(a) “Act” means the Farm Animal Cruelty statute, as amended (Chapter 13.8 (commencing with section 25990) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code).

(b) “Audit trail” means records that are in sufficient detail to document the identification, source, supplier, transfer of ownership, transportation, storage, segregation, handling, packaging, distribution, and sale of shell eggs or liquid eggs that were derived from an egg-laying hen confined in compliance with sections 25991 and 25992 of the Health and Safety Code and this Article, and from egg producers that hold a valid certification as a certified operation issued pursuant to Article 5 of this Chapter.

(c) “Certified operation” means as defined in section 1326(e) of this Chapter.

(d) “Certifying agent” means as defined in section 1326(f) of this Chapter.

(e) “Commercial sale” for purposes of section 25991(o) of the Health and Safety Code and this Article means to sell, exchange, barter, trade, transfer title or possession, or distribute, conditional or otherwise, in California commerce including, but not limited to, transactions by a retailer with a consumer and electronic transactions made using the internet. It shall not include any of the following transactions or transfers of possession, which apply only to a specific transaction listed below, not to the covered product itself, and therefore does not apply to all subsequent commercial sales of shell eggs or liquid eggs:

(f) “Consumer” means any person who purchases shell eggs or liquid eggs, as defined in sections 25991(l) and (p) of the Health and Safety Code and this Article, for the sole purpose of their own personal use or consumption, or that purchases or consumes shell eggs or liquid eggs at a restaurant, food facility, or other similar business that serves cooked eggs to customers or patrons.

(g) “Container” means any box, case, basket, tote, can, carton, sack, pouch, bag, package, wrapper, receptacle, or any other device which is used to facilitate the handling, distribution, transportation, or commercial sale of shell eggs or liquid eggs.

(h) “Cottage food operation” means an establishment as defined in section 113758 of the Health and Safety Code.

(i) “Department” means the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

(j) “Document of title” means a document which in the regular course of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that the person in possession of it is entitled to receive, hold, and dispose of the document and the shell eggs or liquid eggs it covers. Examples of such documents include, but are not limited to, bill of lading, dock warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt, or an order for the delivery of shell eggs or liquid eggs.

(k) “Egg distributor” means a person or facility engaged in the business of commercial sales or distribution of shell eggs or liquid eggs (as an egg producer or otherwise) to an end-user in California. This definition shall not apply to a person or facility that only receives shell eggs or liquid eggs as an end-user.

(l) “Egg-laying hen” means any female domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose, or guineafowl kept for the purpose of egg production. For purposes of this subsection and this Article, an egg-laying hen kept for egg production means a sexually mature female confined for the purpose of laying eggs which are intended for use as human food as shell eggs or liquid eggs.

(m) “Egg producer” means a person engaged in the business of producing eggs from domesticated chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, or guineafowl that will be used as shell eggs or liquid eggs as defined in this article for human food. This definition shall not apply to an official plant under mandatory inspection under the federal Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 1031 et seq.) and that holds an establishment number (prefix “G”) granted by the Food Safety Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

(n) “Enclosure” means a structure used to confine a covered animal or animals. For purposes of this subsection and this Article, a structure means any cage, crate, pen, or other construction used to confine an egg-laying hen.

(o) “End-user” means any of the following:

(p) “Flavoring” for purposes of section 25991(l) of the Health and Safety Code and this Article means any substance, whether artificial or natural, the function of which is to impart flavor rather than nutrition, but includes milk and butter, and includes the substances listed and described in sections 172.510, 172.515(b), 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50, and substances with a use described as a flavoring, flavoring agent, or flavoring enhancer in Part 184 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (April 2021), hereby incorporated by reference.

(q) “Food facility” means a facility as defined in section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code.

(r) “Food processing facility” means a facility as defined in section 109947 of the Health and Safety Code.

(s) “In its shell form” for purposes of section 25991(p) of the Health and Safety Code and this Article means an egg as developed, proportioned and shaped in the shell by an egg-laying hen, whether it is in the shell, raw, pasteurized in the shell, treated in the shell, hardboiled, or otherwise cooked in whole form, peeled, co-packaged with other foods, or subsequently sold sliced, chopped, or otherwise cut.

(t) “Liquid eggs” means the product defined in section 25991(l) of the Health and Safety Code intended for use as human food, whether it is raw or pasteurized, co-packaged with other foods, or sold frozen, dried, freeze-dried, or as a cooked patty, puck, or other cooked form, and shall include all of the following:

(u) “Pasteurized” means a pasteurization process applied to eggs in the shell or liquid eggs by any method approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of Public Health, or the Department.

(v) “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, limited liability company, corporation, estate, trust, receiver, or syndicate.

(w) “Records” means any information in written, visual, or electronic form that documents the activities undertaken by a producer, distributor, or certifying agent to comply with the Act and this Chapter.

(x) “Retailer” means a facility location that conducts commercial sales of shell eggs or liquid eggs to a consumer.

(y) “Seasoning” for purposes of section 25991(l) of the Health and Safety Code and this Article is synonymous with the term “spice” and means any aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken, diced, or ground form, whose primary function in food is seasoning rather than nutritional and from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been removed. Spices include onions, garlic, peppers, and the spices listed in section 182.10, and Part 184 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (April 2021), hereby incorporated by reference.

(z) “Shell egg” means a whole egg of an egg-laying hen in its shell form, intended for use as human food.

(aa) “Takes physical possession” for the purposes of section 25991(o) of the Health and Safety Code and this Article means when the shell eggs or liquid eggs are delivered to the buyer in California, regardless of whether the title transfer takes place outside of the state, whether the seller and buyer have provided otherwise by a contract, or whether an agent of the buyer accepts the shell eggs or liquid eggs outside of the state for transportation into California.

(bb) “Usable floorspace” means the total square footage of floorspace provided to each egg-laying hen, as calculated by dividing the total square footage of floorspace provided to egg-laying hens in an individual enclosure by the number of egg-laying hens in that individual enclosure. This floorspace shall include both ground-space and elevated level flat platforms upon which hens can roost but shall not include perches or ramps.