N.M. Stat. § 25-1-2 (2026)

As used in the Food Service Sanitation Act:

   A. "agency" or "division" means the department of environment;

   B. "board" means the environmental improvement board;

    C. "employee" means any individual employed in a food service establishment who
transports food or food containers, who handles food during storage, preparation or
serving, who comes in contact with any utensils or who is employed in a room in which
food is stored, prepared or served;

   D. "food" means any solid or liquid substance intended for human consumption by
eating or drinking;

    E. "general public" includes beneficiaries of governmental feeding programs and
private charitable feeding programs and residents and employees of institutions that
provide meals to their residents and employees either with or without direct payment to
the institution by the residents or employees;

   F. "temporary food service establishment" means a food service establishment that
operates at a fixed location in conjunction with a single event or celebration for a short
period of time not exceeding the event or celebration or not exceeding thirty days;

   G. "person" means an individual or any other legal entity;
   H. "food service establishment" means:

       (1)   any fixed or mobile place where food is served and sold for consumption
on the premises;

       (2)    any fixed or mobile place where food is prepared for sale to or
consumption by the general public either on or off the premises, including any place
where food is manufactured for ultimate sale in a sealed original package, but
"prepared" as used in this paragraph does not include the preparation of raw fruits,
vegetables or pure honey for display and sale in a grocery store or similar operation.
For purposes of this paragraph, "pure honey" means natural liquid or solid honey,
extracted from the combs or in the comb, taken from beehives, with no processing or
additional ingredients. "Food service establishment" does not mean a dairy
establishment; and

      (3)    meat markets, whether or not operated in conjunction with a grocery store;

   I. "utensil" means any implement used in the storage, preparation, transportation or
service of food; and

   J. "dairy establishment" means a milk processing or milk producing facility.

History: 1953 Comp., § 54-3A-2, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 309, § 2; 1989, ch. 197, §
2; 1993, ch. 188, § 31; 1997, ch. 49, § 1.

                                    ANNOTATIONS

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in Paragraph H(2), substituted
"vegetables or pure honey" for "and vegetables" in the first sentence, and added the
second sentence.

The 1993 amendments, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "department of
environment" for "environmental improvement division of the health and environment
department" in Subsection A; deleted "by the food service establishment" following
"food is prepared" near the beginning and added "'Food service establishment' does not
mean a dairy establishment" at the end of Subsection H(2); added Subsection J; and
made a minor stylistic change.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, added the present catchline; rewrote
Subsection A, which formerly read: " 'agency' means the environmental improvement
agency"; rewrote Subsection F, which formerly read: " 'itinerant food service
establishment' means a food service establishment operating for a temporary period of
time"; and in Subsection H(2) inserted "by the food service establishment", and
substituted "including any place where food is manufactured" for "but 'prepared' as used
in this paragraph does not include food processing in which food is processed" and "but
'prepared' as used in this paragraph does not" for "nor does it".
Kitchen of state hospital deemed excluded. — Former statute (Section 54-3-1, 1953
Comp.) did not encompass state agencies under the circumstances where a hospital
operated a kitchen, primarily to prepare food for patients, and kitchen personnel and
other employees were allowed to eat meals prepared at the kitchen, and reimbursement
was effected by the hospital, either through payroll deductions or meal tickets sold to
the employees at approximate food cost; i.e., a "restaurant," as defined in the statute,
was not involved. 1958 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 58-161 (opinion rendered under former law).