To get information about suspected violations of law, the commissioner and the commissioner's assistants, inspectors, appointees, agents and employees must be given access to the following:

(1) places where food or something else, the manufacture, sale, use, or transportation of which is restricted, regulated, or prohibited by a law of this state, is or may be manufactured, prepared, stored, sold, used, transported, offered for sale or transportation, or had in possession with intent to use, sell, or transport, or where cows or other animals are pastured or stabled;

(2) cars or other carriages used to transport the articles or animals; and

(3) places where food is or may be cooked, prepared, sold, or kept for sale to or for the public or distributed as a part of the compensation of an employee or agent, including public and private hospitals, lumber and railroad camps, inns, boarding and eating houses, drinking places, dining cars, boats, and other places where any of these articles may be manufactured, sold, used, offered for sale or transportation, or possessed with intent to use, sell, or transport.

They may inspect a package, receptacle, or container found in those places apparently containing food, a food ingredient, or something else the manufacture, use, sale, or transportation of which is restricted, regulated, or forbidden by state law, and may take samples from it for analysis. A person obstructing entry or inspection, or failing upon request to assist in the inspection, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

History: 1969 c 225 s 25; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 469 art 2 s 1