Labeling and container standards

21 U.S.C. § 457

• Title: 21 — Food and Drugs
• Chapter: 10 — POULTRY AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION

Text

(a) Requirements for shipping containers and immediate containers; nonconsumer packaged carcasses
All poultry products inspected at any official establishment under the authority of this chapter and found to be not adulterated, shall at the time they leave the establishment bear, in distinctly legible form, on their shipping containers and immediate containers as the Secretary may require, the information required under paragraph (h) of section 453 of this title. In addition, the Secretary whenever he determines such action is practicable and necessary for the protection of the public, may require nonconsumer packaged carcasses at the time they leave the establishment to bear directly thereon in distinctly legible form any information required under such paragraph (h).
(b) Labeling requirements; definitions and standards of identity or composition or articles and standards of fill of container; standards consistent with Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; consistency between Federal and State standards
The Secretary, whenever he determines such action is necessary for the protection of the public, may prescribe: (1) the styles and sizes of type to be used with respect to material required to be incorporated in labeling to avoid false or misleading labeling in marking and labeling any articles or poultry subject to this chapter; (2) definitions and standards of identity or composition or articles subject to this chapter and standards of fill of container for such articles not inconsistent with any such standards established under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.], and there shall be consultation between the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services prior to the issuance of such standards under either Act relating to articles subject to this chapter to avoid inconsistency in such standards and possible impairment of the coordinated effective administration of this chapter and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. There shall also be consultation between the Secretary and an appropriate advisory committee provided for in section 454 of this title, prior to the issuance of such standards under this chapter, to avoid, insofar as feasible, inconsistency between Federal and State standards.
(c) Use of trade names; false or misleading marking or labeling; misleading form or size of container
No article subject to this chapter shall be sold or offered for sale by any person in commerce, under any name or other marking or labeling which is false or misleading, or in any container of a misleading form or size, but established trade names and other marking and labeling and containers which are not false or misleading and which are approved by the Secretary are permitted.
(d) Withholding use of false or misleading mark, label, or container size or form; modification; hearing; conclusiveness of determination; appeal
If the Secretary has reason to believe that any marking or labeling or the size or form of any container in use or proposed for use with respect to any article subject to this chapter is false or misleading in any particular, he may direct that such use be withheld unless the marking, labeling, or container is modified in such manner as he may prescribe so that it will not be false or misleading. If the person using or proposing to use the marking, labeling, or container does not accept the determination of the Secretary, such person may request a hearing, but the use of the marking, labeling, or container shall, if the Secretary so directs, be withheld pending hearing and final determination by the Secretary. Any such determination by the Secretary shall be conclusive unless, within thirty days after receipt of notice of such final determination, the person adversely affected thereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the circuit in which such person has its principal place of business or to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The provisions of section 194 of title 7 shall be applicable to appeals taken under this section.

History

(Pub. L. 85–172, §8, Aug. 28, 1957, 71 Stat. 444; Pub. L. 90–492, §8, Aug. 18, 1968, 82 Stat. 799; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, §509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

References in Text
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, referred to in par. (b), is act June 25, 1938, ch. 675, 52 Stat. 1040, which is classified generally to chapter 9 (§301 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 301 of this title and Tables.

Amendments
1968—Par. (a). Pub. L. 90–492 substituted provisions requiring shipping containers and immediate containers, as the Secretary may order, to bear the information required under section 453(h) of this title, and provisions, whenever the Secretary determines such action to be practicable and necessary, requiring nonconsumer packaged carcasses at the time they leave the official establishment to bear the information required under the aforementioned section, for provisions requiring shipping containers to bear the official mark and the approved plant number of the official establishment in which the contents were processed, provisions requiring immediate containers to bear the official inspection mark, the name of the product, a statement of ingredients, the net weight or other appropriate measure of the contents, the name and address of the processor, and the approved plant number of the official establishment in which the contents were processed, and provisions authorizing the Secretary to make reasonable variations and grant exemptions from the foregoing labeling requirements.
Par. (b). Pub. L. 90–492 added par. (b). Provisions of former par. (b) were redesignated as pars. (c) and (d).
Par. (c). Pub. L. 90–492 redesignated part of provisions of former par. (b) as (c) and made changes in phraseology.
Par. (d). Pub. L. 90–492 redesignated part of provisions of former par. (b) as (d) and extended the authority of the Secretary to withhold from use products which have false or misleading markings or containers.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name
"Secretary of Health and Human Services" substituted for "Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare" in par. (b) pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88, which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.

Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90–492 effective Aug. 18, 1968, see section 20 of Pub. L. 90–492, set out as a note under section 451 of this title.