Texas Administrative Code › Title 25 - HEALTH SERVICES › Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES › Chapter 221 - MEAT SAFETY ASSURANCE › Subchapter B - MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTION › Section 221.12 - Meat and Poultry Inspection

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a)
				  Introduction. The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the public health by
				  establishing uniform rules to assure that meat and poultry products are clean,
				  wholesome and truthfully labeled.
(b) Definitions. The following words and
				  terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless
				  the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
				  Act--The Texas Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, Texas Health and Safety Code,
				  Chapter 433.
(2) Adulterated--A
				  carcass, part of a carcass, or a meat food product where:
(A) any part of it is the product of an
				  animal that has died in a manner other than by slaughter;
(B) any part of it consists of a filthy,
				  putrid, or decomposed substance or is for another reason unsound, unhealthy,
				  unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food; or
(C) it contains, because of administration of
				  any substance to a live animal or otherwise, an added poison or harmful
				  substance that makes the carcass, part of the carcass, or meat food unfit for
				  human food.
(3) Alternate
				  source food animals--Animals slaughtered and processed for food that are
				  amenable to inspection under the Act but are not amenable to inspection under
				  the Federal Meat Inspection Act (
				  21
				  U.S.C. §
												601 et seq.) or Federal Poultry
				  Products Inspection Act (
				  21 U.S.C. §
												451 et seq.).
(4) Bison--An animal known by the scientific
				  name Bovidae bison bison, commonly known as the North American prairie bison;
				  or an animal known by the scientific name Bovidae bison athabascae, commonly
				  known as the Canadian wood bison.
(5) Bison meat--The meat or flesh of a
				  bison.
(6) Buffalo--An animal known
				  by the scientific name Bovidae bubalus bubalus, commonly known as the Asian
				  Indian buffalo, water buffalo, or caraboa; an animal known by the scientific
				  name Bovidae syncerus caffer, commonly known as the African buffalo or the Cape
				  buffalo; an animal known by the scientific name Bovidae anoa depressicornis,
				  commonly known as the Celebes buffalo; or an animal known by the scientific
				  name Bovidae anoa mindorenis, commonly known as the Philippine buffalo or
				  Mindoro buffalo.
(7) Buffalo
				  meat--The carcass, part of the carcass, or meat food product made in whole or
				  part of a buffalo.
(8) Change in
				  ownership--
(A) A change in the business
				  organization operating the business which changes the legal entity responsible
				  for operation of the business; or
(B) any change in control of the
				  business.
(9)
				  Commissioner--Commissioner of the Department of State Health Services. For the
				  purposes of this subchapter, the term Secretary, when used in 9 CFR, shall mean
				  commissioner.
(10) Custom exempt
				  operation--The slaughtering of livestock or the processing of an uninspected
				  carcass or parts thereof for the owner of that livestock animal, carcass, or
				  parts, a member of the owner's household, or a nonpaying guest of the owner in
				  accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code, §
											433.006; or
				  the selling of livestock to be slaughtered and processed by the purchaser on
				  premises owned or operated by the seller for the exclusive use of the
				  purchaser, a member of the owner's household, or a nonpaying guest of the owner
				  in accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code, §
											433.006.
(11) Custom processor--A person who prepares
				  meat food products from uninspected livestock carcasses or parts thereof for
				  the owner of those carcasses or parts for the exclusive use of the owner, a
				  member of the owner's household, or a nonpaying guest of the owner in
				  accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code, §
											433.006.
(12) Custom slaughterer--A person who
				  slaughters livestock for the owner of the livestock animal for the exclusive
				  use of the owner of the livestock or sells livestock to be slaughtered by the
				  purchaser on premises owned or operated by the seller, for the exclusive use of
				  the purchaser of the livestock, a member of the purchaser's (owner's)
				  household, or a nonpaying guest of the purchaser (owner) in accordance with
				  Texas Health and Safety Code, §
											433.006.
				  Custom slaughter includes all activities related to slaughter, including
				  restraining of livestock, cleaning or preparing any equipment used for
				  slaughter such as tools and knives, and cleaning and preparing the slaughter
				  facility.
(13) Department--The
				  Department of State Health Services. For the purposes of this subchapter, the
				  term United States Department of Agriculture, when used in federal regulations
				  adopted by reference by the department in §
											221.11
				  of this title (relating to Federal Regulations on Meat and Poultry Inspection),
				  shall mean the department.
(14)
				  Exotic animal-- A member of a species of game not indigenous to this state,
				  including axis deer, nilgai antelope, or other cloven hoofed ruminant
				  animal.
(15) Federal
				  regulations--The regulations adopted by reference by the department in §
											221.11
				  of this title.
(16) Feral
				  swine--Nondomestic descendants of domestic swine that have either escaped or
				  were released and subsequently developed survival skills necessary to thrive in
				  the wild. Some feral swine are outcrossed with "Russian boar." Feral swine are
				  subject to the same regulations as domestic swine.
(17) Game animals--Wild animals that are
				  indigenous to this state, not amenable to the Act, for which the hunter must
				  obtain a hunting license from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department before
				  hunting animals, such as white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and
				  big horn sheep.
(18) Grant of
				  Custom Exemption--An authorization from the department to engage in a business
				  of custom slaughtering or processing livestock for the owner of the livestock.
				  This exemption includes the exclusive use of the owner, a member of the owner's
				  household, or a nonpaying guest of the owner, in accordance with Texas Health
				  and Safety Code, §
											433.006,
				  provided that the following conditions are met:
(A) the establishment slaughters only sound,
				  healthy livestock and conducts all processing and handling under sanitary
				  standards and procedures resulting in meat products that are not
				  adulterated;
(B) the product meets
				  the marking and labeling requirements as specified in §
												221.14
				  of this title (relating to Custom Exempt Slaughter and Processing; Low-Volume
				  Poultry or Rabbit Slaughter Operations); and
(C) the establishment maintains records as
				  specified in §
												221.14
				  of this title.
(19)
				  Grant of Inspection--An authorization issued by the department to engage in a
				  business subject to inspection under the Act.
(20) Grant of Voluntary Inspection--An
				  authorization from the department to engage in a business subject to inspection
				  of alternate source food animals under the Act.
(21) Granted establishment--Any establishment
				  with a Grant of Inspection, Grant of Voluntary Inspection, or Grant of Custom
				  Exemption.
(22) Heat-treated--Meat
				  or poultry products that are ready-to-eat or have the appearance of being
				  ready-to-eat because they received heat processing.
(23) Livestock--Cattle, sheep, swine, goats,
				  horses, mules, other equines, poultry, domestic rabbits, exotic animals, or
				  domesticated game birds.
(24)
				  Low-volume livestock operation--For purposes of this subchapter, a low-volume
				  livestock operation includes an establishment that processes fewer than 10,000
				  domestic rabbits or more than 1,000 but fewer than 10,000 poultry in a calendar
				  year, but does not include an establishment that processes 1,000 or fewer
				  poultry raised by the operator of the establishment in a calendar year, or
				  processes fewer than 500 domestic rabbits in a calendar year.
(25) Meat Safety Assurance Section--The
				  organization overseen by the state director, within the Department of State
				  Health Services, responsible for meat safety in granted establishments in
				  Texas. For the purposes of this subchapter, the term Food Safety and Inspection
				  Service (FSIS), when used in federal regulations adopted by reference by the
				  department in §
											221.11
				  of this title, shall mean Meat Safety Assurance Section.
(26) Person--Any individual, partnership,
				  association, corporation, or unincorporated business organization.
(27) Poultry--A live or dead domesticated
				  bird.
(28) Poultry or Rabbit
				  Exemption--Registration with the department for a person to engage in a
				  low-volume livestock operation of slaughtering and processing poultry, rabbits,
				  or both of their own raising on their own property and personally distributing
				  the carcasses and parts to retail consumers, restaurants, or other retail
				  establishments, provided that the following conditions are met:
(A) the person slaughters more than 500 but
				  fewer than 10,000 domestic rabbits and/or more than 1,000 but fewer than 10,000
				  poultry in a calendar year, January 1 through December 31 inclusive;
(B) the person does not buy or sell other
				  poultry or rabbit products (except live chicks, baby rabbits, and/or breeding
				  stock);
(C) the person slaughters
				  only sound, healthy poultry or rabbits and conducts all processes and handling
				  under sanitary standards and procedures resulting in poultry or rabbit products
				  that are not adulterated;
(D) the
				  product meets the marking and labeling requirements as specified in §
												221.14(c)(4)
				  of this title;
(E) the poultry is
				  not a ratite.
(29)
				  Ratite--Poultry such as ostrich, emus, or rhea.
(30) Slaughter--Methods of humane death, for
				  the purpose of food, under sanitary conditions.
(31) State director--For the purposes of this
				  subchapter, the term administrator, when used in federal regulations adopted by
				  reference by the department in §
											221.11
				  of this title, shall mean state director.