
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 21USC607]

 
                        TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
 
                       CHAPTER 12--MEAT INSPECTION
 
   SUBCHAPTER I--INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS; ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING
 
Sec. 607. Labeling, marking, and container requirements


(a) Labeling receptacles or coverings of meat or meat food products 
        inspected and passed; supervision by inspectors

    When any meat or meat food product prepared for commerce which has 
been inspected as hereinbefore provided and marked ``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 
the provisions of this chapter is maintained, the person, firm, or 
corporation preparing said product shall cause a label to be attached to 
said can, pot, tin, canvas, or other receptacle or covering, under the 
supervision of an inspector, which label shall state that the contents 
thereof have been ``inspected and passed'' under the provisions of this 
chapter; and no inspection and examination of meat or meat food products 
deposited or inclosed in cans, tins, pots, canvas, or other receptacle 
or covering in any establishment where inspection under the provisions 
of this chapter is maintained shall be deemed to be complete until such 
meat or meat food products have been sealed or inclosed in said can, 
tin, pot, canvas, or other receptacle or covering under the supervision 
of an inspector.

(b) Information on articles or containers; legible form

    All carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat and meat food products 
inspected at any establishment under the authority of this subchapter 
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, as the Secretary may require, the information required 
under paragraph (n) of section 601 of this title.

(c) Labeling: type styles and sizes; definitions and standards of 
        identity or composition; standards of fill of container; 
        consistency of Federal and Federal-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 marketing and labeling 
any articles or animals subject to this subchapter or subchapter II of 
this chapter; (2) definitions and standards of identity or composition 
for articles subject to this subchapter 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 these Acts. There shall also be 
consultation between the Secretary and an appropriate advisory committee 
provided for in section 661 of this title, prior to the issuance of such 
standards under this chapter, to avoid, insofar as feasible, 
inconsistency between Federal and State standards.

(d) Sales under false or misleading name, other marking or labeling or 
        in containers of misleading form or size; trade names, and other 
        marking, labeling, and containers approved by Secretary

    No article subject to this subchapter shall be sold or offered for 
sale by any person, firm, or corporation, 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.

(e) Use withholding directive respecting false or misleading marking, 
        labeling, or container; modification of false or misleading 
        matter; hearing; withholding use pending proceedings; finality 
        of Secretary's action; judicial review; application of section 
        194 of title 7

    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 subchapter 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, 
firm, or corporation using or proposing to use the marking, labeling or 
container does not accept the determination of the Secretary, such 
person, firm, or corporation 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, firm, or corporation adversely affected thereby appeals to the 
United States court of appeals for the circuit in which such person, 
firm, or corporation 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.

(f) Lamb and mutton

    The Secretary, consistent with United States international 
obligations, shall establish standards for the labeling of sheep 
carcasses, parts of sheep carcasses, sheepmeat, and sheepmeat food 
products.

(Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, Sec. 7, formerly 5th par., 34 Stat. 
1262; renumbered Sec. 7 and amended Pub. L. 90-201, Secs. 1, 3(a), 6, 
Dec. 15, 1967, 81 Stat. 584, 588; Pub. L. 96-88, title V, Sec. 509(b), 
Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 104-127, title II, Sec. 279, Apr. 
4, 1996, 110 Stat. 979.)

                       References in Text

    The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, referred to in subsec. 
(c)(2), is act June 25, 1938, ch. 675, 52 Stat. 1040, as amended, which 
is classified generally to chapter 9 (Sec. 301 et seq.) of this title. 
For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 301 of 
this title and Tables.
    Either Act and these Acts, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), mean the 
Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act. The Federal Meat Inspection Act is act Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, 
titles I to IV, as added Dec. 15, 1967, Pub. L. 90-201, 81 Stat. 584, 
and amended, which are classified generally to subchapters I to IV 
(Sec. 601 et seq.), respectively, of this chapter. For complete 
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note under 
section 601 of this title and Tables.

                          Codification

    Section was formerly classified to section 75 of this title.


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104-127 added subsec. (f).
    1967--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90-201, Secs. 3(a), 6(a), (b), struck out 
``interstate or foreign'' before ``commerce'' and provisions prohibiting 
sales of meat or meat food products in interstate or foreign commerce 
under any false or deceptive names and permitting trade names or names 
which are usual to such products and are not false and deceptive and are 
approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, now incorporated in subsec. 
(d), and designated remaining provisions as subsecs. (a), respectively.
    Subsecs. (b) to (e). Pub. L. 90-201, Sec. 6(c), added subsecs. (b) 
to (e).

                         Change of Name

    ``Secretary of Health and Human Services'' substituted for 
``Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare'' in subsec. (c)(2) 
pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96-88, which is classified to 
section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.


                    Effective Date of 1967 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 90-201 effective Dec. 15, 1967, except that 
with respect to equines (other than horses) and their carcasses and 
parts thereof, meat, and meat food products thereof, amendment effective 
upon expiration of sixty days after Dec. 15, 1967, see section 20(b) of 
Pub. L. 90-201, set out as an Effective Date note under section 601 of 
this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 601, 674 of this title.
