Arizona Laws 3-2088. Requirements for processed, blended or prepared meat and meat food products; violation; classification
A. The director shall adopt rules fixing and establishing the contents of processed meats and meat food products including the percentage of meats and nonmeat ingredients which may be contained in processed meats, but the percentage of meats prescribed by rule to be contained in processed meats and meat food products shall not exceed the maximum percentages prescribed by the United States department of agriculture. A processed meat product fabricated from two or more ingredients shall bear a list of the ingredients giving the common or usual names of the ingredients arranged in the order of their predominance. A person who violates a rule adopted under this subsection is guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor.
Attorney's Note
Under the Arizona Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 misdemeanor | up to 30 days | up to $500 |
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 3-2088
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Department: means the Arizona department of agriculture. See Arizona Laws 3-101
- 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. See Arizona Laws 3-2001
- 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. See Arizona Laws 3-2001
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- 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. See Arizona Laws 3-2001
- 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. See Arizona Laws 3-2001
- 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. See Arizona Laws 3-2001
- 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. See Arizona Laws 3-2001
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
B. The director may prescribe by rule conditions under which carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat and meat food products of any livestock that are capable for use as human food shall be stored or otherwise handled by a person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of buying, selling, freezing, storing or transporting such articles if the director deems the action to be necessary to assure that the articles will not be adulterated or misbranded when delivered to the consumer.
C. All processed, blended or otherwise prepared meat or meat food products which are packed in any can, pot, tin, box, canvas or other receptacle or covering constituting an immediate or true container, shall be labeled. Plain wrappings used solely to protect the product against spoiling during delivery and storage need not bear a label. Labels shall contain, prominently and informatively, the following:
1. The true name of the product.
2. The word "ingredients" followed by a list of the ingredients when the product is fabricated from two or more different types of meat or meat food products.
3. The name and place of business of the manufacturer or distributor.
4. An accurate statement of the quantity of contents.
5. The inspection number and stamp of the slaughtering establishment operating under state meat inspection service or the inspection number and stamp of the meat processor operating with an assigned establishment number.
D. There shall be no preservatives used in any meat or meat food products unless such preservatives have been approved by the United States department of agriculture. Specifically, all sulfates and sulfites are prohibited from use in any meat or meat food products.
E. Any artificial coloring which is used by a processor of any meat or meat food product shall have been approved by the United States department of agriculture.
F. Meats and meat food products shall not be adulterated or misbranded.
G. No meat or meat food product which has not been inspected shall be mixed in any way with any meat or meat food product which has been inspected when such meats or meat food products are offered for sale.
H. The provisions of this section shall apply to any person who slaughters, mixes, blends, cans, cures or otherwise prepares meat or meat food products. It shall include slaughterers, meat processors, wholesalers, retailers, jobbers, lockerplants, peddlers and sausage makers.