piers109uk/MN-Statutes huggingface dataset:
28A.08 LICENSE FEES; PENALTIES.
License fees, penalties for late renewal of licenses, and penalties for not obtaining a license before conducting business in food handling that are set in this section apply to the sections named except as provided under section 28A.09. Except as specified herein, bonds and assessments based on number of units operated or volume handled or processed which are provided for in said laws shall not be affected, nor shall any penalties for late payment of said assessments, nor shall inspection fees, be affected by this chapter. The penalties may be waived by the commissioner. Fees for all new licenses must be based on the anticipated future gross annual food sales. If a firm is found to be operating for multiple years without paying license fees, the state may collect the appropriate fees and penalties for each year of operation.
[Repealed, 1995 c 220 s 141]
A food handler license account is established in the agricultural fund. Fees paid under subdivision 3 must be deposited in this account. Money in the account, including interest, is appropriated to the commissioner for expenses relating to licensing and inspecting food handlers under chapters 28 to 34A or rules adopted under one of those chapters.
27.14 RULES.
In the manner provided by law, the commissioner, from time to time, shall make and publish uniform rules, not inconsistent with law, for carrying out and enforcing the provisions of sections 27.01 to 27.14 and 27.19 and governing the rates charged by, and the buying, selling, advertising and trading practices of, dealers at wholesale.
28A.081 CERTIFICATE FEES.
A fee of $125 for each certificate shall be charged to any person who requests a certificate issued by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to facilitate the movement of Minnesota processed and manufactured foods destined for export from the state of Minnesota. Certificates include, but are not limited to, a certificate of free sale, certificate of export, certificate of sanitation, sanitary certificate, certificate of origin and/or free sale, certificate of health and/or free sale, sanitation, and purity, certificate of free trade, certificate of free sale, sanitation, purity, and origin, certificate of health, sanitation, purity, and free sale, and letter of plant certification.
The commissioner shall bill the requesting person within seven days after issuing a certificate to the person. The requesting person must submit payment for a certificate within ten days of the billing date. If a certificate fee payment is not received within 15 days of the billing date, the commissioner may not issue any future certificates to the requesting person until previous fees due are paid in full. Fees paid under this section must be deposited in the food certificate account established under subdivision 2 or another account in the agricultural fund if the expenses for the certificate will be paid from that other account.
A food certificate account is established in the agricultural fund. Money in the account, including interest, is appropriated to the commissioner for expenses relating to certifying Minnesota processed and manufactured foods under chapters 28 to 34A or rules adopted under one of those chapters.
28A.082 FOOD HANDLER PLAN REVIEW FEES.
(a) The fees for review of food handler facility floor plans under the Minnesota Food Code are based upon the square footage of the structure being newly constructed, remodeled, or converted. The fees for the review shall be:
(b) The applicant must submit the required fee, review application, plans, equipment specifications, materials lists, and other required information on forms supplied by the department at least 30 days prior to commencement of construction, remodeling, or conversion. The commissioner may waive this fee after determining that the facility's principal mode of business is not the sale of food and that the facility sells only prepackaged foods.
(c) The fee for a remodel of a licensed food establishment by the license holder is based on the total square footage in paragraph (a) of the remodeled food preparation, service, display, and storage areas only. This paragraph does not apply to a retail food handler who is applying for a new license that includes the conversion of an existing building or structure that was previously licensed as a food establishment.
A food handler plan review account is created in the agricultural fund. Fees paid under subdivision 1 must be deposited in the food handler plan review account. Money in the account, including interest accrued, is appropriated to the commissioner for the costs of the food handler plan review program.
If the governor declares a disaster in an area of the state, the commissioner of agriculture may waive the plan review fee and direct agency personnel to expedite the plan review process.
28A.085 REINSPECTION FEES.
The commissioner may charge a reinspection fee for each reinspection of a food handler that:
(1) is found with a major violation of requirements in chapter 28, 29, 30, 31, 31A, 32D, 33, or 34, or rules adopted under one of those chapters; or
(2) fails to correct equipment and facility deficiencies as required in rules adopted under chapter 28, 29, 30, 31, 31A, 32D, or 34.
The first reinspection of a firm with gross food sales under $1,000,000 must be assessed at $150. The fee for a firm with gross food sales over $1,000,000 is $200. The fee for a subsequent reinspection of a firm for the same violation is 50 percent of their current license fee or $300, whichever is greater. The establishment must be issued written notice of violations with a reasonable date for compliance listed on the notice. An initial inspection relating to a complaint is not a reinspection.
A food handler that requires a reinspection due to adulteration or misbranded foods that result in a food being recalled from commerce may be assessed for reasonable and direct reinspection costs incurred by the commissioner, including personnel, travel, laboratory analysis, and attorney general costs. Reinspection related to floods, earthquakes, storms, accidental fires, and power outages are excluded. The commissioner, upon request of the food handler, shall provide, within a reasonable time, an estimate of the anticipated cost for resolving the food safety emergency.
Unless an appeal is filed under subdivision 5, a food handler must pay all fees and assessments in the manner and timing requested by the commissioner. If a timely appeal is requested, the fees and assessments are stayed until a decision on the appeal is issued by the hearing officer. A license may not be renewed until all fees and penalties under this chapter are paid.
A food handler reinspection account is established in the agricultural fund. All reinspection fees and assessments collected must be deposited in the state treasury and are credited to the food handler reinspection account. Money in the account, including interest accrued, is appropriated to the commissioner to pay the expenses relating to reinspections conducted under the chapters listed in subdivision 1.
Food handlers may appeal reinspection fees and assessments to the department hearing officer within 30 days of receipt of the notice of fee assessment. The appeal must be submitted to the commissioner in writing.
29.201 BUYERS OF DOMESTIC FOWL; DEALERS' REGISTERS.
Every person who engages in the business of buying chickens, turkeys, or other domestic fowl of any kind shall keep and maintain a complete record of all such transactions in a ledger or other suitable book of account permanently bound, which for the purposes of sections 29.201 to 29.205 shall be known as such dealer's register. In such register the buyer shall enter a complete record of each purchase of chickens, turkeys, or other domestic fowl, to which the buyer was a party; and shall show the name and address of the person from whom the same was bought, and, when the transaction is with a person other than a regular customer of the buyer from whom the buyer has made similar purchases within one year from the date of such transaction, the means by which the same were transported to the place of purchase, the type of conveyance, and if by truck or other motor vehicle the license number of such truck or motor vehicle, the date of such purchase, and the number, kind, species and a general description of all such chickens, turkeys, or other domestic fowl involved in such transaction.
28A.09 INSPECTION FEES FOR VENDING MACHINES.
Every food vending machine is subject to an annual state inspection fee of $25 for each nonexempt machine except nut vending machines which are subject to an annual state inspection fee of $10 for each machine, provided that:
(1) Food vending machines may be inspected by either a home rule charter or statutory city, or a county, but not both, and if inspected by a home rule charter or statutory city, or a county they shall not be subject to the state inspection fee, but the home rule charter or statutory city, or the county may impose an inspection or license fee of no more than the state inspection fee. A home rule charter or statutory city or county that does not inspect food vending machines shall not impose a food vending machine inspection or license fee.
(2) Vending machines dispensing only gum balls, hard candy, unsorted candy, or ice manufactured and packaged by another, and water dispensing machines serviced by a cashier, are exempt from the state inspection fee, but may be inspected by the state. A home rule charter or statutory city may impose by ordinance an inspection or license fee of no more than the state inspection fee for nonexempt machines on the vending machines and water dispensing machines described in this paragraph. A county may impose by ordinance an inspection or license fee of no more than the state inspection fee for nonexempt machines on the vending machines and water dispensing machines described in this paragraph which are not located in a home rule charter or statutory city.
(3) Vending machines dispensing only bottled or canned soft drinks are exempt from the state, home rule charter or statutory city, and county inspection fees, but may be inspected by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.
The commissioner may require that a vending machine must be identified in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 14.
A vending machine inspection account is established in the agricultural fund. Fees paid under subdivision 1 must be deposited in this account. Money in the account, including interest, is appropriated to the commissioner for expenses relating to identifying and inspecting food vending machines under chapters 28 to 34A or rules adopted under one of those chapters.
28A.10 POSTING OF LICENSE; RULES.
All such licenses shall be issued for a period of one year and shall be posted or displayed in a conspicuous place at the place of business so licensed. The commissioner may adopt such rules in conformity with law as the commissioner deems necessary to effectively and efficiently carry out the provisions of sections 28A.01 to 28A.16.
28A.11 ADJUSTMENTS.
The commissioner shall make appropriate license fee adjustments for up to one year from July 1, 1971, for persons required to be licensed hereunder, who hold validly issued licenses as of the date of this act under the provisions of law amended or repealed herein. The commissioner may also make appropriate license fee adjustments for licensees changing their classification under section 28A.05 prior to the expiration date of their current license.
29.203 REGISTER PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.
Every register made or kept in compliance with the provisions of sections 29.201 to 29.205 shall be prima facie evidence of the truth and accuracy of the facts therein stated or appearing as required thereby. Every such register shall at all times be open to inspection and examination by any peace officer or any public official charged with the duty of law enforcement, as often as and when required.
29.205 FAILURE TO KEEP REGISTERS; FALSE ENTRY THEREIN.
Any person who fails to keep such record or causes to be entered or recorded any false, untruthful, deceptive, or misleading statement or data in any register required to be kept by sections 29.201 to 29.205, or who changes, alters, destroys, mutilates, injures, secretes, conceals, or withholds from inspection any such register, or any part thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. This misdemeanor shall be deemed separate, apart from, and in addition to, any other crime or offense against the law committed by such person in connection with such transaction.
28A.14 TRANSFER OF BUSINESS.
A transfer of a business or a discontinuance of its operation by the licensee at the address covered by the license voids the license and the license certificate shall be surrendered to the commissioner immediately by anyone in possession of the same.
28A.15 EXCLUSIONS.
The licensing provisions of sections 28A.01 to 28A.16 shall not apply to the following:
Persons selling the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by them, or to persons not regularly engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling food and who prepare food only on order of and for sale directly to the ultimate consumer, or to educational, charitable or religious organizations not regularly engaged in the business of manufacturing, processing, or selling food at their established educational, charitable or religious institutions.
A farmer slaughtering personal animals, rabbits or poultry, on the farmer's own farm for: (a) personal use; or (b) the use of the farmer's immediate family.
Trucks operating under a certificate or permit issued pursuant to chapter 221 or warehouse operators, other than cold storage warehouse operators, offering storage or warehouse facilities for compensation.
Persons whose principal mode of business is licensed under section 157.16 or 327.15; provided that the holding of any license pursuant to section 157.16 or 327.15 shall not exempt any person from the applicable requirements of the laws and rules administered by the commissioner, as they relate to composition, standards of identity, adulteration, labeling or misbranding of food.
[Repealed, 1978 c 502 s 3]
Persons whose principal business is not food handling but who sell only ice manufactured and prepackaged by another, bottled or canned soft drinks, prepackaged candy or nuts at retail, or persons who for their own convenience or the convenience of their employees have available for rehydration and consumption on the premises such nonperishable items as dehydrated coffee, soup, hot chocolate or other dehydrated food or beverage.
A licensed pharmacy selling only food additives, food supplements, canned or prepackaged infant formulae, ice manufactured and packaged by another, or bottled or canned soft drinks and prepackaged candy or nuts at retail.
[Repealed, 1Sp2015 c 4 art 2 s 87]
[Repealed, 1Sp2015 c 4 art 2 s 87]
28A.153 WILD GAME PROCESSOR EXEMPTION.
The licensing provisions of sections 28A.01 to 28A.16 do not apply to an individual who processes wild game or fowl as described in section 31A.15, subdivision 1, clause (2), if the following requirements are met:
(1) the individual does not own an operation subject to the licensing provisions of sections 28A.01 to 28A.16;
(2) the individual's operation is limited to the handling of raw products, to include cutting, grinding, and packaging, and without further preparation of the wild game or fowl products;
(3) the individual does not add any additional ingredients to the wild game or fowl products;
(4) the wild game or fowl products are not donated or sold; and
(5) all wild game or fowl products are packaged and labeled as "Not for Sale."
An individual processing wild game or fowl under this section is limited to total services with gross receipts of $20,000 or less in a calendar year or the processing of 200 deer in a calendar year, whichever is greater.
Individuals processing wild game under this section are encouraged to register annually with the commissioner. The commissioner must not assess a registration fee.
An individual processing wild game under this section is not required to obtain a custom processing permit under section 28A.04, subdivision 2.
If a white-tailed deer was harvested from a chronic wasting disease management area established by the commissioner of natural resources, an individual processing wild game under this section must dispose of the carcass through any disposal method approved for the management area in Department of Natural Resources hunting rules.
28A.16 PERSONS SELLING LIQUOR.
(a) The provisions of the Minnesota consolidated food licensing law, sections 28A.01 to 28A.16 and acts amendatory thereto, shall not apply to persons licensed to sell 3.2 percent malt liquor "on-sale" as provided in section 340A.403, or to persons licensed to sell intoxicating liquors "on-sale" or "off-sale" as provided in sections 340A.404 to 340A.407, provided that these persons sell only ice manufactured and packaged by another, or bottled or canned soft drinks and prepacked candy at retail.
(b) When an exclusive liquor store is not exempt under paragraph (a), the commissioner must exclude all gross sales of off-sale alcoholic beverages when determining the applicable license fee under section 28A.08, subdivision 3. For purposes of this paragraph, "exclusive liquor store" and "alcoholic beverage" have the meanings given in section 340A.101.
28A.17 LICENSE RENEWAL.
Licenses for food processors or manufacturers or food brokers shall be renewed annually on January 1. Licenses for retail and wholesale food handlers shall be renewed annually on July 1. Licenses for mobile food concessions and for retail mobile units shall be renewed annually on April 1.
29.001 DEFINITION.
Except where the context otherwise indicates, for the purposes of this chapter, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them.
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.
28A.21 FOOD SAFETY AND DEFENSE TASK FORCE.
The Food Safety and Defense Task Force is established to advise the commissioner and the legislature on food issues and food safety.
(a) The Food Safety and Defense Task Force consists of:
(1) the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designee;
(2) the commissioner of health or the commissioner's designee;
(3) a representative of the United States Food and Drug Administration;
(4) a representative of the United States Department of Agriculture;
(5) a representative of the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute;
(6) one member of the Minnesota Grocers Association;
(7) one member from the University of Minnesota knowledgeable in food and food safety issues; and
(8) ten members appointed by the governor who are interested in food and food safety, of whom:
(i) two persons are health or food professionals;
(ii) one person represents a statewide general farm organization;
(iii) one person represents a local food inspection agency;
(iv) one person represents a food-oriented consumer group;
(v) one person represents a Minnesota-based manufacturer of microbial detection equipment and remediation products; and
(vi) one person is knowledgeable in cybersecurity.
(b) Members shall serve without compensation. Members appointed by the governor shall serve four-year terms.
(a) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall convene the first meeting of the task force.
(b) The task force shall meet monthly or as determined by the chair.
(c) The members of the task force shall annually elect a chair and other officers as the members deem necessary.
The commissioner shall provide support staff, office space, and administrative services for the task force.
The task force shall:
(1) coordinate educational efforts regarding food safety and defense;
(2) provide advice and coordination to state agencies as requested by the agencies;
(3) serve as a source of information and referral for the public, news media, and others concerned with food safety and defense; and
(4) make recommendations to Congress, the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agriculture finance and policy, the legislature, and others about appropriate action to improve food safety and defense in the state.
This section expires June 30, 2037.
29.021 COMMISSIONER'S POWERS AND DUTIES.
The commissioner of agriculture shall have the power to employ such persons as are necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 29.021 to 29.081, and to fix all salaries and provide for expenses generally not inconsistent with law. The commissioner is authorized and directed to formulate and adopt plans whereby owners of poultry flocks and poultry breeding flocks may, upon application, have their flocks culled, inspected, and supervised, to the end that these flocks may be accredited and certified for standard type and egg quality and production; and likewise, poultry hatcheries and dealers may be accredited and certified as hatching and selling products produced only from accredited and certified flocks. The commissioner is authorized to make, publish, and enforce rules to these ends, not inconsistent with law, and to define, prescribe, and authorize the use of uniform terminology to apply to varying degrees of accreditation and certification. The commissioner is authorized to adopt the "standard breeding plan" of accreditation and certification sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture, or any other plan, and to cooperate with that department in matters of poultry improvement, egg quality and production. The commissioner is authorized to prescribe and collect fees for inspection and supervision, and to prescribe and furnish labels, leg bands, and certificates of accreditation and certification and such other supplies as may be necessary, and to prescribe and collect fees for the same. Fees shall be fixed by the commissioner at the beginning of each fiscal year and reviewed and adjusted, if necessary, at the end of each six-month period in order that the fees prescribed shall, insofar as practicable, cover the cost of all services rendered. The commissioner is authorized to do such other things as the commissioner may deem needful and expedient to improve poultry breeding and practices and egg quality and production and to give effect to sections 29.021 to 29.081, in connection with those parties who wish to comply with the programs promulgated in accordance with this section.
29.031 ADVERTISING.
Owners of accredited and certified poultry breeding flocks and hatcheries shall have the right to use the terminology prescribed by the commissioner of agriculture in their literature and advertising and on shipping labels. The commissioner may, by rule, require the submission of all or any part of such literature and advertising matter to the commissioner for review and approval before publication or issuance.
29.051 POULTRY DISEASE ERADICATION.
The Board of Animal Health shall cooperate with the commissioner of agriculture in all ways consistent with law. The board shall have exclusive jurisdiction and control over all matters pertaining to poultry diseases and the control and eradication thereof. The board is authorized to formulate, adopt, and enforce rules whereby owners of poultry breeding flocks may, upon agreement with the board, have flocks examined, tested, and officially designated as meeting the qualifications for any stage of eradication of any specified communicable infectious disease when and as approved methods for official testing for the other disease may be adopted by the board, if personnel is available and funds are appropriated for the use of the board in making the tests and inspections.
29.061 PRODUCTS TO BE LABELED.
All poultry and poultry products shipped under the authority of sections 29.021 to 29.081 shall be uniformly labeled with designs prescribed and furnished by the commissioner of agriculture; provided that all labeling pertaining to disease or freedom therefrom shall first be approved by the Board of Animal Health.
29.081 MAY CANCEL CERTIFICATES.
The commissioner of agriculture may cancel any certificate of accreditation or certification issued under the commissioner's authority, and likewise the secretary and executive officer of the Board of Animal Health may cancel any certificate of testing, approval, or accreditation issued under the authority of the board, for violation of sections 29.021 to 29.081, or any rule adopted thereunder; and any person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation who shall violate any provision of sections 29.021 to 29.081, or any rule adopted thereunder, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
29.071 CERTAIN ADVERTISING FORBIDDEN.
No person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation shall use in literature, advertising material or on shipping labels, or otherwise, any language, words or phrases implying or indicating a breeding or a disease eradication or control status in conjunction with either the word "state" or the word "Minnesota," or both, as related to a poultry hatchery or a poultry breeding flock, except under the authority of sections 29.021 to 29.081.
29.22 EGG HANDLERS ANNUAL INSPECTION FEE; DISPOSITION OF FEES.
[Repealed, 1971 c 339 s 27]
In addition to the annual food handler's license, required under section 28A.04, there is an annual inspection fee applicable to every person who engages in the business of buying for resale, selling, or trading in eggs except a retail grocer who sells eggs previously candled and graded. The fee must be computed on the basis of the number of cases of shell eggs handled at each place of business during the highest volume month of each licensing year. If a given lot of eggs is moved from one location of business to a second location of business and the food handler's license is held by the same person at both locations, the given lot of eggs must be counted in determining the volume of business on which the inspection fee is based at the first location of business but must not enter into the computation of volume of business for the second location. For the purpose of determining fees, "case" means one of 30 dozen capacity. The schedule of fees is as follows:
Each person subject to the inspection fee in this section shall, under the direction of the commissioner, keep records necessary to accurately determine the volume of shell eggs on which the inspection fee is due and shall prepare annually a written report of the volume upon forms supplied by the commissioner. This report, together with the required inspection fee, must be filed with the department on or before the last day of May of each year.
The commissioner has general supervisory powers over the candlers and graders of eggs and may conduct, in collaboration with the College of Agriculture and the Extension Service of the University of Minnesota, an educational and training program to improve the efficiency and quality of the work done by candlers.
Any person engaged in the business of breaking eggs for resale shall at all times comply with the rules of the department in respect to the conduct of that business. The commissioner shall collect from each egg breaking plant laboratory fees for routine analysis and full reimbursement for services performed by a state inspector assigned to that plant on a continuous basis under section 29.27.
All fees collected and all fines paid for a violation of sections 29.21 to 29.27 or rules promulgated under those sections, as well as all license fees and penalties must be deposited in the agricultural fund, and credited to a separate account to be known as the egg law inspection account, which is hereby created, set aside, and appropriated as a revolving account to be used by the department to help defray the expense of inspection, supervision, and enforcement of sections 29.21 to 29.27 and is in addition to and not in substitution for the sums regularly appropriated or otherwise made available for this purpose to the department.
29.21 DEFINITIONS.
The word "person" when used in sections 29.21 to 29.27 means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association, and shall include any officer, employee, agent, trustee, receiver, assignee, or other similar representative thereof, provided that neither a producer of eggs when selling shell eggs produced on a farm occupied and cultivated by the producer, nor a hatchery which produces or purchases shell eggs solely for hatching shall be deemed a "person."
[Repealed, 1996 c 310 s 1]
The word "department" means the Department of Agriculture unless otherwise indicated.
"Checks" means eggs that have cracks or breaks in the shell but have intact shell membranes that do not leak.
"Dirties" means eggs with adhering dirt, foreign material, prominent stains, or moderate stains covering more than 1/32 of the shell surface, if localized, or 1/16 of the shell surface, if scattered.
"Egg handler" means a person who buys, sells, transports, stores, processes, or in any other way receives or has shell eggs. This includes farmers who sell candled and graded eggs off their premises.
"Grading" means assigning an identifying classification to a group of eggs that demonstrates that those eggs have the same degree of quality.
"Incubator rejects" means eggs that have been subjected to incubation and have been removed during the hatching operation as infertile or otherwise unhatchable.
"Leakers" means eggs that have a crack or break in the shell and shell membrane to the extent that the contents pass or are free to pass through the shell.
"Loss" means eggs that are unfit for human consumption because they are smashed, broken, leaking, overheated, frozen, contaminated, or incubator rejects, or because they contain bloody whites, large meat spots, a large quantity of blood, or other foreign material.
"Restricted eggs" means eggs that contain dirties, checks, leakers, inedibles, loss, and incubator rejects.
29.23 GRADING.
All eggs purchased on the basis of grade by the first licensed buyer shall be graded in accordance with grade and weight classes established by the commissioner. The commissioner shall establish, by rule, and from time to time, may amend or revise, grades, weight classes, and standards for quality. When grades, weight classes, and standards for quality have been fixed by the secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the United States, they must be accepted and published by the commissioner as definitions or standards for eggs in interstate and intrastate commerce.
The commissioner shall also by rule provide for minimum plant and equipment requirements for candling, grading, handling and storing eggs, and shall define candling. Equipment in use by a wholesale food handler before July 1, 1991, that does not meet the design and fabrication requirements of this chapter may remain in use if it is in good repair, capable of being maintained in a sanitary condition, and capable of maintaining a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) or less.
Eggs must be held at a temperature not to exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) after being received by the egg handler except for cleaning, sanitizing, grading, and further processing when they must immediately be placed under refrigeration that is maintained at 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) or below. Eggs offered for sale by a retail food handler must be held at a temperature not to exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius). Shell eggs that have been frozen must not be offered for sale except as approved by the commissioner.
A vehicle used to transport shell eggs from a warehouse, retail store, candling and grading facility, or egg holding facility must have an ambient air temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) or below.
29.237 UNIFORMITY WITH FEDERAL LAW.
Federal regulations governing the grading of shell eggs and United States standards, grades, and weight classes for shell eggs, in effect on July 1, 2000, as provided by Code of Federal Regulations, title 7, part 56, are the grading and candling rules in this state, subject to amendment by the commissioner under chapter 14, the Administrative Procedure Act.
Federal regulations governing the inspection of eggs and egg products, in effect on May 1, 2000, as provided by Code of Federal Regulations, title 7, part 59, are the inspection of egg and egg products rules in this state, subject to amendment by the commissioner under chapter 14, the Administrative Procedure Act.
29.236 EGGS IN UNCOOKED OR UNDERCOOKED FOODS.
Pasteurized eggs must be used in uncooked or undercooked food or food containing unpasteurized eggs must be processed under a method approved by the commissioner sufficient to destroy the pathogen salmonella. This section does not exclude the use of shell eggs certified free of pathogens by a process or mechanism approved by the commissioner.
29.235 SALE OF SHELL EGGS.
Checks and dirties must not be sold for human consumption as shell eggs, but may be sold as such to be processed for human consumption by a processor licensed by the commissioner to break eggs for resale, except that a producer may sell such shell eggs of the producer's own production on the producer's premises directly to a household consumer for the consumer's own personal use.
All eggs offered for sale in cartons, boxes or cases, racks, or other packaging materials must contain the statement: "Perishable. Keep Refrigerated."
29.24 ADULTERATED OR INEDIBLE EGGS, SALE FORBIDDEN.
No person shall buy, sell, offer or expose for sale, or possess for sale, eggs for human consumption that are inedible or adulterated. Eggs that are filthy, putrid, decomposed, or otherwise unfit for food in whole or in part, shall be deemed to be adulterated. Eggs which contain black rots, white rots, mixed rots (addled eggs), sour eggs with green whites, eggs with stuck yolks, moldy eggs, musty eggs, eggs showing blood rings, eggs containing embryo chicks (at or beyond the blood ring stage), or any other eggs that are filthy, decomposed, or putrid shall be deemed to be inedible.
29.25 DOCKAGE; OVERGRADE OR UNDERGRADE OF EGGS; RECORDS OF SALES AND PURCHASES.
No person in buying or selling eggs shall take or give a greater or lesser dockage for eggs unfit for human food, as herein defined, than the actual dockage as determined by the correct candling of the eggs purchased or sold. No person in buying or selling eggs shall overgrade or undergrade eggs. All licensed persons shall keep such candling and grading records of eggs purchased or sold as may be required by the rules promulgated by the commissioner, which records shall be available at all reasonable times for inspection and examination by the commissioner, inspector or employees of the Department of Agriculture.
29.27 RULES.
The department may supervise, regulate, and, in the manner provided by law make reasonable rules relative to grading, candling, cleaning, breaking, purchasing, and selling of eggs and egg products for purpose of preserving and protecting the public health. In addition hereto, it is the express purpose herein that inasmuch as the breaking of eggs for resale is a matter of state concern, the surroundings in which such product is handled must be maintained in a sanitary condition, and, therefore, the department may establish, in the manner provided by law, reasonable rules relative to the inspection of all establishments wherein the business of breaking eggs for resale is maintained, and when the sanitary conditions of any such establishment are such that the product is rendered, or is likely to be rendered, unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human consumption, it may revoke such license to break eggs for resale until such time as the department is satisfied that the establishment is maintained in a sanitary condition. The department shall have the right, from time to time, to adopt rules in the same manner as herein set forth. All liquid, frozen or dried egg products sold or offered for sale shall be processed under continuous supervision of an inspector of the department or of the United States Department of Agriculture.
29.26 EGGS IN POSSESSION OF RETAILER.
All eggs sold or offered for sale at retail must have been candled and graded and must be clearly labeled according to Minnesota consumer grades as established by rule under section 29.23. No eggs shall be sold or offered for sale as "ungraded," "unclassified," or by any other name that does not clearly designate the grade. All eggs in possession of the retailer, either in temporary storage or on display, must be held at a temperature not to exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius).
Grade AA eggs held 31 days past the coded pack date for Grade AA eggs, or Grade A eggs held 46 days past the coded pack date for Grade A eggs, lose their grades and must be removed from sale.
30.001 DEFINITION.
Except where the context otherwise indicates, for the purposes of this chapter, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them.
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.
30.002 ENFORCEMENT.
It shall be the duty of the commissioner to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
31.001 CITATION.
This chapter may be cited as the "Minnesota Food Law."
31.002 POLICY.
It is the policy of this state to seek to achieve and maintain uniformity with the federal government and with other states insofar as possible, of regulation and control of the manufacture, distribution and sale of food in this state. To that end it is desirable and necessary that federal regulations adopted under authority of the federal act become state rules, and such rules shall be promulgated pursuant to state law.
31.021 DETERMINATION OF MISLEADING.
If an article is alleged to be misbranded because the label is misleading, or if an advertisement is alleged to be false because it is misleading, then in determining whether the labeling or advertisement is misleading, there shall be taken into account, among other things, not only representations made or suggested by statement, word, design, sound, or in any combination thereof, but also the extent to which the labeling or advertisement fails to reveal facts material in the light of such representations or material with respect to consequences which may result from the use of the article to which the labeling or advertisement relates under the conditions of use prescribed in the labeling or advertisement thereof or under such conditions of use as are customary or usual.
31.02 PROHIBITED ACTS.
The following acts set out in this section and the causing of such acts within this state are prohibited:
(1) the manufacture, sale, or delivery, holding or offering for sale of any food that is adulterated or misbranded;
(2) the adulteration or misbranding of any food;
(3) the receipt in commerce of any food that is adulterated or misbranded, and the delivery or proffered delivery thereof for pay or otherwise;
(4) the distribution in commerce of a consumer commodity, as defined in section 31.01, subdivision 20, if such commodity is contained in a package, or if there is affixed to that commodity a label, which does not conform to the provisions of law and of rules promulgated pursuant to section 31.101; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to persons engaged in business as wholesale or retail distributors of consumer commodities except to the extent that such persons are engaged in the packaging or labeling of such commodities, or prescribe or specify by any means the manner in which such commodities are packaged or labeled;
(5) the sale, delivery for sale, holding for sale, or offering for sale of any article in violation of section 31.131;
(6) the dissemination of any false advertisement;
(7) the refusal to permit entry or inspection, or to permit the taking of a sample, or to permit access to or copying of any record as authorized by section 31.04;
(8) the giving of a guaranty or undertaking which guaranty or undertaking is false, except by a person who relied on a guaranty or undertaking to the same effect signed by, and containing the name and address of the person residing in the state of Minnesota from whom the relying person received in good faith the food;
(9) the removal or disposal of a detained or embargoed article in violation of section 34A.11;
(10) the alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or removal of the whole or any part of the labeling of, or the doing of any other act with respect to a food if such act is done while such article is held for sale and results in such article being adulterated or misbranded;
(11) forging, counterfeiting, simulating, or falsely representing, or without proper authority using any mark, stamp, tag, label, or other identification device authorized or required by rules promulgated under the provisions of section 31.101 or of the federal act;
(12) the using by any person to the person's own advantage, or revealing, other than to the commissioner or the commissioner's authorized representative or to the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding of any information acquired under authority of the Minnesota Food Law concerning any method or process which as a trade secret is entitled to protection; and
(13) the identification or sale as food for human consumption of any product which has previously been labeled or otherwise identified as animal food or seed which has received a seed treatment.
31.75 ARTIFICIAL SWEETENING PRODUCTS.
It is lawful for any person, firm, or corporation to manufacture and sell, or cause to be sold, within the state any article of food or beverage intended for human consumption as a special dietary product when such food or beverage is sweetened or made palatable with saccharin, sulfamate, or other artificial sweetening product approved by the commissioner of agriculture, when saccharin, sulfamate, or other approved artificial sweetening product is completely substituted for sugar or other nutritive sweetener in any defined article of food or beverage. The container in which any such food or beverage is sold or offered for sale to the public shall be clearly, legibly, and noticeably labeled. Such label shall contain the following information:
"FOR DIETARY PURPOSES," or "FOR DIETETIC USE," or "ARTIFICIALLY SWEETENED," or substantially similar statements approved by the commissioner, and a statement that the product contains (Name of approved artificial form of sweetening product), and a statement to the effect that the food contains a nonnutritive artificial sweetener, for use by persons who desire to restrict their intake of ordinary sweets.
For the purpose of protecting the public interest in the manufacture, use, sale and transportation of food and promoting the free flow of approved foods in interstate commerce, and cooperation with the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture and the commissioner of food and drugs of the United States Food and Drug Administration, the commissioner may prescribe, according to law and rules for the use of nutritive sweeteners and approved artificial, nonnutritive sweeteners separately or in combination in food, which are consistent as is practicable with the rules and regulations established under federal laws.
31.032 PENALTIES AND GUARANTY.
Any person who violates any of the provisions of section 31.02 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
No person shall be subject to the penalties of subdivision 1 for having violated section 31.02, clause (2) or (4), if the person establishes a guaranty or undertaking signed by, and containing the name and address of, the person residing in the state of Minnesota from whom the person received in good faith the article, to the effect that such article is not adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of the Minnesota Food Law.
No publisher, radio broadcast licensee, or agency or medium for the dissemination of an advertisement, except the manufacturer, packer, distributor, or seller of the article to which a false advertisement relates, shall be liable under this section for the dissemination of such false advertisement.
31.04 INSPECTION AUTHORITY.
For purposes of enforcement of the Minnesota Food Law, the commissioner, or any of the commissioner's authorized agents, is authorized upon presenting appropriate credentials to the owner, operator or agent in charge:
(1) to enter at reasonable times any factory, warehouse, or establishment in which food is manufactured, processed, packed or held for introduction into commerce or after such introduction or to enter any vehicle being used to transport or hold such food in commerce;
(2) to inspect at reasonable times and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner such factory, warehouse, establishment or vehicle and all pertinent equipment, finished and unfinished materials, containers and labeling therein; and to obtain samples necessary to the enforcement of the Minnesota Food Law; and
(3) to have access to and to copy all records of carriers in commerce showing the movement in commerce of any food or the holding thereof during or after such movement, and the quantity, shipper and consignee thereof; provided, that evidence obtained under this clause shall not be used in a criminal prosecution of the person from whom obtained; and provided, further, that carriers shall not be subject to the other provisions of the Minnesota Food Law by reason of their receipt, carriage, holding, or delivery of food in the usual course of business as carriers.
Upon completion of any such inspection of a factory, warehouse, or other establishment and prior to leaving the premises, the authorized agent making the inspection shall give to the owner, operator or agent in charge a report in writing setting forth any conditions or practices observed which in the agent's judgment indicate that any food in such establishment:
(1) consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or
(2) has been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health.
A copy of such report shall be sent promptly to the commissioner.
An authorized agent making any such inspection of a factory, warehouse or other establishment who has obtained any sample in the course of the inspection, upon completion of the inspection and prior to leaving the premises, shall give to the owner, operator, or agent in charge a receipt describing the samples obtained.
When in the course of any such inspection of a factory or other establishment where food is manufactured, processed or packed, the officer or employee making the inspection obtains a sample of any such food and an analysis is made of such sample for the purpose of ascertaining whether such food consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid or decomposed substance or is otherwise unfit for food, a copy of the result of such analysis shall be furnished promptly to the owner, operator or agent in charge.
31.07 PRICE NOT COLLECTIBLE.
No action shall be maintained for the purchase price or value of any food, the sale of which is now or hereafter prohibited by law or which is manufactured, used, sold, transported, kept or offered for sale, use, or transportation, or had in possession with intent to sell, use, or transport in violation of any law now or hereafter enacted; nor shall any person be liable for the price or value of food or board furnished in violation of any such law.
31.09 COMMISSIONER TO RENDER CERTAIN FOOD UNSALABLE.
The commissioner and the commissioner's assistants, inspectors, agents, and employees, shall also have power and authority, in their discretion, to render unsalable for use as food, any food the sale or use of which is now or hereafter prohibited by law, or which is manufactured, sold, used, transported, offered for sale or transportation, or had in possession with intent to use, sell, or transport in violation of any provision thereof, or in violation of any provision of any rule, definition, standard, or ruling made, adopted, and published thereunder, and the commissioner and assistants, inspectors, agents, and employees shall be exempt from liability for any such action. The test of the condition of any such food shall be its condition at the time of discovery. Any reasonable and necessary means may be adopted for rendering such food unsalable for use as food.