Skip to main content
Back To Top Top Back To Top
The Legislative Service Commission staff updates the Revised Code on an ongoing basis, as it completes its act review of enacted legislation. Updates may be slower during some times of the year, depending on the volume of enacted legislation.

Chapter 915 | Cold Storage; Individual Lockers

 
 
 
Section
Section 915.01 | Cold storage definitions.
 

As used in section 915.01 to 915.12, inclusive, of the Revised Code:

(A) "Cold storage" means the storage of food, at or below a temperature of forty degrees Fahrenheit, in a cold-storage warehouse.

(B) "Cold-storage warehouse" means a place artificially cooled by the employment of refrigerating machinery or ice or other means, in which articles of food are stored for thirty days or more at a temperature of forty degrees Fahrenheit, or lower.

(C) "Food" means:

(1) Articles used for food or drink for humans or animals;

(2) Chewing gum;

(3) Articles used for components of any such articles.

(D) "Container" means any bag, barrel, basket, bottle, box, caddy can, canister, carton, crate, firkin, hogshead, jar, jug, keg, stopper, vessel, wrapper, frozen bulk, or any similar or analogous utensil, receptacle, band, or wrapper in which food may be kept, stored, sold, or offered for sale.

(E) "Wholesome" means fit for human food.

Last updated March 21, 2023 at 10:21 AM

Section 915.02 | License.
 

No person, firm, or corporation shall operate a cold-storage warehouse, for hire, without a license issued by the director of agriculture. A license shall be issued only on written application stating the location of the warehouse. Upon receipt of the application the director shall cause an examination to be made into the sanitary conditions of the warehouse. If it is found to be in a sanitary condition and properly equipped for the purpose of cold storage, the director shall cause a license to be issued authorizing the applicant to operate a warehouse. No license shall be issued until the applicant has paid to the director the sum of two hundred dollars. A license shall be valid until the last day of March of each year and becomes invalid on that date unless renewed. A license shall be required for each separate warehouse building.

Section 915.021 | License renewal.
 

All licenses issued under section 915.02 of the Revised Code shall be renewed by the last day of March of each year pursuant to this section and the standard renewal procedure of sections 4745.01 to 4745.03, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

Section 915.03 | Records.
 

Each person, firm, or corporation licensed to operate a cold-storage warehouse shall keep an accurate record of the receipts and withdrawals of food therefrom. The agents of the director of agriculture shall have free access to such records at all times.

Last updated March 21, 2023 at 10:22 AM

Section 915.09 | Unwholesome food.
 

No person, firm, or corporation shall place in any cold-storage warehouse, keep therein, sell, or offer or expose for sale, any diseased, tainted, or otherwise unwholesome food, or shall place in cold storage any slaughtered animals or parts thereof unless the entrails and other offensive parts have first been properly removed.

Section 915.10 | Closing warehouse.
 

Whenever any licensed warehouse, or any portion of such warehouse, is deemed by the director of agriculture to be in an unsanitary condition, the director shall cause such warehouse, or portion thereof, to be closed.

Section 915.11 | Refrigeration during shipment.
 

Sections 915.01 to 915.12, inclusive, of the Revised Code, do not prohibit the shipping, consigning, or transporting of fresh food in properly refrigerated cars within this state to points of destination; nor do such sections prohibit such food when received from being held in a cooling room for a period of forty-eight hours; nor do they prohibit the keeping of fresh food in iceboxes or refrigerators in retail stores while the same is offered or exposed for sale.

Section 915.12 | Enforcement.
 

The director of agriculture shall enforce sections 915.01 to 915.12, inclusive, of the Revised Code, and shall make all rules and regulations necessary for the enforcement of such sections.

Section 915.14 | Individual locker plant definitions.
 

As used in sections 915.14 to 915.24 of the Revised Code, unless the context otherwise requires:

(A) "Food" means:

(1) Articles used for food or drink for humans or animals;

(2) Chewing gum;

(3) Articles used for components of any such articles.

(B) "Establishment" means any business location or building of which any of the following facilities or operations are a part: a frozen food manufacturing facility, chill room, sharp freezing room and facilities, or sharp freezing cabinet.

(C) "Chill room" means a room or space in an establishment used for the purpose of chilling food in preparation for processing for sharp freezing.

(D) "Sharp freezing" means the reducing of every portion of food placed in a sharp freezer facility to a temperature of ten degrees Fahrenheit or less in five hours or less.

(E) "Sharp freezing room," "sharp freezing cabinet," or "other sharp freezing facilities" means any location, space, or facility in an establishment used for the sharp freezing of food for storage or eventual sale.

(F) "Operator" means any person, firm, or corporation operating or maintaining an establishment.

(G) "Frozen food manufacturing facility" means a room or space in an establishment used to freeze food, other than frozen desserts as defined in section 917.01 of the Revised Code, for eventual sale in a frozen state.

Last updated March 21, 2023 at 10:37 AM

Section 915.15 | Locker plant license to operate.
 

No person, firm, or corporation, except one licensed under sections 918.01 to 918.11 of the Revised Code, shall operate an establishment unless such person has secured a license therefor from the department of agriculture and has otherwise complied with sections 915.14 to 915.24 of the Revised Code. A separate license shall be secured for each establishment. The application for such license shall be in writing on forms prescribed and furnished by the department.

Such application shall be accompanied by the required license fee.

Section 915.16 | License fee.
 

The license fee for an establishment is fifty dollars. Any operator operating in connection with a cold-storage warehouse holding a license under section 915.02 of the Revised Code is not required to secure an additional license under section 915.15 of the Revised Code so long as the operator continues to be licensed as a cold-storage warehouse; but the operator shall comply with sections 915.14 to 915.24 of the Revised Code, and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. The license issued shall be in such form as the department of agriculture prescribes. Licenses shall be valid until the last day of November following initial issuance or renewal and shall become invalid on that date unless renewed. The original license or a certified copy thereof shall be conspicuously displayed by the operator in the establishment.

Section 915.161 | Annual license renewal.
 

Licenses issued under sections 915.14 to 915.24, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall be renewed by the last day of November of each year pursuant to this section and the standard renewal procedure of sections 4745.01 to 4745.03, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

Section 915.17 | Inspections.
 

Upon receipt of the application for a license accompanied by the required fee, the department of agriculture shall inspect the establishment to be licensed and if it finds that such establishment, its equipment, facilities, surrounding premises, and operations comply with sections 915.14 to 915.24 of the Revised Code and the applicable rules adopted thereunder, and that the establishment is being operated under proper sanitary conditions and in conformity with sanitary regulations adopted by the director of agriculture under authority of section 3715.02 of the Revised Code, the department shall issue such license. The persons designated by the department to make such inspection shall be persons having practical knowledge of the operation of cold-storage plants and establishments and the storage of food therein, and shall be thoroughly familiar with such sections and the applicable rules of the department. The department shall inspect all licensed establishments at least once each six months and may make such additional inspections as the department deems necessary. The director and his representatives shall have access to establishments at all reasonable times for the purpose of making such inspections.

Section 915.18 | Temperatures.
 

(A) The refrigeration system for an establishment shall be equipped with accurate and reliable controls for the automatic maintenance of uniform temperatures as required in the various refrigerated rooms and shall be of adequate capacity to provide under extreme conditions of outside temperatures and under peak load conditions in the normal operations of the establishment, the following temperatures:

(1) In the chill room temperatures within two degrees of Fahrenheit plus or minus of thirty-eight degrees above zero Fahrenheit with a tolerance of ten degrees Fahrenheit for a reasonable time after fresh food is put in for chilling;

(2) In the sharp freezing room temperatures of ten degrees below zero Fahrenheit or lower or temperatures of zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower when forced air circulation is employed with a tolerance of ten degrees Fahrenheit for either type of installation for a reasonable time after fresh food is put in for freezing.

(B) This section does not prohibit such variations as may occur during short periods of time incidental to defrosting. For experimental purposes, the department of agriculture, upon application in writing, may authorize for a limited and prescribed period, the installation and use of refrigeration systems or methods which in the opinion of the department will result in improvement over present methods.

Last updated March 21, 2023 at 10:37 AM

Section 915.20 | Records.
 

(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Locker" means the individual section or compartment, provided with a lock, of a capacity not to exceed twenty-five cubic feet, in the locker room of an establishment, which is rented by a person, firm, or corporation for the purpose of storing frozen food for its use.

(2) "Locker room" means any room in an establishment in which lockers are located and in which space may be provided for the storage of frozen food belonging to and for sale by the operator to the public.

(B) Every operator having lockers shall keep an accurate record setting forth the name and address of each patron renting a locker or storing food.

Last updated March 21, 2023 at 10:38 AM

Section 915.22 | Administrative rules.
 

The department of agriculture may make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations necessary to carry out sections 915.14 to 915.24, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

Section 915.23 | Refusal or revocation of licenses.
 

The department of agriculture, after notice and hearing, held in accordance with the provisions of sections 119.01 to 119.13, inclusive, of the Revised Code may refuse to issue or may revoke the license for any establishment, or the authority for any establishment to operate as such by virtue of holding a cold-storage warehouse license under sections 915.02 of the Revised Code, for failure to comply with sections 915.14 to 915.24, inclusive, of the Revised Code, or any rule or regulation of the department. Before refusing to issue or revoking any license the department shall send the licensee notice of such hearing by registered or certified mail not less than ten days before the hearing and shall afford such licensee an opportunity to be heard in person or by attorney with respect thereto at a time and place specified in such notice.

In event any license is revoked, the department may permit the continued operation of the establishment involved upon such conditions or under such supervision as the department may prescribe for a period of not to exceed six months, in order to enable patrons to remove any food stored therein, but during such period no additional food shall be received or stored in such establishment.

Section 915.24 | Food safety fund.
 

(A) There is hereby created in the state treasury the food safety fund. All of the following moneys shall be credited to the fund:

(1) Bakery registration fees and fines received under sections 911.02 to 911.20 of the Revised Code;

(2) Cannery license fees and renewal fees received under sections 913.01 to 913.05 of the Revised Code;

(3) Moneys received under sections 913.22 to 913.28 of the Revised Code;

(4) License fees, fines, and penalties recovered for the violation of sections 915.01 to 915.12 of the Revised Code;

(5) License fees collected under sections 915.14 to 915.23 of the Revised Code;

(6) License fees, other fees, and fines collected by or for the director of agriculture under Chapter 3717. of the Revised Code;

(7) Fees collected under section 3715.04 of the Revised Code for the issuance of certificates of health and freesale;

(8) Registration fees and other fees collected by the director of agriculture under section 3715.041 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director of agriculture shall use the moneys deposited into the food safety fund to administer and enforce the laws pursuant to which the moneys were collected.

Section 915.99 | Penalty.
 

Whoever violates sections 915.01 to 915.24 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree on the first offense; on each subsequent offense, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.