Section 2-17-10 Labeling of Cans, Pots, Etc., Containing Meat, Meat Food Products, or Poultry Food Products; Misbranding of Products, or Poultry Food Products; Misbranding of Carcasses, Etc.; Establishment of Definitions and Standards; Use of False or Misleading Names, Labeling, Etc.

(a) When any meat or meat food product or poultry food product prepared for intrastate commerce which has been inspected as provided in this chapter and marked “Alabama inspected and passed” shall be placed or packed in any can, pot, tin, canvas, or other receptacle or covering in any establishment where inspection under this chapter is maintained, the person, firm, or corporation preparing the product shall attach a label to the can, pot, tin, canvas, or other receptacle or covering, which label shall state that the contents thereof have been “Alabama inspected and passed” under this chapter, and no inspection and examination of meat or meat food products or poultry food products deposited or enclosed in tins, cans, pots, canvas, or other receptacle or covering in any establishment where inspection under this chapter is maintained shall be deemed to be complete until such meat or meat food products or poultry food products have been sealed or enclosed in the can, tin, pot, canvas, or other receptacle or covering under the supervision of an inspector. (b) All carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat and meat food products, and poultry food products inspected at any 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, directly thereon or on their containers, both shipping container and immediate container, as the commissioner may prescribe, such information as will ensure that the same are not misbranded in contemplation of subdivision (13) of Section 2-17-1. (c) The commissioner, whenever he or she determines such action is necessary for the protection of the public, may prescribe definitions and standards of identity or composition for articles subject to this chapter and standards of fill of containers and styles and sizes of types thereof for such articles not inconsistent with any such standards established under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or under the federal Meat Inspection Act or under the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, and there shall be consultation between the commissioner and the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States prior to the issuance of such standards to avoid inconsistency between such standards and the federal standards. (d) No article subject to this chapter shall be sold or offered for sale by any person, firm, or corporation, in intrastate 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 commissioner are permitted. A food product that contains cultured animal tissue produced from animal cell cultures outside of the organism from which it is derived may not be labeled as meat or a meat food product. (e) If the commissioner 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 or she may direct that such use be discontinued or withheld unless the marking, labeling, or container is modified in such manner as he or she may prescribe so that it will not be false or misleading. If any person, firm, or corporation using or proposing to use the marking, labeling, or container does not accept the determination of the commissioner, such person, firm, or corporation may request a hearing before the commissioner, but the use of the marking, labeling, or container shall, if the commissioner so directs, be discontinued or withheld pending hearing and final determination. Any such determination by the commissioner shall be conclusive unless, within 30 days after receipt of notice of the final determination, the person, firm, or corporation adversely affected files a complaint in the circuit court of the county wherein the person, firm, or corporation so using the questioned marking, labeling, or container resides or has his or her or its principal place of business, and the court is hereby vested with jurisdiction and it shall be its duty to set the matter for hearing upon 30 days’ written notice to the commissioner and to take testimony and examine the facts of the case and to determine, without the intervention of a jury, whether or not the questioned 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, and the determination shall, in the absence of fraud, corruption, bad faith, or gross abuse of discretion, be final.