODUCTS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [HALAAL FOOD REQUIREMENTS.] A person must 
  1.9   not:  
  1.10     (1) serve, sell, or expose for sale food or food products 
  1.11  that are falsely represented as Halaal; 
  1.12     (2) permit food, food products, or the contents of a 
  1.13  package or container to be labeled or inscribed with the 
  1.14  "Halaal" sign unless the food or food products have been 
  1.15  prepared and maintained in compliance with the laws and customs 
  1.16  of the Islamic religion; or 
  1.17     (3) make an oral or written statement that deceives or 
  1.18  otherwise leads a reasonable person to believe that non-Halaal 
  1.19  food or food products are Halaal. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [PRESUMPTION.] Possession of non-Halaal food or 
  1.21  food products in a place of business is presumptive evidence 
  1.22  that the person in possession of them exposes them for sale. 
  1.23     Subd. 3.  [DEFENSE.] It is a defense against a charge of 
  1.24  misrepresenting non-Halaal food or food products as Halaal that 
  1.25  the person relied in good faith upon the representation of a 
  2.1   slaughterhouse, manufacturer, processor, packer, distributor, or 
  2.2   person or organization which certifies or represents a food or 
  2.3   food product as having been prepared under or sanctioned by 
  2.4   Islamic religious requirements. 
  2.5      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 31.661, is 
  2.6   amended to read: 
  2.7      31.661 [MARKS, STAMPS, TAGS, BRANDS, OR LABELS.] 
  2.8      No person shall: 
  2.9      (1) willfully mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or in any 
  2.10  other way or by any other means of identification, represent or 
  2.11  cause to be marked, stamped, tagged, branded, labeled, or 
  2.12  represented as kosher or as having been prepared in accordance 
  2.13  with the orthodox Hebrew religious requirements food or food 
  2.14  products not kosher or not so prepared, or; 
  2.15     (2) willfully mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or in any 
  2.16  other way or by any other means of identification, represent or 
  2.17  cause to be marked, stamped, tagged, branded, labeled, or 
  2.18  represented as Halaal or as having been prepared in accordance 
  2.19  with the Islamic religious requirements, food or food products 
  2.20  not Halaal or not so prepared; 
  2.21     (3) willfully remove, deface, obliterate, cover, alter, or 
  2.22  destroy or cause to be removed, defaced, obliterated, covered, 
  2.23  altered, or destroyed the original slaughterhouse plumba or any 
  2.24  other mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or any other means of 
  2.25  identification affixed to foods or food products to indicate 
  2.26  that such foods or food products are kosher or have been 
  2.27  prepared in accordance with the orthodox Hebrew religious 
  2.28  requirements, or; 
  2.29     (3) (4) willfully remove, deface, obliterate, cover, alter, 
  2.30  or destroy or cause to be removed, defaced, obliterated, 
  2.31  covered, altered, or destroyed the original Halaal sign, mark, 
  2.32  stamp, tag, brand, label, or any other means of identification 
  2.33  affixed to foods or food products to indicate that the foods or 
  2.34  food products are Halaal or have been prepared in accordance 
  2.35  with Islamic religious requirements; 
  2.36     (5) knowingly sell, dispose of, or possess, for the purpose 
  3.1   of resale to any person as kosher, any food or food products not 
  3.2   having affixed thereto the original slaughterhouse plumba or any 
  3.3   other mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or other means of 
  3.4   identification employed to indicate that such food or food 
  3.5   products are kosher or have been prepared in accordance with the 
  3.6   orthodox Hebrew religious requirements or any food or food 
  3.7   products to which such plumba, mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, 
  3.8   or other means of identification has or have been fraudulently 
  3.9   affixed.; or 
  3.10     (6) knowingly sell, dispose of, or possess for the purpose 
  3.11  of resale to any person as Halaal, any food or food products not 
  3.12  having affixed the original Halaal sign, mark, stamp, tag, 
  3.13  brand, label, or other means of identification employed to 
  3.14  indicate that the food or food products are Halaal or have been 
  3.15  prepared in accordance with Islamic religious requirements or 
  3.16  any food or food products to which the original Halaal mark, 
  3.17  stamp, tag, brand, label, or other means of identification has 
  3.18  been fraudulently affixed. 
  3.19     Sec. 3.  [INSTRUCTION TO REVISOR.] 
  3.20     The revisor of statutes shall change the term "orthodox 
  3.21  Hebrew religious" to "Jewish dietary" whenever it appears in 
  3.22  Minnesota Statutes and Minnesota Rules.