In addition to any other prohibitions contained in this article, it shall be unlawful:

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 19-2B-10

  • Adulterated: means and shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat product or poultry product under one or more of the following circumstances:

    (1) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2

  • Carcass: means all or any part of a slaughtered animal or poultry, including viscera, which is capable of being used for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Commercial outlet: means a place of business in this state and shall include all retail stores and public eating places in which carcasses, meat products or poultry products are stored, sold or offered for sale for human consumption by the purchaser or other individual consumers. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture of the State of West Virginia and duly authorized representatives. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Denature: means the uniform application of sufficient quantities of crude carbolic acid, cresylic disinfectant, or any other agent approved by the commissioner upon and into the freely slashed flesh of any carcass or product condemned. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture of the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Distributor: means a person engaged for profit in this state in the business where carcasses, meat products or poultry products are received from state inspected establishments, or establishments inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture and who stores and distributes to commercial outlets, processors or individuals and who conducts no processing. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Establishment: means any slaughterhouse, processing plant or distributor in this state. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Establishment number: means an official number assigned by the commissioner to each establishment and included on the inspection legend and label to identify all inspected and passed carcasses, meat product or poultry product handled in that establishment. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Inedible: means the carcass, meat product or poultry product derived from 4-D or condemned animals or poultry, or meat products or poultry products which have deteriorated or are otherwise unfit for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Label: means a display of written, printed or graphic matter on a container indicating the carcass, meat product or poultry product contained therein has been inspected and passed in this state under the provisions of this article. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Licensee: means any person licensed under the provisions of this article. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Meat: means the edible part of the muscle of animals 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 or 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 West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Meat product: means any meat, meat food product, and meat by-product capable of use as human food. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Official inspection mark: means any symbol prescribed by the commissioner for the purpose of identifying the inspection status of any meat product or poultry product so inspected. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Poultry: means any domesticated bird which is used or intended to be used for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Poultry product: means any poultry meat, poultry food product, and poultry by-product capable of use as human food. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Process: means to cut up, bone, chop, mix, grind, slice, cook, smoke, cure, salt, marinate, dry, can, or otherwise manufacture, or package any meat product or poultry product. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Processor: means a person who engages for profit in this state in the business of processing carcasses, meat products or poultry products for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Related industries: means rendering plants, refrigerated meat warehouses, food lockers, meat and poultry wholesalers, brokers, pet food manufacturers, other animal food manufacturers, animal impoundments whose main source of food supply is derived from the raw meats, transportation firms and private carriers. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Sell: means offer for sale, expose for sale, have in possession for sale, exchange, barter or trade. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • State inspection: means inspection services conducted by the department at or in connection with establishments required to be licensed by this article. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2

(a) For any person to operate any establishment under state inspection which is not clean and sanitary;

(b) To slaughter any adulterated animal or poultry intended to be sold or offered for sale through a commercial outlet or distributor;

(c) To sell or offer for sale through a commercial outlet or distributor any carcass, meat product or poultry product for human consumption which is adulterated;

(d) To slaughter for human consumption any animal or poultry tagged or permanently identified as "W.Va. condemned," or abbreviation thereof;

(e) To process, sell or offer for sale for human consumption any carcass, meat product or poultry product which is mislabeled with intent to deceive or which is marked "W.Va. inspected and condemned," or abbreviation thereof;

(f) To process in an establishment under state inspection for sale through any commercial outlet or distributor any carcass, meat product or poultry product intended for human consumption and derived, in whole or in part, from any calf, pig, kid, lamb, chicken or turkey which is so immature as to be lacking in nutritional value;

(g) To knowingly or intentionally expose any carcass, meat product and poultry product in any establishment under state inspection to insects, live animals or any contamination;

(h) To add kangaroo meat, horse meat, mule meat or other equine meat to any animal meat, meat product or poultry product to be sold or offered for sale through commercial outlets or distributors for human consumption;

(i) To remove any hide, skin or any other part of an unborn or stillborn animal in the confines of a room in an establishment where any animals or poultry, carcasses, meat products or poultry products are slaughtered or processed, as the case may be, or to be sold or offered for sale through a commercial outlet or distributor;

(j) To process for human consumption in any establishment subject to state inspection any carcass, meat product and poultry product derived from any animal or poultry which died other than by slaughter;

(k) To transport to any commercial outlet or distributor for the purpose of being sold or offered for sale therein, any carcass, meat product or poultry product which is not marked, branded or stamped as having been inspected and passed by the commissioner or by the United States Department of Agriculture;

(l) For any commercial outlet or distributor to receive, for the purpose of being sold or offered for sale therein, any carcass, meat product or poultry product which is not marked, branded or stamped as having been inspected and passed by the commissioner or by the United States Department of Agriculture;

(m) To slaughter any horse, mule or other equine in any establishment under state inspection in which animals or poultry are slaughtered for human consumption for the purpose of being sold or offered for sale through commercial outlets;

(n) To bring any kangaroo meat, horse meat, mule meat or other equine meat into any establishment under state inspection where animal or poultry carcasses, meat products or poultry products are processed for human consumption for the purpose of being sold or offered for sale through commercial outlets;

(o) To transport, process, sell or offer for sale any kangaroo meat, horse meat, mule meat or other equine meat within this state for human consumption unless it is conspicuously and plainly identified or stamped as such;

(p) For any person to use an establishment number not assigned to him or her or to use an establishment number in connection with operations concerning which a different establishment number was assigned by the commissioner;

(q) To remove from any article any retained tag affixed by the commissioner, unless such removal is authorized by him or her;

(r) To remove from any room, compartment, equipment or utensil any rejection tag or rejection notice affixed by the commissioner, unless such removal is authorized by him or her;

(s) For a licensee to use any container bearing an official inspection mark unless it contains the exact carcass, meat product or poultry product which was in the container at the time such contents were inspected and passed: Provided, That such a container may be otherwise used if such official inspection mark thereon is removed, obliterated or destroyed, and such other use is authorized by reasonable rules promulgated by the commissioner;

(t) For any person, other than the commissioner, to possess, keep or use, except as authorized by the commissioner, any label or device for the affixing of a mark, brand or stamp prescribed for inspection purposes hereunder;

(u) For any person, with intent to deceive, to possess, keep or use any label, mark, brand or stamp similar in character or import to an official label, mark, brand or stamp prescribed by the commissioner hereunder or to an official label, mark, brand or stamp used by the United States Department of Agriculture;

(v) To falsely make, falsely issue, falsely publish, alter, forge, simulate or counterfeit any inspection certificate, memorandum, label, mark, brand, or stamp, or device for making an inspection mark, brand or stamp, or to possess, keep or use the same, with intent to deceive;

(w) For any person to refuse to permit the commissioner to enter and inspect at any time, upon presentation of appropriate credentials, an establishment under state inspection, or to interfere with any such lawful entry or inspection;

(x) For any person to refuse to permit the commissioner, upon presentation of appropriate credentials, to examine and copy the records described in section five of this article;

(y) For a person to prevent or fail to decharacterize or denature carcasses, meat products or poultry products as prescribed by reasonable rules promulgated by the commissioner;

(z) For a person to transport offal, blood, or inedible and condemned parts of animal and poultry carcasses from slaughterhouses, processing plants or other related industries: Provided, That such products may be transported if placed in suitable containers with tight covers, or watertight tanks so as not to contaminate the public highways or private roadways while going to or from the points of pickup;

(aa) For a person to store offal, blood, or inedible and condemned parts of animal and poultry carcasses from slaughterhouses, processing plants or other related industries during interim transit movement in refrigerated warehouses, food lockers or other related industries: Provided, That such products may be otherwise stored if properly marked "NOT FOR HUMAN FOOD" "FOR ANIMAL FOOD ONLY" and identified as approved products to be used for animal food;

(bb) For a person knowingly to deliver a dead or dying animal or poultry to an establishment in this state;

(cc) For any person to transport carcasses, meat products and poultry products that are intended for human consumption in a manner which would permit the products to become adulterated;

(dd) For any person to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate or interfere with the commissioner or his or her representative while engaged in or on account of the performances of his or her official duties;

(ee) For any person to deliver, with intent to deceive, any graded meat product, poultry product or any other agricultural commodity to a state institution that does not meet the grade specifications for that grade when a specified grade is required in a contract;

(ff) To sell any meat product or poultry product for which the processor's expiration date has expired;

(gg) To alter, change or cover-up the expiration date of any meat product or poultry product established by the processor.

 In addition to any other powers conveyed in this article, the commissioner may inspect any meat product, poultry product or any other agricultural commodity sold to a state institution to enforce the provisions of this subdivision.