(a)Whenever a duly authorized agent of the Commissioner finds or has probable cause to believe that any food, drug, device, or cosmetic is adulterated, or so misbranded as to be dangerous or fraudulent, within the meaning of this chapter, the agent shall affix to such article a tag or other appropriate marking, giving notice that the article is, or is suspected of being, adulterated or misbranded and has been detained or embargoed, and warning all persons not to remove or dispose of the article by sale or otherwise until permission for removal or disposal is given by the agent or the court. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or dispose of the detained or embargoed article by sale or otherwise without that permission.
(b)When an article detained or embargoed under subsection (a
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(a) Whenever a duly authorized agent of the Commissioner finds or has probable cause to believe that any food, drug, device, or cosmetic is adulterated, or so misbranded as to be dangerous or fraudulent, within the meaning of this chapter, the agent shall affix to such article a tag or other appropriate marking, giving notice that the article is, or is suspected of being, adulterated or misbranded and has been detained or embargoed, and warning all persons not to remove or dispose of the article by sale or otherwise until permission for removal or disposal is given by the agent or the court. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or dispose of the detained or embargoed article by sale or otherwise without that permission.
(b) When an article detained or embargoed under subsection (a) of this section has been found by the agent to be adulterated or misbranded, he or she shall petition the Civil or Criminal Division of the Superior Court in the unit where the article is detained or embargoed for a libel for condemnation of the article. When the agent has found that an article so detained or embargoed is not adulterated or misbranded, he or she shall remove the tag or other marking.
(c) If the court finds that a detained or embargoed article is adulterated or misbranded, the article shall, after entry of the decree, be destroyed at the expense of the claimant thereof, under the supervision of the agent, and all court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses, shall be taxed against the claimant of the article or the claimant’s agent, provided that when the adulteration or misbranding can be corrected by proper labeling or processing of the article, the court, after entry of the decree and after the costs, fees, and expenses have been paid and a good and sufficient bond, conditioned that the article shall be so labeled or processed, has been executed, may by order direct that the article be delivered to the claimant thereof for such labeling or processing under the supervision of an agent of the Commissioner. The expense of the supervision shall be paid by the claimant. The bond shall be returned to the claimant of the article on representation to the court by the Commissioner that the article is no longer in violation of this chapter and that the expenses of supervision have been paid.
(d) Whenever the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s authorized agent finds in any room, building, vehicle of transportation, or other structure any meat, seafood, poultry, vegetable, fruit, or other perishable articles that are unsound, or contain any filthy, decomposed, or putrid substance, or that may be poisonous or deleterious to health or otherwise unsafe, those articles and substances being hereby declared to be a nuisance, the Commissioner, or the Commissioner’s authorized agent, shall immediately condemn destroy or, in any other manner, render those articles and substances unsalable as human food. (Added 1959, No. 172, § 6, eff. May 12, 1959; amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. March 1, 1961; 1965, No. 194, § 10, eff. July 1, 1965, operative Feb. 1, 1967; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 8, 1974; 2009, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 38a; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 146; 2023, No. 6, § 139, eff. July 1, 2023; 2023, No. 53, § 86, eff. June 8, 2023.)