Minnesota Session Laws - 1990, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1990 

                        CHAPTER 511-H.F.No. 2012 
           An act relating to agriculture; adopting federal 
          fishery product regulations as state rules for state 
          inspections; providing sanctions for refusal to allow 
          certain dairy inspections; providing laboratory 
          procedures by rule for certain milk and cream testing; 
          defining sheep milk; prescribing pasteurization and 
          certain labeling for sheep milk; prescribing bacteria 
          counts for certain dairy products; creating a farm 
          safety advisory task force and a food safety advisory 
          committee; amending Minnesota Statutes 1988, sections 
          32.21, subdivision 3; 32.391; 32.393; 32.394, 
          subdivisions 1, 2, 4, and by adding a subdivision; 
          32.415; Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, sections 
          31.101, by adding a subdivision; and 32.103; proposing 
          coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 28A. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:  
    Section 1.  [28A.20] [FOOD SAFETY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] A food safety advisory 
committee is established to advise the commissioner and the 
legislature on food issues and food safety.  
    Subd. 2.  [MEMBERSHIP.] (a) The food safety advisory 
committee consists of:  
    (1) the commissioner of agriculture; 
    (2) the commissioner of health; 
    (3) a representative of the United States Food and Drug 
Administration; 
    (4) a representative of the United States Department of 
Agriculture; 
    (5) one person from the University of Minnesota 
knowledgeable in food and food safety issues; and 
    (6) eight members appointed by the governor who are 
interested in food and food safety, of whom: 
    (i) two persons are health or food professionals; 
    (ii) one person represents a statewide general farm 
organization; 
    (iii) one person represents a local food inspection agency; 
and 
    (iv) one person represents a food-oriented consumer group.  
    (b) Members shall serve without compensation.  Members 
appointed by the governor shall serve four-year terms.  
    Subd. 3.  [ORGANIZATION.] (a) The committee shall meet 
monthly or as determined by the chair.  
    (b) The members of the committee shall annually elect a 
chair and other officers as they determine necessary.  
    Subd. 4.  [STAFF.] The commissioner of agriculture shall 
provide support staff, office space, and administrative services 
for the committee.  
    Subd. 5.  [DUTIES.] The committee shall:  
    (1) coordinate educational efforts about various aspects of 
food safety; 
    (2) provide advice and coordination to state agencies as 
requested by the agencies; 
    (3) serve as a source of information and referral for the 
public, news media, and others concerned with food safety; and 
    (4) make recommendations to Congress, the legislature, and 
others about appropriate action to improve food safety in the 
state. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, section 
31.101, is amended by adding a subdivision to read:  
    Subd. 9.  [FISHERY PRODUCTS RULES.] Federal regulations in 
effect on April 1, 1989, as provided by Code of Federal 
Regulations, title 50, parts 260 to 266, are incorporated as 
part of the fishery products rules in this state for state 
inspections performed under a cooperative agreement with the 
United States Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.  The rules may be amended by the commissioner under 
chapter 14. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, section 
32.103, is amended to read: 
    32.103 [INSPECTION OF DAIRIES.] 
    (a) At such time as times the commissioner may deem 
determines proper, the commissioner shall cause to be inspected 
all places where dairy products are made, stored, or served as 
food for pay, and all places where cows are kept by persons 
engaged in the sale of milk or cream, and shall require the 
correction of all insanitary conditions and practices 
found therein.  
    (b) A refusal or physical threat, refusal, that prevents 
the completion of an inspection or neglect to obey any a lawful 
direction of the commissioner, or the commissioner's agent, 
given in while carrying out the provisions of this section, 
shall be deemed a misdemeanor may result in the suspension of 
the offender's permit or certification.  The offender is 
required to meet with a representative of the offender's plant 
or marketing organization and a representative of the 
commissioner within 48 hours excluding holidays or weekends or 
the suspension will take effect.  A producer may request a 
hearing before the commissioner or the commissioner's agent if a 
serious concern exists relative to the retention of the 
offender's permit or certification to sell milk. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.21, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [ADULTERATED MILK OR CREAM.] For purposes of this 
section and section 32.22, milk or cream is adulterated if: 
    (1) milk is drawn in a filthy or unsanitary place; 
    (2) milk is drawn from unhealthy or diseased cows; 
    (3) milk is drawn from cows that are fed garbage or an 
unwholesome animal or vegetable substance; 
    (4) milk is drawn from cows within 15 days before calving, 
or five days after calving; 
    (5) milk or cream contains a substance that is not a normal 
constituent of the milk or cream, as determined by laboratory 
procedures established by rule or except as allowed in this 
chapter; 
    (6) milk contains water in excess of that normally present 
in milk; or 
    (7) milk or cream contains antibiotics or other bacterial 
inhibitory substances in amounts above the actionable levels 
established by rule or under section 32.415.  
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.391, is 
amended to read: 
    32.391 [DEFINITIONS; PASTEURIZATION; COOLING AFTER 
PASTEURIZATION.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [MILK; SKIM MILK; LOWFAT MILK; FLUID MILK 
PRODUCTS; GOAT MILK APPLICATION.] The definitions in this 
section apply to this chapter.  
    Subd. 1a.  [MILK.] "Milk" is defined as the whole, fresh, 
clean lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, 
obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.  
When prepared for market in final package form for beverage use, 
milk shall contain not less than 8.7 percent milk solids-not-fat 
and not less than 3.25 percent of milk fat.  The name "milk," 
unqualified, means cow's milk.  
    Subd. 1b.  [SKIM MILK.] "Skim milk" is milk from which milk 
fat has been removed so that its milk fat content is less than 
.25 percent.  Skim milk in final package form for beverage use 
must contain at least nine percent milk solids-not-fat, for a 
total of at least 9.25 percent milk solids.  Skim milk may be 
homogenized.  
    Subd. 1c.  [LOWFAT MILK.] "Lowfat milk" is milk from which 
milk fat has been removed so that its milk fat content is either 
one or from one-half to two percent, within limits of good 
manufacturing practices.  Lowfat milk in final package form for 
beverage use must contain at least ten percent milk 
solids-not-fat.  Lowfat milk may be homogenized.  
    Milk solids-not-fat may be added to fluid milk products to 
meet the above standards from the following sources:  
partially-skimmed milk, skim milk, concentrated 
partially-skimmed milk, concentrated skim milk, and nonfat dry 
milk, used alone or in any combination. 
    Subd. 1d.  [MILK SOLIDS-NOT-FAT.] "Milk solids-not-fat" is 
the portion of a milk product that is not water and is not fat 
as determined by procedures outlined in Standard Methods For The 
Examination Of Dairy Products (fifteenth current edition).  
   Subd. 1e.  [FLUID MILK PRODUCTS.] "Fluid milk products" 
shall be taken to mean and include means cream, sour cream, half 
and half, reconstituted half and half, concentrated milk, 
concentrated milk products, skim milk, nonfat milk, chocolate 
flavored milk, chocolate flavored drink, chocolate flavored 
reconstituted milk, chocolate flavored reconstituted drink, 
buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, cultured milk, vitamin D milk, 
reconstituted or recombined milk, reconstituted cream, 
reconstituted skim milk, homogenized milk, and any other fluid 
milk product made by the addition of any substance to milk or to 
any of the above enumerated fluid milk products, when the same 
is declared to be a fluid milk product by rule promulgated by 
the commissioner.  
    Subd. 1f.  [GOAT MILK.] "Goat milk" is a whole, fresh, 
clean lacteal secretion free from colostrum, obtained by the 
complete milking of one or more healthy goats.  
    Subd. 1g.  [SHEEP MILK.] "Sheep milk" is a whole, fresh, 
clean lacteal secretion free from colostrum, obtained by the 
complete milking of one or more healthy sheep. 
    Subd. 2.  [PASTEURIZATION.] (a) The terms "pasteurization," 
"pasteurized," and similar terms shall be taken to refer (a) 
to mean: 
    (1) the process of heating every particle of milk, fluid 
milk products, or goat milk, or sheep milk, in properly operated 
equipment approved by the commissioner, to a temperature of at 
least 143 145 degrees Fahrenheit and holding such the 
temperature for at least 30 minutes, or (b) to; 
    (2) the process of heating every particle of milk, fluid 
milk products, or goat milk, or sheep milk, in properly operated 
equipment approved by the commissioner, to a temperature of at 
least 161 degrees Fahrenheit and holding such the temperature 
for at least 15 seconds, or (c) to; or 
    (3) the process of heating every particle of milk, fluid 
milk products, or goat milk, or sheep milk, in properly operated 
equipment approved by the commissioner, to such the temperatures 
and holding for such the times as the commissioner may prescribe 
by rule adopted in accordance with law containing standards more 
stringent than those imposed by this subdivision.  
    (b) Nothing contained in this definition shall be construed 
as excluding any other process which has been demonstrated to be 
equally efficient and is approved by the commissioner.  
    Subd. 3.  [COOLING AFTER PASTEURIZATION.] Immediately 
following pasteurization, all milk, fluid milk products and, 
goat milk, and sheep milk shall be cooled, in properly operated 
equipment approved by the commissioner, to a temperature of 50 
45 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and maintained at 50 45 degrees 
Fahrenheit or lower until delivered; provided, however, that if 
the milk, fluid milk products, or goat milk, or sheep milk is to 
be cultured immediately after pasteurization, then such cooling 
may be delayed until after the culturing process is completed; 
provided further that the commissioner may prescribe by rule 
adopted in accordance with law standards more stringent than 
those imposed by this subdivision.  
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.393, is 
amended to read: 
    32.393 [LIMITATION ON SALE.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [PASTEURIZATION.] No milk, fluid milk 
products, or goat milk, or sheep milk shall be sold, advertised, 
offered or exposed for sale or held in possession for sale for 
the purpose of human consumption in fluid form in this state 
unless the same has been pasteurized and cooled, as defined in 
section 32.391; provided, that this section shall not apply to 
milk, cream, skim milk, or goat milk, or sheep milk occasionally 
secured or purchased for personal use by any consumer at the 
place or farm where the milk is produced.  
    Subd. 2.  [LABELS.] All pasteurized milk, fluid milk 
products, or goat milk, or sheep milk sold, offered or exposed 
for sale or held in possession for sale shall be labeled or 
otherwise designated as pasteurized milk, pasteurized fluid milk 
products, or pasteurized goat milk, or pasteurized sheep milk, 
and in case of pasteurized fluid milk products the label shall 
also state the name of the specific product.  
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.394, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [GRADE A PASTEURIZED BACTERIA COUNTS.] 
Grade A pasteurized milk, fluid milk products and goat milk are 
Grade A raw milk, fluid milk products and goat milk for 
pasteurization which have been pasteurized, cooled and prepared 
for distribution in a dairy plant approved by the commissioner, 
the bacterial count of which at no time after pasteurization and 
until delivery exceeds 30,000 20,000 bacteria per milliliter, 
standard plate count, as determined by averaging the logarithms 
of the results of the last four consecutive tests of samples 
taken on separate days, except that such average may be over 
30,000 bacteria per milliliter if the last individual result is 
30,000 bacteria per milliliter or lower, and not more than one 
of the last four coliform counts of which shall exceed 10 per 
milliliter unless the last individual result is 10 per 
milliliter or lower; provided, that.  The coliform count must 
not exceed ten per milliliter except that bulk tank transport 
shipments must not exceed 100 per milliliter.  The standard 
plate count standard shall be omitted in the case of sour cream, 
cultured buttermilk, other cultured fluid milk products and 
cultured goat milk; provided further that the commissioner may 
prescribe standards and rules adopted in accordance with law 
more stringent than those imposed by this subdivision. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.394, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [GRADE A RAW BACTERIA COUNTS.] Grade A raw milk 
or goat milk for pasteurization purposes is raw milk or goat 
milk which complies with all the requirements for its 
production, the bacterial count of which does not exceed 200,000 
100,000 bacteria per milliliter, standard plate count or direct 
microscopic clump count, as determined by averaging the 
logarithms of the results of the last four consecutive tests of 
samples taken on separate days, except that such average may be 
over 200,000 bacteria per milliliter if the last individual 
result is 200,000 bacteria per milliliter or lower; provided 
that prior to commingling with other producer milk at which time 
the bacteria count must not exceed 300,000 per milliliter prior 
to pasteurization.  The commissioner may prescribe standards and 
rules adopted in accordance with law more stringent than those 
imposed by this subdivision. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.394, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [RULES.] The commissioner shall by rule 
promulgate identity, production and processing standards for 
milk, milk products and goat milk which are intended to bear the 
Grade A label. 
    In the exercise of the authority to establish requirements 
for Grade A milk, milk products and goat milk, the commissioner 
may adopt definitions, standards of identity, and requirements 
for production and processing recommended by contained in the 
"Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance" of the United States public 
health service Department of Health and Human Services, in a 
manner provided for and not in conflict with law. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.394, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 8c.  [GRADE A OR MANUFACTURING GRADE RAW MILK.] Grade 
A or manufacturing grade raw milk must not have been stored 
longer than 76 hours when it is picked up at the farm by the 
receiving plant.  The commissioner or an agent of the 
commissioner may waive the 76-hour time limit in a case of 
hardship, emergency, or natural disaster.  On farms permitted or 
certified for bulk tank storage, the milk may only be picked up 
from approved bulk milk tanks in proper working order.  
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 32.415, is 
amended to read: 
    32.415 [MILK FOR MANUFACTURING; QUALITY STANDARDS.] 
    In order (a) The commissioner may adopt rules to provide 
uniform quality standards, and producers of milk used for 
manufacturing purposes shall conform to the standards contained 
in Subparts D, E, and F of the United States Department of 
Agriculture Consumer and Marketing Service Recommended 
Requirements for Milk for Manufacturing Purposes and its 
Production and Processing, Vol. 37 Federal Register, No. 68, 
Part II, April 7, 1972, with the following exceptions:  
    (a) (1) inspections of producers shall begin not later than 
January 1, 1984; 
    (b) (2) producers shall comply with the standards not later 
than July 1, 1985, except as otherwise allowed under the 
standards; and 
    (c) (3) the commissioner shall develop methods by which 
producers can comply with the standards without violation of 
religious beliefs.  The commissioner may adopt rules, including 
emergency rules, for the purpose of this clause.  
    (b) The commissioner of agriculture shall perform or 
contract for the performance of the inspections necessary to 
implement this section or shall certify dairy industry personnel 
to perform the inspections.  
    (c) The commissioner and other employees of the department 
shall make every reasonable effort to assist producers in 
achieving the milk quality standards at minimum cost and to use 
the experience and expertise of the University of Minnesota and 
the agricultural extension service to assist producers in 
achieving the milk quality standards in the most cost-effective 
manner.  
    (d) The commissioner of agriculture shall consult with 
producers, processors, and others involved in the dairy industry 
in order to prepare for the implementation of this section 
including development of informational and educational 
materials, meetings, and other methods of informing producers 
about the implementation of standards under this section. 
     Sec. 12.  [TASK FORCE.] 
    By January 1, 1991, the advisory task force on farm safety 
established by Laws 1989, chapter 350, article 17, section 1, 
shall develop a plan for a farm safety audit pilot project to be 
implemented by the Minnesota extension service in cooperation 
with selected insurance companies and shall report the plan and 
its other legislative recommendations to the agriculture 
committees of the senate and the house of representatives. 
    Sec. 13.  [AVAILABILITY OF FUNDING.] 
    The unexpended balance of the money appropriated to the 
commissioner of agriculture under Laws 1989, chapter 350, 
article 20, section 29, is available to the commissioner until 
June 30, 1991, for purposes of the advisory task force in 
section 12. 
    Presented to the governor April 24, 1990 
    Signed by the governor April 26, 1990, 11:20 p.m.