§ 481. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Advertisement” means any method used to call attention to a product that is intended to arouse a desire to purchase that product. It shall include signs, displays, radio and television broadcasts, newspapers and periodicals, direct mail, other printed forms, and any electronic media.

(2) “Bulk maple syrup” means maple syrup packed in containers of more than five gallons.

(3) “Secretary” means the Secretary for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets or his or her designee.

(4) “Dealer” means a person who annually buys, or otherwise acquires from another person, 1,000 gallons of maple syrup or more for purposes of packaging for resale or for resale in bulk.

(5) “Agency” means the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

(6) “Grade” or “grades” means the standards for maple syrup adopted through regulation by the Secretary. Those standards shall be the official grades of maple syrup for the State of Vermont.

(7) “Inspector” means any person designated by the Secretary to carry out the Secretary’s duties under this chapter.

(8) “Maple products” means only maple syrup, maple sugar, maple cream, or any other product in which the sugar content is entirely derived from pure maple sap and to which nothing has been added.

(9) “Maple sap” means the unprocessed liquid derived from the maple tree (Acer).

(10) “Maple sap hydrometer” means a floating instrument that measures the specific gravity of a liquid and that contains a scale designed to determine the sugar content of maple sap.

(11) “Maple sugar” means the solid, crystalline produce of maple tree sap only.

(12) “Maple syrup” means pure maple syrup that is the liquid derived by concentration and heat treatment of the sap of the maple tree (Acer). Maple syrup shall not be processed in any manner that adds or removes naturally occurring soluble materials. This limitation does not preclude the use of approved filter aids used for the sole purpose of assisting the removal of suspended material or the use of defoaming agents approved by the Secretary. Maple syrup shall comply with Vermont State grades, density, and flavor requirements.

(13) “Maple syrup hydrometer” means a floating instrument that measures the specific gravity of a liquid and that contains a scale designed to determine the density of maple syrup.

(14) “Packaged maple syrup” means maple syrup packed in containers of five gallons or less.

(15) “Person” means individuals, groups of individuals, partnerships, limited partnerships, corporations, companies, cooperatives, and associations.

(16) “Principal display panel” shall be construed to mean that part of a label that is so designed as most likely to be displayed, presented, shown, or examined under normal and customary conditions of display and purchase. Wherever a principal display panel appears more than once on a package, all requirements pertaining to the “principal display panel” shall pertain to all such “principal display panels.”

(17) “Produced in Vermont” shall mean only that maple syrup or other maple products that are manufactured in their entirety from pure, unprocessed maple sap within the State of Vermont pursuant to standards established by this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter.

(18) “Public eating place” means any person or establishment engaged in the business of preparing and selling food for the general public’s consumption on premises and who is subject to the license requirement of 18 V.S.A. § 4351.

(19) “Processor” means a person who annually buys, or otherwise acquires from another person, 2,500 gallons of maple syrup or more for purposes of packaging for resale, processing into associated products, or for resale in bulk. (Added 1981, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1989, No. 256 (Adj. Sess.) § 10(a), eff. Jan. 1, 1991; 1989, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2003, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 66, eff. July 1, 2022.)