G.S. 106-549.21

§ 106-549.21. Stamping container or covering; regulation of container.

(a) When any meat or meat food product prepared for intrastate commerce which has been inspected as hereinbefore provided and marked "North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 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 Article 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 supervision of an inspector, which label shall state that the contents thereof have been "North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Inspected and Passed" under the provisions of this Article, 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 Article 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) All carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat and meat food products inspected at any establishment under the authority of this Article 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 Commissioner or authorized representative may require, the information required under subdivision (15) of G.S. 106-549.15.

(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 of any articles or animals subject to this and the subsequent Article;

(2) Definitions and standards of identity or composition for articles subject to this Article and standards of fill of container 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, and there shall be consultation between the Commissioner or his authorized representative 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 Article 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 or the Commissioner's authorized representative, are permitted.

(e) If the Commissioner or the Commissioner's authorized representative 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 Article is false or misleading in any particular, the Commissioner or the authorized representative may direct that this use be withheld unless the marking, labeling, or container is modified in such a manner as the Commissioner or the authorized representative prescribes 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 Commissioner or the Commissioner's authorized representative, the person, firm, or corporation may request a hearing, but the use of the marking, labeling, or container shall, if the Commissioner so directs, be withheld pending hearing and final determination by the Commissioner. A person who uses or proposes to use the marking, labeling, or container and who does not accept the determination of the Commissioner may commence a contested case under G.S. 150B-23. If directed by the Commissioner, the marking, labeling, or container may not be used pending a final decision. (1969, c. 893, s. 7; 1973, c. 1331, s. 3; 1987, c. 827, s. 35; 1997-261, s. 109; 2015-264, s. 8(b).)