2007 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    Subd. 3.[Repealed, 1996 c 310 s 1]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, poultry, farmed cervidae,
as defined in section 35.153, subdivision 3, 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.
    Subd. 5. Custom processing. "Custom processing" means slaughtering, eviscerating,
dressing, or processing an animal or processing meat products or poultry products for the owner
of the animal or of the meat products and poultry products, if all meat products or poultry
products derived from the custom operation are returned to the owner of the animal or of the
meat products or poultry 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, meat food products, poultry, or poultry 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; poultry food product. "Meat food product" or "poultry
food product" means a product usable as human food and made wholly or in part from meat or
poultry or a portion of the carcass of cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, farmed cervidae, as defined
in section 35.153, subdivision 3, llamas, as defined in section 17.455, subdivision 2, ratitae, as
defined in section 17.453, subdivision 3, or goats. "Meat food product" or "poultry food product"
does not include products which contain meat, poultry, 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 or poultry 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 or poultry 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, poultry,
poultry food product, 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, poultry,
poultry food product, 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. 17a. Federal Poultry Inspection Act. "Federal Poultry Inspection Act" means the
Federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, as amended.
    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.
    Subd. 24. Poultry. "Poultry" means any domesticated bird, including, but not limited to,
chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, or guineas.
History: 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; 1999 c 231 s 59-61; 2000 c 477 s 35-39; 2006 c 212 art 1 s 22