Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

340A.508 TAMPERING OR REFILLING BOTTLES.
    Subdivision 1. Refilling bottles. It is unlawful for a person to sell, offer for sale, or keep for
sale alcoholic beverages in a package or bottle which has been refilled or partly refilled.
    Subd. 2. Tampering or diluting contents. It is unlawful for a person holding a retail
intoxicating liquor license or a 3.2 percent malt liquor license, directly or indirectly through an
agent, employee, or other person, to dilute or in any manner tamper with the contents of an
original package or bottle so as to change its composition or alcoholic content while the contents
are in the original package or bottle. Possession on the premises by a licensee of alcoholic
beverages in the original package or bottle, differing in composition or alcoholic content from
when it was received from the manufacturer or wholesaler from whom it was purchased, is prima
facie evidence that the contents of the original package or bottle has been diluted, changed,
or tampered with in violation of this section.
    Subd. 3. Purity of contents. The commissioner may examine the contents of any container
of alcoholic beverages on the premises of any licensee under this chapter or any municipal liquor
store, for the purpose of determining the purity of the alcoholic beverages. The commissioner
may remove any container, or remove all or part of the contents thereof, for the purpose of
conducting tests of purity. The commissioner may order the removal from inventory of any
container the contents of which fail to meet standards of purity established by rules adopted
under this subdivision, and may order the disposal of the contents. The commissioner may adopt
rules that (1) provide standards of purity for alcoholic beverages and procedures for testing for
purity, and (2) govern the removal from inventory and disposal of alcoholic beverages that do not
meet the commissioner's standards of purity.
    Subd. 4. Premix and dispensing machines. Nothing in this section prohibits use by an
on-sale intoxicating liquor licensee of a machine to premix and dispense frozen or iced cocktails,
provided that the machine is emptied on a daily basis. A machine described in this subdivision
need not be visible to the consuming public.
History: 1985 c 305 art 7 s 8; 1987 c 152 art 1 s 1; 1991 c 249 s 24; 1996 c 323 s 4;
2001 c 193 s 4

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes