Northeast Beginning Farmer Project

Glossary of Terms

Adulterated Generally, impure, unsafe, or unwholesome; however, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act contain separate language defining in very specific (and lengthy) terms how the term “adulterated” will be applied to the foods each of these laws regulates. Products found to be adulterated under these laws cannot enter into commerce for human food use.

Corrective action Procedures to be followed when a deviation occurs.

Critical control point A point, step, or procedure in a food process at which control can be applied and, as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to acceptable levels.

Critical limit The maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or
chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or
reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of the identified food safety hazard.

Exemption The Secretary shall, by regulation and under such conditions as to sanitary
standards, practices, and procedures as he may prescribe, exempt from specific provisions
of federal and state law.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating food, dietary supplements, drugs and more. FDA derives all of its authority and jurisdiction from various acts of Congress. The main source of the FDA’s authority is the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Under authority of the Federal Meat, Poultry and Egg Products Inspection Acts, FSIS inspects and monitors all meat, poultry and egg products sold in interstate and foreign commerce to ensure compliance with mandatory U.S. food safety standards and inspection legislation.

Food Safety Hazard Any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HAACCP) is a safeguarding management system that prevents food hazards of a biological, chemical or physical nature.

Inedible. Adulterated, uninspected, or not intended for use as human food.

Inspection refers to the examination of an animal, meat and meat product by an official inspector to certify wholesomeness and condition.

Interstate Movement of products across state lines.

Intrastate Movement of products exclusively within a state’s boundary.

Label. A display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon the immediate container (not including package liners) of any article.

Labeling All brands and labels applied to carcasses, processed meat, wholesale cuts, and edible meat by-products must be approved by the FSIS. Inspection labels must contain the common name of the product and the name and address of the meat processor. Meat products from state inspected 5-A plants must also bear state approved labels that have similar requirements to those for federally inspected products. Labels on poultry products processed on-farm in uninspected facilities must bear the phrase “processed under
Exempt P.L. 90-492”

Misbranded If the label, brand, tag or notice under which a product is sold is false or
misleading in any particular as to the kind, grade or quality or composition; or there is any false statement concerning the sanitary conditions under which it is manufactured.

New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) the regulatory agency for agriculture and agricultural products in the state of New York.

Packaging Any cloth, paper, plastic, metal, or other material used to form a container, wrapper, label, or cover for meat products.

Poultry The term “poultry” means any domesticated bird, whether live or dead

Poultry Products Inspection Act The PPIA mandates that USDA inspect “poultry,” i.e., any domesticated bird, and food products thereof, slaughtered and prepared in Federal establishments and foreign establishments for export to the United States that are intended for distribution in commerce (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). The Federal poultry products inspection regulations (9 CFR Part 381) implement the provisions of the PPIA. The Federal poultry products inspection regulations (9 CFR 381.1) define poultry as meaning any domesticated bird (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, ratites, or guineas or squabs), whether live or dead. The PPIA also provides for exemptions from inspection of the slaughter of poultry and the preparation of poultry products, i.e., poultry carcasses or parts thereof. Among the exemptions, the PPIA provides for the exemption from inspection of the custom slaughter of poultry and the preparation of carcasses and parts thereof at establishments conducting such operations when such products are used exclusively by households and individuals and are not sold. Different from the provisions of the FMIA, the PPIA contains specific criteria for such exemptions based on the volume of poultry slaughtered or processed. The PPIA also includes an exemption from the definition of “poultry product” for products that contain poultry ingredients only in a relatively small proportion or historically have not been considered by consumers as products of the poultry food industry, and that can not be represented as poultry products. The Federal poultry products inspection regulations address exemptions from inspection, including an exemption from the definition of “poultry product” of certain human food products containing poultry, such as those containing less than 2 percent cooked poultry meat (9 CFR 381.15), and an exemption from inspection for custom operations (9 CFR 381.10).

Preventive Measure Physical, chemical, or other means that can be used to control an identified food safety hazard.

Process-monitoring Instrument An instrument or device used to indicate conditions during processing at a critical control point.

Processing The terms processed and processing refer to operations in which the carcasses of slaughtered animals are cut-up, skinned, boned, canned, salted, stuffed, rendered, or otherwise manufactured or processed.

Product. Any carcass, meat, meat byproduct, or meat food product, capable of use as human food.

Retail The sale of commodities to ultimate consumers, usually in small quantities.

Shipping container. The outside container (box, bag, barrel, crate, or other receptacle or
covering) containing or wholly or partly enclosing any product packed in one or more immediate containers.

Slaughtering The term slaughter refers to the act of killing livestock or poultry for use as human food.

Wholesale The sale of commodities in large quantities to retailers or distributors rather
than to end consumers directly.

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