Section 70.90  Denaturing

            "Denaturing" methods defined:

a)         Charcoal. When charcoal is used, it shall be in powdered or pulverized form fine enough to pass through a 10 to 14 U. S. standard mesh.

b)         Bone. Bone means enough ground bone present in the ground horse meat, so that it can be easily felt when rubbing the ground meat between one's fingers.

c)         Color. Where coloring matter or ink is used for denaturing or stamping, only green coloring shall be used, and shall be of ingredients approved by the Department of Agriculture.

d)         Hearts and livers need not be ground but shall be freely slashed and shall be colored green.

e)         All horse meat must be ground, chopped, or comminuted so that no portion shall be greater than ¾" in any dimension, and the mass shall be denatured. The only exception to this will be the sale of the whole carcass, half carcass, or quarter carcass which may be sold to a licensed processor after proper denaturing. Where the whole carcass, half carcass, or quarter carcass is to be denatured, it must be freely slashed at least ½" deep before the charcoal or coloring is thoroughly applied.

(Source:  Amended at 7 Ill. Reg. 859, effective January 10, 1983)