1997 Minnesota Statutes

     31A.02 Definitions. 

    Subdivision 1.    Scope.  The definitions in this 
 section apply to this chapter.  

    Subd. 2.    Commissioner.  "Commissioner" means the 
 commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's delegate.  

    Subd. 3. Repealed, 1996 c 310 s 1 

    Subd. 4.    Animals.  "Animals" means cattle, swine, 
 sheep, goats, farmed cervidae, as defined in section 17.451, 
 subdivision 2, llamas, as defined in section 17.455, subdivision 
 2, ratitae, as defined in section 17.453, subdivision 3, horses, 
 equines, and other large domesticated animals, not including 
 poultry.  

    Subd. 5.    Custom processing.  "Custom processing" 
 means slaughtering, eviscerating, dressing, or processing an 
 animal or processing meat products for the owner of the animal 
 or of the meat products, if all meat products derived from the 
 custom operation are returned to the owner of the animal or of 
 the meat products.  No person may sell, offer for sale, or 
 possess with intent to sell meat derived from custom processing. 

    Subd. 6.    Meat broker.  "Meat broker" means a person 
 in the business of buying or selling carcasses, parts of 
 carcasses, meat, or meat food products of animals on commission, 
 or otherwise negotiating purchases or sales of those articles 
 other than for the person's own account or as an employee of 
 another person, firm, or corporation.  

    Subd. 7.    Renderer.  "Renderer" means a person in the 
 business of rendering carcasses, or parts or products of the 
 carcasses of animals, except rendering conducted under 
 inspection under sections 31A.01 to 31A.16.  

    Subd. 8.    Animal food manufacturer.  "Animal food 
 manufacturer" means a person in the business of manufacturing or 
 processing animal food derived wholly or in part from animal 
 carcasses or carcass parts or products.  

    Subd. 9.    Intrastate commerce.  "Intrastate commerce" 
 means commerce within this state.  

    Subd. 10.    Meat food product.  "Meat food product" 
 means a product usable as human food and made wholly or in part 
 from meat or a portion of the carcass of cattle, sheep, swine, 
 farmed cervidae, as defined in section 17.451, subdivision 2, 
 llamas, as defined in section 17.455, subdivision 2, ratitae, as 
 defined in section 17.453, subdivision 3, or goats.  "Meat food 
 product" does not include products which contain meat or other 
 portions of the carcasses of cattle, sheep, swine, farmed 
 cervidae, llamas, ratitae, or goats only in a relatively small 
 proportion or that historically have not been considered by 
 consumers as products of the meat food industry, and which are 
 exempted from definition as a meat food product by the 
 commissioner under the conditions the commissioner prescribes to 
 assure that the meat or other portions of carcasses contained in 
 the products are not adulterated and that the products are not 
 represented as meat food products.  

    "Meat food product," as applied to products of equines, has 
 a meaning comparable to that for cattle, sheep, swine, farmed 
 cervidae, llamas, ratitae, and goats. 

    Subd. 11.    Usable as human food.  "Usable as human 
 food" means that a carcass, or part or product of a carcass, of 
 an animal (1) is not denatured or otherwise identified as 
 required by rules of the commissioner to deter its use as human 
 food, or (2) is not naturally inedible by humans.  

    Subd. 12.    Prepared.  "Prepared" means slaughtered, 
 canned, salted, rendered, boned, cut up, or otherwise 
 manufactured or processed. 

    Subd. 13.    Adulterated.  "Adulterated" means a 
 carcass, part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product under one 
 or more of the following circumstances: 

    (a) if it bears or contains a poisonous or harmful 
 substance which may render it injurious to health; but if the 
 substance is not an added substance, the article is not 
 adulterated if the quantity of the substance in or on the 
 article does not ordinarily make it injurious to health; 

    (b) if it bears or contains, by administration of a 
 substance to the live animal or otherwise, an added poisonous or 
 harmful substance, other than (1) a pesticide chemical in or on 
 a raw agricultural commodity; (2) a food additive; or (3) a 
 color additive, which may, in the judgment of the commissioner, 
 make the article unfit for human food; 

    (c) if it is, in whole or in part, a raw agricultural 
 commodity that bears or contains a pesticide chemical which is 
 unsafe within the meaning of section 408 of the Federal Food, 
 Drug, and Cosmetic Act; 

    (d) if it bears or contains a food additive which is unsafe 
 within the meaning of section 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
 Cosmetic Act; 

    (e) if it bears or contains a color additive which is 
 unsafe within the meaning of section 706 of the Federal Food, 
 Drug, and Cosmetic Act; 

    (f) if it contains a filthy, putrid, or decomposed 
 substance or is for any other reason unfit for human food; 

    (g) if it has been prepared, packed, or held under 
 unsanitary conditions so that it may be contaminated with filth 
 or harmful to health; 

    (h) if it is wholly or partly the product of an animal 
 which has died otherwise than by slaughter; 

    (i) if its container is wholly or partly composed of a 
 poisonous or harmful substance which may make the contents 
 harmful to health; 

    (j) if it has been intentionally subjected to radiation, 
 unless the use of the radiation conformed with a regulation or 
 exemption in effect under section 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, 
 and Cosmetic Act; 

    (k) if a valuable constituent has been wholly or partly 
 omitted or removed from it; if a substance has been wholly or 
 partly substituted for it; if damage or inferiority has been 
 concealed; or if a substance has been added to it or mixed or 
 packed with it so as to increase its bulk or weight, reduce its 
 quality or strength, or make it appear better or of greater 
 value than it is; or 

    (l) if it is margarine containing animal fat and any of the 
 raw material used in it wholly or partly consisted of a filthy, 
 putrid, or decomposed substance.  

    Subd. 14.    Misbranded.  "Misbranded" means a carcass, 
 part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product under one or more 
 of the following circumstances: 

    (a) if its labeling is false or misleading; 

    (b) if it is offered for sale under the name of another 
 food; 

    (c) if it is an imitation of another food, unless its label 
 bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the word 
 "imitation" followed immediately by the name of the food 
 imitated; 

    (d) if its container is made, formed, or filled so as to be 
 misleading; 

    (e) if its package or other container does not have a label 
 showing (1) the name and place of business of the manufacturer, 
 packer, or distributor; and (2) an accurate statement of the 
 quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure, or 
 numerical count subject to reasonable variations permitted and 
 exemptions for small packages established in rules of the 
 commissioner; 

    (f) if a word, statement, or other information required by 
 or under authority of this chapter to appear on the label or 
 other labeling is not prominently and conspicuously placed on 
 the label or labeling in terms that make it likely to be read 
 and understood by the ordinary individual under customary 
 conditions of purchase and use; 

    (g) if it is represented as a food for which a definition 
 and standard of identity or composition has been prescribed by 
 rules of the commissioner under section 31A.07, unless (1) it 
 conforms to the definition and standard, and (2) its label bears 
 the name of the food specified in the definition and standard 
 and, if required by the rules, the common names of optional 
 ingredients, other than spices, flavoring, and coloring, present 
 in the food; 

    (h) if it is represented as a food for which a standard of 
 fill of container has been prescribed by rules of the 
 commissioner under section 31A.07, and it falls below the 
 applicable standard of fill of container, unless its label 
 bears, in the manner and form the rules specify, a statement 
 that it falls below the standard; 

    (i) if it is not subject to paragraph (g), unless its label 
 bears (1) the usual name of the food, if there is one, and (2) 
 in case it is fabricated from two or more ingredients, the 
 common or usual name of each ingredient; except that spices, 
 flavorings, and colorings may, when authorized by the 
 commissioner, be designated as spices, flavorings, and colorings 
 without naming each.  To the extent that compliance with clause 
 (2) is impracticable, or results in deception or unfair 
 competition, the commissioner shall establish exemptions by 
 rule; 

    (j) if it purports to be or is represented for special 
 dietary uses, unless its label bears the information concerning 
 its vitamin, mineral, and other dietary properties that the 
 commissioner, after consultation with the Secretary of 
 Agriculture of the United States, determines by rule to be 
 necessary to inform purchasers of its value for special dietary 
 uses; 

    (k) if it bears or contains any artificial flavoring, 
 artificial coloring, or chemical preservative, unless it bears 
 labeling stating that fact; 

    (l) if it fails to bear, directly or on its container, as 
 the commissioner by rule prescribes, the inspection legend and 
 other information the commissioner may require by rule to assure 
 that it will not have false or misleading labeling and that the 
 public will be told how to keep the article wholesome.  

    Subd. 15.    Label.  "Label" means a display of written, 
 printed, or graphic matter on an article's immediate container, 
 not including package liners.  

    Subd. 16.    Labeling.  "Labeling" means labels and 
 other written, printed, or graphic matter (1) on an article or 
 its containers or wrappers, or (2) accompanying an article.  

    Subd. 17.    Federal Meat Inspection Act.  "Federal Meat 
 Inspection Act" means the Federal Meat Inspection Act.  

    Subd. 18.    Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  
 "Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act" means the Federal Food, 
 Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended.  

    Subd. 19.    Pesticide chemical; food additive; color 
 additive; raw agricultural commodity.  "Pesticide chemical," 
 "food additive," "color additive," and "raw agricultural 
 commodity" have the meanings given them in the Federal Food, 
 Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  

    Subd. 20.    Official mark.  "Official mark" means the 
 official inspection legend or other symbol prescribed by rule of 
 the commissioner to identify the status of an article or animal 
 under this chapter.  

    Subd. 21.    Official inspection legend.  "Official 
 inspection legend" means a symbol prescribed by rule of the 
 commissioner showing that an article was inspected and passed 
 under this chapter.  

    Subd. 22.    Official certificate.  "Official 
 certificate" means a certificate prescribed by rule of the 
 commissioner for issuance by an inspector or other person 
 performing official functions under this chapter.  

    Subd. 23.    Official device.  "Official device" means a 
 device prescribed or authorized by the commissioner for use in 
 applying an official mark. 

    HIST: 1969 c 225 s 2; 1983 c 300 s 17; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 
 444; 1988 c 469 art 2 s 1; 1993 c 375 art 9 s 9,10