Minnesota Session Laws - 1991, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1991 

                        CHAPTER 179-S.F.No. 510 
           An act relating to agriculture; changing the egg law; 
          imposing a penalty; requiring the commissioner of 
          agriculture to survey certain meat processors to 
          determine interest in a state meat inspection program; 
          requiring a report; appropriating money; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1990, sections 29.21, by adding 
          subdivisions; 29.23; 29.235; 29.26; 29.27; and 29.28; 
          proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
          chapter 29. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [CHECKS.] "Checks" means eggs that have cracks or 
breaks in the shell but have intact shell membranes that do not 
leak. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [DIRTIES.] "Dirties" means eggs with adhering 
dirt, foreign material, prominent stains, or moderate stains 
covering more than 1/32 of the shell surface, if localized, or 
1/16 of the shell surface, if scattered. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 6.  [EGG HANDLER.] "Egg handler" means a person who 
buys, sells, transports, stores, processes, or in any other way 
receives or has shell eggs.  This includes farmers who sell 
candled and graded eggs off their premises. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
     Subd. 7.  [GRADING.] "Grading" means assigning an 
identifying classification to a group of eggs that demonstrates 
that those eggs have the same degree of quality. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 8.  [INCUBATOR REJECTS.] "Incubator rejects" means 
eggs that have been subjected to incubation and have been 
removed during the hatching operation as infertile or otherwise 
unhatchable. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
     Subd. 9.  [LEAKERS.] "Leakers" means eggs that have a crack 
or break in the shell and shell membrane to the extent that the 
contents pass or are free to pass through the shell. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
     Subd. 10.  [LOSS.] "Loss" means eggs that are unfit for 
human consumption because they are smashed, broken, leaking, 
overheated, frozen, contaminated, or incubator rejects, or 
because they contain bloody whites, large meat spots, a large 
quantity of blood, or other foreign material. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.21, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
     Subd. 11.  [RESTRICTED EGGS.] "Restricted eggs" means eggs 
that contain dirties, checks, leakers, inedibles, loss, and 
incubator rejects. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.23, is amended 
to read: 
    29.23 [GRADING; GRADES, WEIGHT CLASSES AND STANDARDS FOR 
QUALITY.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [GRADES, WEIGHT CLASSES AND STANDARDS FOR 
QUALITY.] All eggs purchased on the basis of grade by the first 
licensed buyer shall be graded in accordance with grade and 
weight classes established by the commissioner.  The 
commissioner shall establish, by rule, and from time to time, 
may amend or revise, grades, weight classes, and standards for 
quality.  When grades, weight classes, and standards for quality 
have been fixed by the secretary of the department of 
agriculture of the United States, they may be accepted and 
published by the commissioner as definitions or standards for 
eggs in interstate commerce.  
    Subd. 2.  [EQUIPMENT.] The commissioner shall also by rule 
provide for minimum plant and equipment requirements for 
candling, grading, handling and storing eggs, and shall define 
candling.  Equipment in use before the effective date of this 
chapter that does not meet the design and fabrication 
requirements of this chapter may remain in use if it is in good 
repair, capable of being maintained in a sanitary condition, and 
capable of maintaining a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit 
(10 degrees celsius) or less. 
    Subd. 3.  [EGG TEMPERATURE.] It shall be mandatory that 
Eggs must be held at a temperature not to exceed 60 50 degrees 
Fahrenheit (10 degrees celsius) after being received by the 
first licensed dealer egg handler except for cleaning, 
sanitizing, grading, and further processing when they must 
immediately be placed under refrigeration that is maintained at 
45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees celsius) or below.  Eggs 
offered for retail sale must be held at a temperature not to 
exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees celsius).  After August 
1, 1992, eggs offered for retail sale must be held at a 
temperature not to exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees 
celsius).  Equipment in use prior to August 1, 1991, is not 
subject to this requirement.  
    Subd. 4.  [VEHICLE TEMPERATURE.] A vehicle used for the 
transportation of shell eggs from a warehouse, retail store, 
candling and grading facility, or egg holding facility must have 
an ambient air temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees 
celsius) or below. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.235, is 
amended to read: 
    29.235 [SALE OF SHELL EGGS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [RESTRICTION.] Checks and dirties as 
defined by the commissioner, shall must not be sold for human 
consumption as shell eggs, but may be sold as such to be 
processed for human consumption by a processor licensed by the 
commissioner to break eggs for resale, except that a producer 
may sell such shell eggs of the producer's own production on the 
producer's premises directly to a household consumer for the 
consumer's own personal use.  
    Subd. 2.  [PACKAGE LABEL.] All eggs offered for sale in 
cartons, boxes or cases, racks, or other packaging materials 
must contain the statement:  "Perishable.  Keep Refrigerated."  
    Sec. 11.  [29.236] [EGGS IN UNCOOKED OR UNDERCOOKED FOODS.] 
     Pasteurized eggs must be used in uncooked or undercooked 
food or food containing unpasteurized eggs must be processed 
under a method approved by the commissioner sufficient to 
destroy the pathogen salmonella.  This section does not exclude 
the use of shell eggs certified free of pathogens by a process 
or mechanism approved by the commissioner. 
    Sec. 12.  [29.237] [UNIFORMITY WITH FEDERAL LAW.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [SHELL EGGS.] Federal regulations governing 
the grading of shell eggs and United States standards, grades, 
and weight classes for shell eggs, in effect on July 1, 1990, as 
provided by Code of Federal Regulations, title 7, part 56, are 
the grading and candling rules in this state, subject to 
amendment by the commissioner under chapter 14, the 
Administrative Procedure Act. 
    Subd. 2.  [INSPECTION.] Federal regulations governing the 
inspection of eggs and egg products, in effect on May 1, 1990, 
as provided by Code of Federal Regulations, title 7, part 59, 
are the inspection of egg and egg products rules in this state, 
subject to amendment by the commissioner under chapter 14, the 
Administrative Procedure Act. 
    Sec. 13.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.26, is 
amended to read: 
    29.26 [EGGS IN POSSESSION OF RETAILER.] 
    All eggs sold or offered for sale at retail must have been 
candled and graded and must be clearly labeled according to 
Minnesota consumer grades as established by rule under section 
29.23.  No eggs shall be sold or offered for sale as "ungraded," 
"unclassified," or by any other name that does not clearly 
designate the grade.  All eggs in possession of the retailer, 
either in temporary storage or on display, must be held at a 
temperature not to exceed 60 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees 
celsius).  
    Candled and graded eggs held 31 days past the coded pack 
date lose their grades and must be removed from sale. 
    Sec. 14.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.27, is 
amended to read: 
    29.27 [RULES.] 
    The department may supervise, regulate, and, in the manner 
provided by law make reasonable rules relative to grading, 
candling, cleaning, breaking, purchasing, and selling of eggs 
and egg products for purpose of preserving and protecting the 
public health.  In addition hereto, it is the express purpose 
herein that inasmuch as the breaking of eggs for resale is a 
matter of state concern, the surroundings in which such product 
is handled should must be maintained in a sanitary condition, 
and, therefore, the department may establish, in the manner 
provided by law, reasonable rules relative to the inspection of 
all establishments wherein the business of breaking eggs for 
resale is maintained, and when the sanitary conditions of any 
such establishment are such that the product is rendered, or is 
likely to be rendered, unclean, unsound, unhealthful, 
unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human consumption, it may 
revoke such license to break eggs for resale until such time as 
the department is satisfied that the establishment is maintained 
in a sanitary condition.  The department shall have the right, 
from time to time, to adopt different rules in the same manner 
as herein set forth.  All liquid, frozen or dried egg products 
sold or offered for sale shall be processed under continuous 
supervision of an inspector of the department or of the United 
States Department of Agriculture.  
    Sec. 15.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 29.28, is 
amended to read: 
    29.28 [VIOLATIONS, PENALTIES.] 
    Any A person found guilty of any violation of sections 
29.21 to 29.28 shall, upon conviction for the first offense, 
be violating this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall 
be fined $25; for the second offense, the person shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor and shall be fined $100; and for the third and 
subsequent offenses the person shall be guilty of a gross 
misdemeanor and shall be fined $200.  In addition to such fines, 
the court for second offense shall suspend the person's license 
for 30 days; and for the third and any subsequent offense, such 
person's license shall be revoked for a period of one 
year.  Each day a violation continues is a separate offense.  
    Sec. 16.  [SURVEY OF MEAT PROCESSORS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [SURVEY.] The commissioner of agriculture 
shall conduct a survey of meat handlers to determine the level 
of interest in establishing a state meat inspection program.  
The survey must be based on a methodology that will inform 
survey participants of the costs and other implications of a 
state meat inspection program meeting federal meat inspection 
requirements. 
    Subd. 2.  [REPORT.] Not later than February 1, 1992, the 
commissioner of agriculture shall report to the agriculture 
committees of the senate and the house of representatives on 
findings of the survey required in subdivision 1 and any 
legislative recommendations. * (This section was vetoed by the 
governor.) 
    Sec. 17.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
    $10,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
commissioner of agriculture for the study and report required in 
section 16. * (This section was vetoed by the governor.) 
    Sec. 18.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    This act is effective July 1, 1991. 
    Presented to the governor May 21, 1991 
    Signed by the governor May 24, 1991, 6:27 p.m.