37-303. STANDARDS AND RULES. (1) The director of the department of agriculture is hereby authorized to promulgate and enforce reasonable rules as may be necessary or desirable to establish standards and to carry out its functions and the intent and purposes of this chapter.

(2) All milk or cream utilized in the manufacture of dairy products and all manufactured dairy products produced, distributed, offered for sale, or sold in Idaho shall meet the requirements established by this chapter, of federal law, and rules or regulations promulgated or adopted pursuant to state or federal law.

(3) The following standards concerning the sanitation of milk and cream are hereby established:

(a) The term "processor" means any individual, partnership, association or corporation doing business in the state of Idaho that produces, purchases, obtains or uses in the state of Idaho any milk or cream for use in the manufacture of butter, cheese, evaporated milk, frozen desserts, frozen novelties, edible dry milk or other dairy products. The term "processor" shall not include any individual, partnership, association or corporation that produces, purchases, obtains or uses milk or cream for his or its own consumption. The term "producer" means any person, firm or corporation who owns or controls one (1) or more cows, goats, sheep or water buffalo, a part or all of the milk from which is sold or offered for sale to a processor.

(b) No processor shall purchase or obtain in any manner, or use in any manner, for the sale or manufacture of any dairy products as provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection, any unacceptable milk or cream as herein defined.

(c) The processor shall, for the purpose of determining the acceptability or unacceptability of milk or cream, cause all milk or cream to be tested and graded according to the standards herein defined before purchase, acquisition or use in any manner. Provided however, that where the processor customarily purchases the milk or cream of any person regularly engaged in the production thereof, the processor is required to test milk and cream of such producer not less than once each month by the approved bacteria tests and approved mastitic tests, or other tests as may be prescribed by the director of the department of agriculture. When milk or cream from any producer is found unacceptable as a result of required testing, the processor shall thereafter test the milk or cream of the producer daily by the same test until it is found to be acceptable. Each processor shall retain for at least one (1) year at the place where milk or cream is received, a record of such tests in the form and of the content that shall be prescribed by the department of agriculture and shall exhibit the record at the place where the same is kept whenever requested to do so by the producer or the department and shall permit copies thereof to be taken.

(d) Milk and dairy product quality standards and standards of identity will be established by rules promulgated by the department.

(e) Any milk, cream or dairy product that is unclean, unwholesome or unfit for human consumption, as determined by the department, shall be rejected as unacceptable.

History:

[37-303, added 2014, ch. 275, sec. 3, p. 686.]