Interpretation
 1. (1) In this Regulation, “animal food” means food for an animal that is not a food animal, but does not include pet food; (“aliment pour animaux”) “ante mortem examination” means the examination of a food animal in accordance with Part VIII.2 before the animal is slaughtered; (“examen ante mortem”) “ante mortem inspection” means the inspection of a food animal by an inspector in accordance with Part VIII before the animal is slaughtered; (“inspection ante mortem”) “bulk container” means a container, including a shipping container, used for a meat product, other than a container in which a meat product is packaged for intended sale by a retailer to a consumer; (“contenant de vrac”) “carcass” means the carcass that is derived from a food animal and that is not a farm slaughtered carcass or a hunted game carcass, except if reference is made to a farm slaughtered carcass or a hunted game carcass; (“carcasse”) “commercial sterility” means the condition obtained in a meat product that has been processed by the application of heat, alone or in combination with other treatments, to render the meat product free from viable forms of micro-organisms, including spores, that are capable of growing in the meat product at the temperatures at which the meat product is designed to be held during distribution and storage; (“stérilité commerciale”) “component” means an individual unit of food that is combined with one or more individual units of food to form an ingredient; (“constituant”) “condemn” means, (a) in respect of a food animal, to determine that it is unfit for slaughter, and (b) in respect of any of the following, to determine that it is unfit for use as food: (i) a carcass or part of a carcass derived from a food animal, (ii) a meat product, (iii) a hunted game carcass, (iv) a hunted game product, (v) a farm slaughtered carcass, (vi) a farm slaughtered product; (“condamner”) “condemned material” means material that, under this Regulation, is condemned or required to be condemned; (“matière condamnée”) “consumer” means an individual who purchases or acquires a meat product for the individual’s own use or consumption or that of the individual’s immediate family and who is acting other than in the course of carrying on business; (“consommateur”) “container” means a package or confining band in which a meat product is or is intended to be offered for sale, but does not include a lining, a bulk container or a transport container; (“contenant”) “contaminated”, (a) in respect of a food animal, a carcass or part of a carcass derived from a food animal, a meat product, a farm slaughtered carcass, a farm slaughtered product, a hunted game carcass, a hunted game product, an ingredient or another food means, (i) containing or having been treated with or exposed to, (A) a
substance not permitted by, or in an amount in excess of limits prescribed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
(Canada), the Food and Drugs Act (Canada) or the Pest Control Products Act (Canada), or (B) an ingredient, a food additive or any source of ionizing radiation not permitted by, or in excess of limits prescribed under the Food and Drugs Act (Canada), (ii) containing or having on it any decomposed matter, foreign matter or visible extraneous material, or (iii) containing or having been exposed to a hazard, or (b) in respect of water, a packaging material, any other substance or thing or a condition of a premises, facilities, equipment, utensils or conveyances, means containing or having been exposed to a hazard, and “contamination”, as a noun, has a corresponding meaning; (“contaminé”, “contaminer”, “contamination”) “denature” means to treat inedible material by giving it an appearance or character so that it cannot be mistaken for food; (“dénaturer”) “dress”, as a verb, (a) in respect of the carcass of a slaughtered food animal, other than a pig, a bird or an animal mentioned in clause (e), means, (i) to remove the skin, the head and developed mammary glands and to remove the feet at the carpal and tarsal joints, (ii) to eviscerate, and (iii) except in the case of a sheep, goat, deer or rabbit, to split, (b) in respect of the carcass of a slaughtered food animal that is a pig, other than a pig mentioned in clause (e), means, (i) to remove the hair, toenails and developed mammary glands, or to remove the things set out in subclause (a) (i) in the manner mentioned in that subclause, if applicable, (ii) to eviscerate, (iii) if required by a regional veterinarian, to split, and (iv) to remove the interdigital glands in the feet, if they are intended for human consumption, (c) in respect of the carcass of a slaughtered food animal that is a bird, other than a ratite, means to remove the feathers, hair and head, the feet at the tarsal joints, and the uropygial gland and to eviscerate, (d) in respect of the carcass of a slaughtered food animal that is a ratite, means to remove the feathers, hair and head, to remove the feet at the tarsal joints and to eviscerate, and (e) in respect of the carcass of a slaughtered food animal to which section 84.23 applies, means to remove the head and to eviscerate; (“habiller”) “euthanize”, as a verb in respect of a food animal, means to kill the animal for a purpose other than human consumption and “euthanasia”, as a noun, has a corresponding meaning; (“euthanasier”, “euthanasie”) “eviscerate” means, (a) to remove the respiratory and digestive system and the other thoracic and abdominal organs of a carcass, which may include the reproductive and urinary system, if, (i) the carcass is derived from a young chicken, (ii) the carcass is derived from a young duck, or (iii) the carcass is derived from other birds that a director specifies, (b) in respect of a carcass derived from a bird other than a chicken or duck mentioned in clause (a), to remove the respiratory, digestive, reproductive and urinary systems and the other thoracic and abdominal organs of the carcass, (c) in respect of the carcass of a slaughtered food animal to which section 84.23 applies, to remove the respiratory, digestive, reproductive and urinary systems of the carcass, including the kidneys, and the other thoracic and abdominal organs, and (d) in respect of a carcass not described in clause (a), (b) or (c), to remove the respiratory, digestive, reproductive and urinary systems of the carcass, except the kidneys, and the other thoracic and abdominal organs; (“éviscérer”) “examination stamp” means an examination stamp issued to an examiner under Part III.1; (“estampille d’examen”) “examiner” means a person who holds a valid certificate as an examiner under Part III.1; (“examinateur”) “farm slaughtered carcass” means a carcass of a food animal that was slaughtered on the premises of the producer of the animal, that has been approved to enter a meat plant in accordance with Part VIII.2 and that has been delivered to a meat plant, and includes any part of such carcass; (“carcasse d’un animal abattu à la ferme”) “farm slaughtered product” means a  product that is intended for human consumption and is derived in whole or part from a farm slaughtered carcass; (“produit d’un animal abattu à la ferme”) “food animal” means a mammal or bird that is raised in captivity and whose meat or meat by-products are intended for human consumption, but does not include a hunted game animal; (“animal pour alimentation humaine”) “food contact surface” means a surface with which carcasses, parts of carcasses or meat products at a meat plant ordinarily come into contact at the plant; (“surface en contact avec des aliments”) “freestanding meat plant” means a premises, other than a slaughter plant, where one or more Category 1 or Category 2 activities are carried on as a business and includes any part of the premises where, (a) hides are removed from partially dressed carcasses of food animals, (b) carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat products from food animals are produced, processed, handled, stored, packaged, labelled, distributed or sold, (c) inedible materials are processed, handled, stored, packaged, labelled, distributed or sold, (c.1) farm slaughtered carcasses are skinned, and farm slaughtered carcasses and products are processed, handled, stored, packaged and labelled, or (d) other activities to which this Regulation applies are carried on; (“établissement de transformation des viandes sans abattoir”) “game animal” means a mammal or bird that is of a species that is wild by nature, whether it is found in the wild or has been raised in captivity, including, but not limited to, deer, elk, moose, caribou, wild sheep, wild goats, bear and migratory and non-migratory game birds; (“gibier”) “hazard” means a biological, chemical or physical agent or factor, a condition of a food or an agricultural commodity or the environment in which a food or an agricultural commodity is produced, processed, handled or stored, if the agent, factor, condition or environment, as the case may be, may directly or indirectly cause the food or agricultural commodity to be unsafe for human consumption in the absence of its control; (“danger”) “hermetically sealed container” means a container that is designed to be and is secure against the entry of micro-organisms; (“récipient hermétiquement fermé”) “hunted game animal” means a game animal that has been killed by hunting or that has been killed by a conservation officer appointed under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 or a person engaged in wildlife management activities on behalf of the Ministry of Natural Resources and whose products are intended for human consumption; (“gibier tué à la chasse”) “hunted game carcass” means a carcass that is derived from a hunted game animal and includes part of any such carcass; (“carcasse de gibier tué à la chasse”) “hunted game product” means a product that is intended for human consumption and is derived in whole or in part from a hunted game carcass; (“produit de gibier tué à la chasse”) “hunting” has the same meaning as in the
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 and “hunted” has a corresponding meaning; (“chasse”, “tué à la chasse”) “inedible material” means, (a) a carcass, a part of a carcass or a product derived from a food animal that is not intended, or not permitted under this Regulation, to be sold or distributed for use as food, whether or not the material is condemned material, (b) a hunted game carcass or hunted game product that is not intended, or not permitted under this Regulation, to be returned to the owner for use as food, whether or not the material is condemned material, or (c) a farm slaughtered carcass or farm slaughtered product that is not intended, or not permitted under this Regulation, to be returned to the producer of the carcass for use as food, whether or not the material is condemned material; (“matière non comestible”) “inedible materials room” means the room at a meat plant referred to in subsection 22 (1) and paragraph 1 of subsection 22 (3) in which inedible material, other than material intended as, or for use in, pet food or intended for pharmaceutical, research or therapeutic purposes, is processed, packaged and labelled; (“salle des matières non comestibles”) “ingredient”, in respect of a meat product, means an individual unit of the product that is combined with one more other individual units of the product to form an integral unit of the product; (“ingrédient”) “inspection legend” means an inspection legend in the form required by section 113; (“estampille d’inspection”) “killing room” means the room or area of a meat plant where food animals are slaughtered; (“salle d’abattage”) “meat” means the muscle that is derived from the carcass of a food animal, that is intended for human consumption and that is associated with the skeleton, tongue, diaphragm, heart, gizzard or mammalian esophagus, whether or not the muscle is accompanied by fat, and includes those parts of the bones, skin, sinews, nerves, blood vessels and other tissues that normally accompany the muscle and are not ordinarily removed in dressing a carcass, but does not include meat by-products, mechanically separated meat or meat to which an ingredient other than meat has been added or, except if reference is made to meat derived from farm slaughtered carcasses, any product that is derived in whole or in part from a farm slaughtered carcass; (“viande”) “meat by-product” means the muscle associated with the lips, snout, scalp or ears of a carcass of a food animal, the blood from the carcass or the edible organs or tissues from the carcass that are intended for human consumption, but does not include any product that is derived in whole or in part from a farm slaughtered carcass, meat, mechanically separated meat, or a meat by-product to which an ingredient other than a meat by product has been added; (“sous-produit de viande”) “meat plant” means a slaughter plant or a freestanding meat plant; (“établissement de transformation des viandes”) “meat product” means, (a) a carcass or a part of a carcass derived from a food animal that, (i) has been approved for use as food after receiving a post mortem inspection in accordance with this Regulation, (ii) has been identified as edible in accordance with the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (Canada), or (iii) has been imported in accordance with the Safe Food for Canadians Act
(Canada) and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations
(Canada); (b) meat, a meat by-product, mechanically separated meat, or a prepared meat product, or (c) a product that is intended for human consumption and that is derived in whole or part from a carcass or a part of a carcass described in clause (a) or anything mentioned in clause (b), but does not include inedible material or any product that is derived in whole or in part from a farm slaughtered carcass or a hunted game carcass; (“produit de viande”) “mechanically separated meat” means a product that is derived wholly from a carcass of a food animal, that is intended for human consumption and that is obtained by removing the muscle tissue attached to the bones by means of mechanical separation equipment, but does not include any product that is derived in whole or in part from a farm slaughtered carcass; (“viande séparée mécaniquement”) “operator” means a person who has responsibility for and control over the operation of a meat plant; (“exploitant”) “outside of a slaughter plant” means any place other than, (a) a slaughter plant operated by a licensee, or (b) an establishment identified in a licence that is issued under the Safe Food for Canadians Act (Canada) and that authorizes the slaughter of food animals under that Act; “packaging material” means material used to package food or inedible material and includes a container and a bulk container; (“matériau d’emballage”) “partially dress”, (a) in respect of a slaughtered food animal, other than a bird, means, (i) to remove the developed mammary glands and the feet at the carpal and tarsal joints, if required by a regional veterinarian as a condition of issuing an authorization under section 77, (ii) to eviscerate, (iii) to split, except in the case of a sheep, goat, deer or calf, and (iv) to carry out any other dressing procedures required by a regional veterinarian as a condition of issuing an authorization under section 77, and (b) in respect of a slaughtered food animal that is a bird, other than a ratite, means, (i) to remove the feathers and hair, (ii) to  remove the head and the feet at the tarsal joints, if required by a regional veterinarian as a condition of issuing an authorization under section 77, (iii) to eviscerate, if required by a regional veterinarian as a condition of issuing an authorization under section 77, and (iv) to carry out any other dressing procedures required by a regional veterinarian as a condition of issuing an authorization under section 77; (“habiller partiellement”) “pet food” means food for a companion animal that is not a food animal, but does not include animal food; (“aliment pour animaux de compagnie”) “pet food processing room” means the room at a meat plant referred to in paragraph 1 of subsection 22 (5) in which inedible material intended as, or for use in, pet food and material intended for pharmaceutical, research or therapeutic purposes is processed, packaged and labelled; (“salle de transformation des aliments pour animaux de compagnie”) “post mortem examination” means the examination in accordance with Part VIII.2 of a carcass or part of a carcass derived from a food animal after the animal is slaughtered; (“examen post mortem”) “post mortem inspection” means the inspection of a carcass or a part of a carcass derived from a food animal by an inspector in accordance with Part VIII or VIII.1; (“inspection post mortem”) “premises”, in respect of a meat plant, includes the lands, buildings and facilities of the plant; (“site”) “pre-packaged”, in respect of a meat product, means packaged in a container in the manner in which it is ordinarily sold to or used or purchased by a consumer without being repackaged and “pre-packaging” has a corresponding meaning; (“préemballé”, “préemballage”) “prepared meat product” means a meat product that is derived in whole or part from a carcass of a food animal that is intended for human consumption and that, (a) is cooked, fermented or dehydrated, or (b) contains any ingredient, other than meat, a meat by-product or mechanically separated meat, unless the ingredient is salt or a seasoning that has only been applied to the surface of the product; (“produit de viande préparé”) “preserved”, in respect of a meat product, means salted, pickled, dried, cured, smoked or treated by other similar means permitted under this Regulation but does not include refrigerated or frozen; (“conservé”) “principal display panel”, (a) in the case of a container that is mounted on a display card, means the part of the label applied to, (i) all or part of the principal display surface of the container, (ii) all or part of the side of the display card that is displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, or (iii) both the parts described in subclauses (i) and (ii), (b) in the case of an ornamental container, means that part of the label applied to all or part of the bottom of the container, to all or part of the principal display surface of the container or to all or part of a tag that is attached to the container, and (c) in the case of all other containers and bulk containers, means that part of the label applied to all or part of the principal display surface of the container; (“partie principale”) “principal display surface”, (a) in the case of a container or bulk container that has a side or surface that is displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, means the total area of that side or surface, excluding the top, if any, (b) in the case of a container or bulk container that has a lid that is the part of the container displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, means the total area of the top surface of the lid, (c) in the case of a container or bulk container that does not have a side or surface that is displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, means any 40 per cent of the total surface area of the container, excluding the top and bottom, if any, if that 40 per cent can be displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, (d) in the case of a container or bulk container that is a bag with sides of equal dimensions, means the total area of one of the sides, (e) in the case of a container or bulk container that is a bag with sides of more than one size, means the total area of one of the largest sides, and (f) in the case of a container that is a wrapper or confining band that is so narrow in relation to the size of the product contained that it cannot reasonably be said to have any side or surface that is displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, means the total area of one side of a ticket or tag attached to the container; (“principale surface exposée”) “processing”, when used in relation to preparing, for use as food, a carcass or part of a carcass, a meat product, a farm slaughtered carcass, a farm slaughtered product, a hunted game carcass or a hunted game product, means, (a) adding an anticoagulant to blood, aging, basting, boning, breaking, canning, coating, comminution, cooling, cooking, curing, cutting, dehydrating, emulsifying fabricating, fermenting, freezing, heating, marinating, massaging, pasteurizing, pickling, refrigerating, rinsing, rubbing, salting, slicing, smoking, tenderizing, thermal processing, washing and reprocessing of previously processed products, and (b) any other operation performed to prepare the carcass or part of the carcass, meat product, farm slaughtered carcass, farm slaughtered product, hunted game carcass or a hunted game product for use as food, other than the dressing of a carcass; (“transformation”) “ready-to-eat”, in respect of a meat product, means that the product that has been subjected to a process sufficient to inactivate pathogenic micro-organisms or their toxins, control spores of food borne pathogenic bacteria or control, inactivate or eliminate any other thing that is present in the product in an amount that would render the product unsafe for human consumption so that, when the product is handled and stored under appropriate conditions, it does not require further heating or processing, other than refrigeration, in order to be safe for human consumption; (“prêt à manger”) “recipe”, in respect of a meat product, means a written description of, (a) the ingredients contained in the meat product and the components of the ingredients, including food additives, (b) the proportions of the ingredients and components mentioned in clause (a), and (c) the method of manufacture of the product; (“recette”) “regional veterinarian” means a veterinary inspector appointed by a director as a regional veterinarian; (“vétérinaire régional”) “safe”, in respect of any food, means that, subject to subsection (3), the food is not likely to cause any adverse affect to health or safety of a person who consumes it if it is prepared and consumed by the person in accordance with its intended use; (“salubre”) “sanitize” means to reduce the level of micro-organisms to a level that will not compromise the safety of a meat product; (“assainir”) “seasoning” means a spice or seasoning listed in Division 7 of Part B of the Food and Drug Regulations made under the Food and Drugs Act
(Canada); (“assaisonnement”) “sell” includes offer to sell, agree to sell, barter, possess for the purposes of sale, sell on consignment and dispose of or to agree to dispose of by any method to any person for valuable consideration; (“vente”, “vendre”) “slaughter”, in respect of a food animal, means to slaughter the animal for the purpose of human consumption; (“abattage”) “slaughter plant” means a premises where food animals are slaughtered, and includes any part of the premises where, (a) food animals are received, kept or handled before they are slaughtered, (b) carcasses derived from food animals are dressed, (c) carcasses, parts of carcasses or meat products derived from food animals are produced, processed, packaged, labelled, handled, stored, distributed or sold, (d) inedible materials are processed, packaged, labelled, handled, stored, distributed or sold, (d.1) farm slaughtered carcasses are skinned or farm slaughtered carcasses and products are processed, handled, stored, packaged and labelled, or (e) other activities to which this Regulation applies are carried on; (“abattoir”) “spouse” means a person to whom a person is married or with whom a person lives in a conjugal relationship outside marriage; (“conjoint”) “transport container” includes any conveyance used for the transportation of food animals or meat products; (“conteneur”) “veterinarian” means a person licensed under the Veterinarians Act; (“vétérinaire”) “veterinary inspector” means a veterinarian appointed by a director under section 14 of the Act as an inspector; (“vétérinaire inspecteur”) “water activity” means the ratio of water vapour pressure of a meat product to the vapour pressure of pure water at the same temperature and pressure; (“activité de l’eau”) “young chicken” means a chicken that still has flexible cartilage at the posterior end of the breastbone or keel bone, tender meat and soft skin of smooth texture and that is no more than 12 weeks old; (“jeune poulet”) “young duck” means a duck that still has flexible cartilage at the posterior end of the breastbone or keel bone, tender meat and soft skin of smooth texture and that is no more than 18 weeks old. (“jeune canard”) O. Reg. 31/05, s. 1 (1); O. Reg. 325/06, s. 1 (1-17); O. Reg. 70/08, s. 1 (1-20); O. Reg. 285/13, s. 1 (1-7); O. Reg. 205/19, s. 1; O. Reg. 716/20, s. 1. (2) In the definition of “freestanding meat plant” in subsection (1), “Category 1 activity” means, (a) aging or breaking of a carcass or a part of a carcass, (b) aging, boning, comminution, cutting, fabrication, marinating, slicing or tenderizing of a meat product, (c) packaging of a meat product for wholesale or other sale or distribution to persons other than consumers, (d) pre-packaging of a meat product, (e) cooking of ready-to-serve meat products for the purpose of immediate consumption, and (f) any other processing activity performed in respect of a carcass, a part of a carcass or a meat product that in the opinion of a director presents a low risk of adversely affecting the safety for human consumption of the carcass, the part of the carcass or the meat product, as the case may be; (“activité de catégorie 1”) “Category 2 activity” means, (a) canning, curing, dehydrating, emulsifying, fermenting or smoking of a meat product, (b) manufacturing of a ready-to-eat meat product, other than cooking a ready-to-serve meat product for immediate consumption, (c) processing burnt heads or feet of cattle or sheep, unfinished green tripe or casings, bile, blood products containing salt or other ingredients or reproductive organs from the carcasses of food animals, (d) preparing mechanically separated meat, (e) any other processing activity performed in respect of a carcass, a part of a carcass or a meat product that in the opinion of a director presents a medium to high risk of adversely affecting the safety for human consumption of the carcass, the part of the carcass or the meat product, as the case may be, and (f) receiving, skinning, cutting, wrapping, freezing farm slaughtered carcasses, grinding meat from farm slaughtered carcasses and processing ham, bacon and sausage from farm slaughtered carcasses that are derived from pigs. (“activité de catégorie 2”) O. Reg. 31/05, s. 1 (2); O. Reg. 70/08, s. 1 (21). (2.1) Revoked: O. Reg. 285/13, s. 1 (8). (3) For the purposes of the definition of “safe” in subsection (1), food is not unsafe merely because its inherent nutritional or chemical properties or its inherent nature cause adverse reactions only in persons with allergies or sensitivities that are not common to the majority of persons.  O. Reg. 31/05, s. 1 (3). (4) A reference in this Regulation to a percentage of a meat product or other substance means a reference to a percentage of the meat product or other substance by weight.  O. Reg. 31/05, s. 1 (4).