§2-17-10. Labeling of cans, pots, tins, etc., in which inspected meat, meat food products, or poultry food products sealed, enclosed, etc.; establishment of definitions and standards of identity, composition, size, style, etc., for articles subject to chapter and containers thereof; sale or offer for sale of articles subject to chapter under false or misleading names, labeling, etc.; ordering of discontinuance of use, etc., of marking, labeling, etc., deemed false or misleading by commissioner and appeals therefrom.

(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 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, which label shall state that the contents thereof have been "Alabama inspected and passed" under the provisions of 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 the provisions of 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 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 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 insure that the same are not misbranded in contemplation of subdivision (13) of Section 2-17-1.

(c) The commissioner, whenever he 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.

(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 may direct that such use be discontinued or 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 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 by him. Any such determination by the commissioner shall be conclusive unless, within 30 days after receipt of notice of such final determination, the person, firm or corporation adversely affected thereby files a complaint in the circuit court of the county wherein the person, firm or corporation so using such questioned marking, labeling or container resides or has his or its principal place of business, and such 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, thereupon, to take testimony and examine into the facts of the case and to determine, without the intervention of a jury, whether or not such 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 such determination shall, in the absence of fraud, corruption, bad faith or gross abuse of discretion, be final.

(Acts 1969, No. 1049, p. 1939, §7; Acts 1971, No. 2252, p. 3622, §4.)