Title FAC, California Food & Agric. Code

“Licensed processing inspector” means a person who is licensed by the department to perform inspection functions under this chapter in licensed meat processing establishments. (Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 680, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1999.)

“Livestock” means any cattle, sheep, swine, and goat, and pursuant to regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, for the purposes of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18650) and this chapter, fallow deer (Dama dama) whether alive or dead. (Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 3…

“Livestock product” means any carcass, part of the carcass, meat, or meat food product of any livestock. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.)

“Slaughter” means the stunning, bleeding, eviscerating, skinning, splitting, and preparing of livestock for human consumption. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.)

“Custom livestock slaughterhouse” means a licensed establishment where: (a) Cattle, sheep, swine, or goats are slaughtered and prepared for the owners of the livestock. (b) Fallow deer are slaughtered and prepared for transportation or sale, or transportation and sale. (Amended b…

“Meat processing establishment” means a licensed establishment required to be inspected pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18650) where livestock or poultry products are prepared by curing, drying, smoking, or rendering and the products are sold on the premises to hou…

“Smoking” means exposing meat or poultry products, for the purpose of food preservation, rather than as a method of flavor enhancement, to an environment of smoke generated from hardwood, hardwood sawdust, corn cobs, or natural or artificial liquid smoke that has been transformed…

“Sanitary” means free from dirt, filth, and contamination and free from any other substance or organisms which are known to be injurious to human health or which would render the product adulterated. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.)

“Establishment” means any business, firm, or facility that is required to be licensed by the director under this chapter. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.)

The Legislature finds and declares that: (a) Sausage products and cured and smoked meat products which are processed and sold at retail meat processing establishments and custom slaughtered carcasses are an important source of the food supply in California; and it is essential an…

The Legislature further finds and declares that: (a) A significant number of persons raise their own animals or purchase their animals alive and then have them slaughtered. (b) Rather than have their animals slaughtered under unsanitary conditions, those persons would prefer to h…

The objectives of this chapter are to require sanitation and wholesomeness inspection at licensed custom slaughter establishments and licensed meat processing establishments exempt from federal inspection and to provide a cost-effective program using trained and licensed establis…

No person shall operate an establishment performing any of the functions stated in this chapter unless the establishment is licensed and continues to meet building and sanitation standards required by this chapter and the regulations thereunder. (Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 133, Se…

The director may adopt, by regulation, standards and requirements relating to inspection, sanitation, facilities, equipment, reinspection, preparation, processing, buying, selling, transporting, storing, identification, recordkeeping, registration and labeling, and marking for ca…

The director, by regulation, may adopt provisions of the rules and regulations made under federal acts with such changes therein as he or she deems appropriate to make them applicable to operations and transactions subject to this chapter. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.…

The department may adopt, by regulation, provisions to examine applicants for the positions of licensed livestock meat inspector and licensed processing inspector. (Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 680, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1999.)

The department, in consultation with the State Department of Health Services, shall, on or before December 31, 2001, adopt, by regulations, standards and requirements relating to inspection, sanitation, facilities, equipment, reinspection, preparation, processing, buying, selling…

(a) Prior to the issuance of a license to an establishment required to be licensed pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 19010), the establishment shall meet the department’s building and equipment standards. (b) Building plans and specifications shall be submitted to th…

The director shall investigate the sanitary conditions of each establishment required to be licensed pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 19010) and shall withdraw or otherwise refuse to provide inspection services at any establishment where the sanitary conditions are …

The director may inspect, reinspect, or order the reinspection of any livestock or poultry product which is slaughtered, processed, or stored in an establishment licensed pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 19010). (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.)

(a) Licensed livestock meat inspectors, licensed processing inspectors, and department inspectors are authorized to supervise the operations of licensed establishments, to order the establishments not to operate until required standards are met, and to cease operations when the s…

The director may order any labeling or containers to be withheld from use if he or she determines that the labeling is false or misleading or the containers are of a misleading size or form. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1128, Sec. 1.)

If an action of a livestock meat inspector, licensed processing inspector, or department inspector in condemning any livestock or poultry product is questioned, appeal by the licensed establishment operator may be made to the immediate supervisor of the inspector and from his or …

If slaughtering, carcass preparation, or processing of any meat, meat products, poultry, or poultry products, or training of licensed livestock meat inspectors or licensed processing inspectors is conducted in an establishment licensed under Article 8 (commencing with Section 190…

The director may require a deposit to pay for the overtime charges which he or she shall deposit in the General Fund, and may refuse inspection if the deposit is not made in a timely fashion. The director shall withdraw inspection services at any establishment licensed under Arti…

(a) The application fee for a livestock meat inspector’s license or a processing inspector’s license is one hundred dollars ($100). If an applicant for a license does not take the examination within one year after the date of the receipt of the application by the secretary, the a…

(a) Application for renewal of a license accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars ($100) shall be made on or before its expiration. Applicants for renewal of a license who have not paid the renewal fee by the expiration date of the license shall be assessed a twenty-five dolla…

The department shall conduct periodic training for licensed livestock meat inspectors and licensed processing inspectors to maintain and increase their competence in the performance of their official duties. (Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 680, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 1999.)

Licensed livestock meat inspectors and licensed processing inspectors shall participate in annual training meetings sponsored by the department to maintain and increase their competence in the performance of their official duties. Failure to participate may be a cause to revoke t…

(a) Each person, before acting as a livestock meat inspector in a livestock custom slaughterhouse, shall apply to the director and shall receive from the director a license after passing an examination and a demonstration that shows the applicant’s ability to understand laws and …

(a) A licensed livestock meat inspector, in accordance with regulations adopted hereunder, shall conduct antemortem examination of each animal to be slaughtered in a licensed establishment and shall permit the slaughter of apparently healthy animals and withhold from slaughter al…

Each person, before acting as a licensed processing inspector in a retail meat processing establishment, shall apply to the department and receive from the department a license after passing an examination and a demonstration that shows the applicant’s ability to understand laws …

(a) A licensed processing inspector shall conduct a sanitation inspection before the establishment commences operations for the day, and shall make periodic inspections throughout the day. (b) The licensed processing inspector shall order the establishment not to begin operations…

The department may suspend or revoke the license of a licensed processing inspector for permitting the processing or labeling of products not meeting the requirements provided for in this article. (Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 680, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 1999.)

(a) Each person shall, before operating a meat processing establishment or a custom livestock slaughterhouse, file an application accompanied with an application fee, with the secretary for a license to operate the establishment. The application shall be in the form as the secret…

(a) Application for renewal of a license accompanied by a renewal fee shall be made on or before its expiration. (1) Subject to Section 19011.5, the annual renewal fee for a custom livestock slaughterhouse is: (A) Five hundred dollars ($500) if the plant slaughtered 1,000 or fewe…

If a licensee has two or more licenses in effect at the same meat processing establishment, custom livestock slaughterhouse, place of business, or poultry plant, pursuant to Section 19010, 19011, 19240, 19260, 19280, or 24741, the license fee that is the highest amount shall be p…

No person shall operate a licensed establishment performing the functions stated in this chapter unless all livestock and livestock products are inspected for wholesomeness and the facilities are inspected for sanitation by a licensed livestock meat inspector or a licensed proces…

No person shall operate a meat processing establishment unless all livestock and poultry products used in processing and to be sold have been inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture, fallow deer products have been inspected at a custom livestock slaughterhouse, o…

Plant sanitation, sanitary dressing procedures, processing procedures, vehicle equipment, facility standards, and sanitation, including transportation and storage of products, shall follow procedures which may be set forth in regulations or operations manuals adopted by the depar…

Livestock carcasses and parts and livestock and poultry products shall not be packed, repacked, cut up, recut, or sold unless each container or each part or each carcass, whichever is applicable, is marked in a manner which is required by this chapter and the regulations thereund…

(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), all custom slaughtered livestock carcasses and parts shall be marked in a manner required by the department to identify the inspected premises and that the products are not for sale. (2) Fallow deer carcasses and parts thereof intended…

It is unlawful to do any of the following: (a) Operate an establishment not licensed by the department. (b) Operate an establishment that is not clean. (c) Operate an establishment in a manner or under conditions that are not sanitary. (d) Operate an establishment that does not m…

This chapter does not apply to any of the following: (a) Owners who slaughter, on their own premises, livestock of their own raising where the meat is not for sale, but used exclusively by the owners, members of the owner’s household, the owner’s employees, and nonpaying guests. …

(a) A mobile slaughter operator performing the service of slaughtering livestock pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 19020 shall be licensed with the department as both of the following: (1) A custom livestock slaughter operation pursuant to Sections 19010 and 19022 and is sub…

(a) A mobile slaughter operator performing the service of slaughtering livestock pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 19020 shall file an application for a license that shows the names and addresses of the owners of the mobile slaughterer and any other information the secretary…