Minnesota Session Laws - 2001, Regular Session

                             CHAPTER 54-H.F.No. 149 
                  An act relating to food; regulating the serving, 
                  selling, and labeling of certain religion-sanctioned 
                  food; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
                  31.59, subdivision 4; 31.661; proposing coding for new 
                  law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 31.  
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 31.59, 
        subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [HUMANE METHODS.] "Humane methods" means: 
           (1) Any method of slaughtering livestock which normally 
        causes animals to be rendered insensible to pain by a single 
        blow of a mechanical instrument or shot of a firearm or by 
        chemical, or other means that are rapid and effective, before 
        being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut; or 
           (2) The methods of preparation necessary to safe handling 
        of the animals for Halal ritual slaughter, Jewish ritual 
        slaughter and of slaughtering required by the ritual of 
        the Islamic or Jewish faith, whereby the animal suffers loss of 
        consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous 
        and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp 
        instrument. 
           Sec. 2.  [31.658] [HALAL PRODUCTS.] 
           Subdivision 1.  [HALAL FOOD REQUIREMENTS.] A person must 
        not:  
           (1) serve, sell, or expose for sale food or food products, 
        meat or meat products, or poultry or poultry products that are 
        falsely represented as Halal; 
           (2) permit food, food products, meat or meat products, or 
        poultry or poultry products, or the contents of a package or 
        container to be labeled or inscribed with the "Halal" sign 
        unless the food or food products, meat or meat products, or 
        poultry or poultry products have been prepared and maintained in 
        compliance with the laws and customs of the Islamic religion; or 
           (3) make an oral or written statement that deceives or 
        otherwise leads a reasonable person to believe that non-Halal 
        food or food products, meat or meat products, or poultry or 
        poultry products are Halal. 
           Subd. 2.  [PRESUMPTION.] Possession of non-Halal food or 
        food products, meat or meat products, or poultry or poultry 
        products in a place of business is presumptive evidence that the 
        person in possession of them exposes them for sale. 
           Subd. 3.  [DEFENSE.] It is a defense against a charge of 
        misrepresenting non-Halal food or food products, meat or meat 
        products, or poultry or poultry products as Halal that the 
        person relied in good faith upon the representation of a 
        slaughterhouse, manufacturer, processor, packer, distributor, or 
        person or organization which certifies or represents a food or 
        food product, meat or meat product, or poultry or poultry 
        product as having been prepared under or sanctioned by Islamic 
        religious requirements. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 31.661, is 
        amended to read: 
           31.661 [MARKS, STAMPS, TAGS, BRANDS, OR LABELS.] 
           No person shall: 
           (1) willfully mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or in any 
        other way or by any other means of identification, represent or 
        cause to be marked, stamped, tagged, branded, labeled, or 
        represented as kosher or as having been prepared in accordance 
        with the orthodox Hebrew religious requirements food or food 
        products not kosher or not so prepared, or; 
           (2) willfully mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or in any 
        other way or by any other means of identification, represent or 
        cause to be marked, stamped, tagged, branded, labeled, or 
        represented as Halal or as having been prepared in accordance 
        with the Islamic religious requirements, food or food products, 
        meat or meat products, or poultry or poultry products not Halal 
        or not so prepared; 
           (3) willfully remove, deface, obliterate, cover, alter, or 
        destroy or cause to be removed, defaced, obliterated, covered, 
        altered, or destroyed the original slaughterhouse plumba or any 
        other mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or any other means of 
        identification affixed to foods or food products to indicate 
        that such foods or food products are kosher or have been 
        prepared in accordance with the orthodox Hebrew religious 
        requirements, or; 
           (3) (4) willfully remove, deface, obliterate, cover, alter, 
        or destroy or cause to be removed, defaced, obliterated, 
        covered, altered, or destroyed the original Halal sign, mark, 
        stamp, tag, brand, label, or any other means of identification 
        affixed to foods or food products, meat or meat products, or 
        poultry or poultry products to indicate that the foods or food 
        products, meat or meat products, or poultry or poultry products 
        are Halal or have been prepared in accordance with Islamic 
        religious requirements; 
           (5) knowingly sell, dispose of, or possess, for the purpose 
        of resale to any person as kosher, any food or food products not 
        having affixed thereto the original slaughterhouse plumba or any 
        other mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or other means of 
        identification employed to indicate that such food or food 
        products are kosher or have been prepared in accordance with the 
        orthodox Hebrew religious requirements or any food or food 
        products to which such plumba, mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, 
        or other means of identification has or have been fraudulently 
        affixed.; or 
           (6) knowingly sell, dispose of, or possess for the purpose 
        of resale to any person as Halal, any food or food products, 
        meat or meat products, or poultry or poultry products not having 
        affixed the original Halal sign, mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, 
        or other means of identification employed to indicate that the 
        food or food products, meat or meat products, or poultry or 
        poultry products are Halal or have been prepared in accordance 
        with Islamic religious requirements or any food or food 
        products, meat or meat products, or poultry or poultry products 
        to which the original Halal mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or 
        other means of identification has been fraudulently affixed. 
           Presented to the governor April 26, 2001 
           Signed by the governor April 30, 2001, 3:00 p.m.