2023 Maryland Statutes › Agriculture › Title 4 - Regulation of Livestock, Poultry Products, and Eggs › Subtitle 1 - Maryland Wholesome Meat Act › Section 4-101 - Definitions

(a)    In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.
(b)    Any carcass, part of any carcass, or meat food product is “adulterated” if:
(1)    It bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health. However, if the substance is not an added substance, the article shall not be considered adulterated under this clause if the quantity of the substance in or on the article ordinarily does not render it injurious to health;
(2)    Any substance is administered to it so that it bears or contains any added poisonous or deleterious substance which may make the article unfit for human food and which is prohibited in the quantity present under the Federal Meat Inspection Act;
(3)    It wholly or partially consists of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance or is for any other reason unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food;
(4)    It has been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions that may have contaminated it with filth, or that may have rendered it injurious to health;
(5)    It is wholly or partially the product of an animal which has died other than by slaughter;
(6)    Its container is composed, wholly or partially, of any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the contents injurious to health;
(7)    It intentionally has been subjected to radiation, unless the use of radiation was permissible under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and approved under this subtitle;
(8)    Any valuable constituent has been omitted or abstracted wholly or partially from it; if any substance has been substituted, wholly or partially, for it; if damage or inferiority has been concealed in any manner; or if any substance has been added to it or mixed or packed with it so as to increase its bulk or weight, or reduce its quality or strength, or make it appear better or of greater value than it is; or
(9)    It is margarine containing animal fat and any of the raw material used in the margarine consists wholly or partially of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance.
(c)    “Animal food manufacturer” means any person engaged in the business of manufacturing or processing animal food derived wholly or partially from any carcass of livestock, or parts or products of it.
(d)    “Capable of use as human food” applies to any livestock carcass, or part or product of it, that is not denatured, not naturally inedible by humans, or not identified as required by the departmental rules and regulations to deter its use as human food.
(e)    “Carcass” means every part, including viscera, of any slaughtered livestock capable of use as human food.
(f)    “Color additive” has the same meaning as under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, approved June 25, 1938.
(g)    “Federal Meat Inspection Act” means the act of Congress approved March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. 1260), as amended by the Wholesome Meat Act (81 Stat. 584).
(h)    “Food additive” has the same meaning as under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, approved June 25, 1938.
(i)    “Inspector” means a State employee or government employee authorized by the Secretary to inspect livestock or carcasses, parts of them, meat or meat food products.
(j)    “Label” means a display of written, printed, or graphic matter on the immediate container, not including the package liner of any article.
(k)    “Labeling” means every label and other written, printed, or graphic matter (1) upon any article or any of its containers or wrappers, or (2) accompanying the article.
(l)    “Meat” means the edible part of the muscle of livestock which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart, or esophagus, with or without the accompanying and overlying fat, and the portions of bone, skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and which are not separated from it in the process of dressing. It does not include the muscle found in the lips, snout, or ears.
(m)    “Meat broker” means any person engaged in the business of buying or selling livestock carcasses, parts of them, or meat food products, on commission, or negotiating purchases or sales of these articles, other than for his own account or as an employee of another person.
(n)    “Meat by–product” means any edible part other than meat which has been derived from livestock.
(o)    “Meat food product” means any product capable of use as human food which is made wholly or partially from any meat or other portion of the carcass of any livestock. The term does not apply to a product (i) containing meat or other portions of the carcasses only in a relatively small proportion, or (ii) which historically has not been considered by consumers as a product of the meat food industry, and (iii) which is exempted from the definition of a meat food product by departmental rules and regulations.
(p)    Any carcass, part of any carcass, or meat food product is “misbranded” if:
(1)    Its labeling is false or misleading in any particular;
(2)    It is offered for sale under the name of another food;
(3)    It is an imitation of another food, unless its label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the word “imitation” and immediately after it, the name of the food imitated;
(4)    Its container is made, formed, or filled so that it is misleading;
(5)    It is in a package or other container that does not bear a label showing (i) the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor, and (ii) an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count. Under clause (ii) of this paragraph (5), reasonable variations may be permitted, and exemptions for small packages may be established by departmental rules and regulations;
(6)    Any word, statement, or other information, required by or under authority of this subtitle to appear on the label or other labeling, is not placed on it prominently and conspicuously, as compared with other words, statements, designs, or devices in the labeling and is not in terms that render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase and use;
(7)    It purports to be or is represented as a food for which a definition and standard of identity or composition has been prescribed by rule or regulation adopted under § 4–112 of this subtitle, unless (i) it conforms to the definition and standard, (ii) its label bears the name of the food specified in the definition and standard, and (iii) its label bears the common names of optional ingredients, other than spices, flavoring, and coloring, present in the food as required by rule or regulation;
(8)    It purports to be or is represented as a food for which a standard of fill of container is prescribed by rules and regulations adopted under § 4–112 of this subtitle, and it falls below the standard of fill of container applicable to it, unless its label bears a statement that it falls below the standard, in the manner and form as the rules and regulations specify;
(9)    It is not subject to the provisions of paragraph (7) of this subsection, unless its label bears (i) the common or usual name of the food, if any, and (ii) in case it is fabricated from two or more ingredients, the common or usual name of each ingredient. However, the Secretary may authorize spices, flavorings, and colorings to be designated as spices, flavorings, and colorings, without requiring the naming of each. In addition, the Secretary may establish exemptions by rules and regulations under this subtitle to the extent that compliance with the requirements of clause (ii) of this paragraph (9) is not feasible or results in deception or unfair competition;
(10)    It purports to be or is represented for special dietary uses, unless its label bears information concerning its vitamin, mineral, and other dietary properties as the rule or regulation prescribes as necessary to inform fully purchasers as to its value for special dietary uses;
(11)    It bears or contains any artificial flavoring, artificial coloring, or chemical preservative, unless it bears labeling stating that fact. However, the Secretary may establish exemptions by rules and regulations under this subtitle to the extent that compliance with the requirements of this paragraph (11) is not feasible; or
(12)    It fails to bear, directly on it or on its containers, as rules and regulations prescribe, the inspection legend and other information, as required by departmental rules and regulations adopted under this subtitle.
(q)    “Official certificate” means any certificate adopted by departmental rules and regulations for issuance by an inspector.
(r)    “Official device” means any device prescribed by the Secretary for use in applying any official mark.
(s)    “Official establishment” means any establishment engaged in slaughtering of livestock, or processing livestock carcasses, parts of them, meat, or meat food products capable of use as human food solely for intrastate commerce and inspected under this subtitle.
(t)    “Official legend” means any symbol adopted by departmental rules and regulations indicating an article has passed inspection under this subtitle.
(u)    “Official mark” means the official inspection legend or any other symbol adopted by the departmental rules and regulations to identify the status of any article under this subtitle.
(v)    “Pesticide chemical” has the same meaning as under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, approved June 25, 1938.
(w)    “Prepared” means slaughtered, canned, salted, rendered, boned, cut up, or otherwise manufactured or processed.
(x)    “Raw agricultural commodity” has the same meaning as under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, approved June 25, 1938.
(y)    “Renderer” means any person engaged in the business of rendering livestock carcasses, or parts or products of them, except rendering conducted under inspection or exemption under this subtitle.