Section 26-2-107. Labeling of meat, meat food products, and carcasses; standards and definitions; use of false or misleading labels or containers

   (a) When any meat or meat food product which has been inspected as provided for in Code Sections 26-2-102 through 26-2-106, and marked as "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 article is maintained, the person, firm, or corporation preparing said product shall attach a label 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 "Inspected and Passed" under this article. No inspection and examination of meat or meat food products deposited or enclosed in cans, tins, pots, canvas, or other receptacles or coverings in any establishment where inspection under this article is maintained shall be deemed to be complete until such meat or meat 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 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 may require, the information required under paragraph (13) of Code Section 26-2-62.

(c) The Commissioner, whenever he determines such action is necessary for the protection of the public, may prescribe 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 part or to Part 4 of this article; definitions and standards of identity or composition for articles subject to this part 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 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 part shall be sold or offered for sale by any person, firm, or corporation under any name or other marking or labeling which is false or misleading, or in any container of a misleading form or size. 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 part 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 Commissioner, such 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. Any hearing conducted pursuant to this subsection shall be in accordance with Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act."

Ga. L. 1969, p. 1028, § 7.