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3-2001. Definitions

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Adulterated" shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat or meat food product under one or more of the following circumstances if:

(a) It bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health, but in case the substance is not an added substance, such article shall not be considered adulterated if the quantity of such substance in or on such article does not ordinarily render it injurious to health.

(b) It bears or contains, by reason of administration of any substance to the live animal or otherwise, any added poisonous or added deleterious substance other than one which is a pesticide chemical in or on a raw agricultural commodity, a food additive or a color additive which may in the judgment of the director or his authorized representative make such article unfit for human food.

(c) It is, in whole or in part, a raw agricultural commodity and such commodity bears or contains a pesticide chemical which is unsafe within the meaning of section 408 of the federal food, drug and cosmetic act, any food additive which is unsafe within the meaning of section 409 of the federal food, drug and cosmetic act or any color additive which is unsafe within the meaning of section 706 of the federal food, drug and cosmetic act. An article which is not otherwise deemed adulterated under this subdivision is nevertheless deemed adulterated if use of the pesticide chemical, food additive or color additive in or on such article is prohibited by rules of the director.

(d) It consists in whole or in part of any substance unfit for human food.

(e) It has been prepared, packed or held under unsanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health.

(f) It is in whole or in part the product of any animal which has died otherwise than by slaughter.

(g) Its container is composed in whole or in part of any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the contents injurious to health.

(h) It has been intentionally subjected to radiation, unless the use of the radiation was in conformity with a regulation or exemption in effect pursuant to section 409 of the federal food, drug and cosmetic act.

(i) Any valuable constituent has been in whole or in part omitted or abstracted therefrom, or if any substance has been substituted, wholly or in part therefor, or if damage or inferiority has been concealed in any manner, or if any substance has been added thereto or mixed or packed therewith 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.

(j) It is margarine containing animal fat and any of the raw material used therein consisted in whole or in part of any substance unfit for human food.

2. "Arizona inspected and passed" means the carcasses and parts of carcasses have been inspected, stamped and passed in slaughtering establishments with state meat inspection service, and the carcasses and parts of carcasses used by such a slaughtering establishment or by a meat processor have been re-inspected and the operations in the preparation of meat and meat food products have been approved in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

3. "Associate director" means the associate director of the division.

4. "Broker" means a person engaged in the business of buying or selling carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat food products of livestock on commission or otherwise negotiating purchases or sales of such articles other than for his own account or as an employee of another person.

5. "Carcass" means all parts, including viscera, of a slaughtered animal that are capable of being used for human food.

6. "Chief veterinary meat inspector" means a qualified licensed veterinarian appointed by the director to supervise the state meat inspection service for the state and to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

7. "Condemned" means the carcass, the viscera, parts of carcasses, meat, meat by-product or meat food products, so marked or identified, is unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome or otherwise unfit for human food, or an animal which has been inspected and found to be in a dying condition or affected with any other condition or disease that would require condemnation of its carcass.

8. "Distributor" means a person, firm or corporation that is engaged in the business of receiving carcasses, meat, meat food products, meat by-products, poultry or poultry products from state or federally inspected establishments and storing and distributing properly identified products to commercial outlets, processors or individuals and that conducts no processing.

9. "Division" means the animal services division of the Arizona department of agriculture.

10. "Establishment" means a mobile or stationary building, plant, vehicle or structure where meat or meat food products are slaughtered or processed or offered for sale.

11. "Exempt processor" means any person preparing for compensation carcasses, meat or meat food products derived from the slaughter by any individual of cattle, sheep, swine or goats, or game animals delivered by the owner for such processing and the intrastate transportation of meat food products exclusively for use by the owner, his family, members of his household, and his nonpaying guests and employees.

12. "Exempt slaughterer" means a person engaged for compensation in this state in the business of slaughtering or dressing animals for human consumption which are not to be sold or offered for sale.

13. "Inspector" includes chief veterinary meat inspector, veterinary meat inspector, lay meat inspector, livestock officer or any other employee appointed by the associate director, with the approval of the director, to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the livestock laws and rules adopted thereunder.

14. "Lay meat inspector" means any person qualified by the chief veterinary meat inspector and appointed by the associate director, with the approval of the director, to work under the supervision of the chief veterinary meat inspector.

15. "Livestock officer" means a livestock officer employed by the department pursuant to section 3-1208.

16. "Meat" means the edible part of the muscle of cattle, sheep, swine, goats or equines which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the 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.

17. "Meat by-product" means any edible part other than meat which has been derived from one or more cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses, mules or other equines.

18. "Meat food product" means any article of food or any article intended for or capable of being used as human food which is derived or prepared, in whole or in substantial and definite part, from any portion of any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines, except such articles as organotherapeutic substances, meat juice, meat extract, and the like, which are only for medicinal purposes and are advertised only to the medical profession.

19. "Meat processor" means any person, including jobbers, wholesalers or slaughtering establishments, who changes meat or meat food products in any way by cutting, mixing, blending, canning, curing or otherwise preparing meat or meat food products for human consumption.

20. "Meat wholesaler or jobber" means any person with an established place of business who buys meat or meat food products and offers them for resale, for sale to restaurants or for sale to the consuming public.

21. "Misbranded" shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat or meat food product under one or more of the following circumstances, if:

(a) Its labeling is false or misleading in any particular.

(b) It is offered for sale under the name of another food.

(c) It is an imitation of another food, unless its label bears in contrasting color, and in type of uniform size and prominence, the word "imitation" and immediately thereafter, the name of the food imitated.

(d) Its container is so made, formed or filled as to be misleading.

(e) In a package or other container unless it bears a label showing the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor and an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure or numerical count, provided that reasonable variations may be permitted, and exemptions as to small packages or articles not in packages or other containers may be established, by rules prescribed by the director.

(f) Any word, statement or other information required to appear on the label or other labeling is not prominently placed thereon with such conspicuousness, as compared with other words, statements, designs or devices in the labeling, and in such terms as to render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase and use.

(g) It purports to be or is represented as a food for which a definition and standard of identity or composition has been prescribed by rules of the director unless it conforms to such definition and standard, and its label bears the name of the food specified in the definition and standard and, insofar as may be required by such rules, the common names of optional ingredients, other than spices, flavoring and coloring, present in such food.

(h) It purports to be or is represented as a food for which a standard or standards of fill of container have been prescribed by rules of the director and it falls below the standard of fill of container, unless its label bears, in such manner and form as such rules specify, a statement that it falls below such standard.

(i) It is not subject to the provisions of subdivision (g), unless its label bears both:

(i) The common or usual name of the food, if any.

(ii) In case it is fabricated from two or more ingredients, the common or usual name of each such ingredient, except that spices, flavorings and colorings may, when authorized by the department, be designated as spices, flavorings and colorings without naming each. To the extent that compliance with the requirements of this item is impracticable, or results in deception or unfair competition, exemptions shall be established by rules of the director.

(j) It purports to be or is represented for special dietary uses, unless its label bears such information concerning its vitamin, mineral and other dietary properties as the director, after consultation with the secretary of health and human services of the United States, determines to be and by rules prescribes as necessary in order fully to inform purchasers as to its value for such uses.

(k) It bears or contains any artificial flavoring, artificial coloring or chemical preservative, unless it bears labeling stating that fact. To the extent that compliance with the requirements of this subdivision is impracticable, exemptions shall be established by rules of the director.

(l) It fails to bear directly thereon or on its containers, as the director may by rules prescribe, the inspection legend and, unrestricted by any of the foregoing, such other information as the director may require in such rules to assure that it will not have false or misleading labeling and that the public will be informed of the manner of handling required to maintain the article in a wholesome condition.

22. "Peddler" means any person without an established place of business who buys meat or meat food products and offers them for resale, for sale to restaurants or for sale to the consuming public.

23. "Restaurant" means any person who cooks or otherwise prepares and serves meat or meat food products for consumption by the ultimate consumer.

24. "Retailer" means any person other than a restaurant who sells meat or meat food products to the ultimate consumer.

25. "Slaughter" means to kill cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines and to prepare the carcasses or parts of carcasses for human consumption.

26. "Slaughterer" means any person who slaughters cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines in a slaughtering establishment and prepares the carcasses or parts of carcasses for human consumption.

27. "Slaughtering establishment", "slaughterhouse" or "slaughtering plant" includes all premises where animals are slaughtered and prepared for food purposes.

28. "State meat inspection service" means the meat inspection provided in sections 3-2041 through 3-2047 and sections 3-2049, 3-2051 and 3-2052, providing approved slaughtering plants with inspectors during all periods of slaughter to conduct antemortem and postmortem inspections of all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines slaughtered.

29. "Veterinary meat inspector" means a qualified licensed veterinarian appointed by the associate director, with the director's approval, to work under the direction of the chief veterinary meat inspector.