Section 427:7 Labeling Requirements.
I. When any meat or meat food product prepared for intrastate commerce which has been inspected and marked ""New Hampshire 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 subdivision is maintained, the person, firm, or corporation preparing the product shall cause a label to be attached to said can, pot, tin, canvas, or other receptacle or covering, under supervision of an inspector. The label shall state that the contents have been ""New Hampshire inspected and passed'' under the provisions of this subdivision.
II. 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 the provisions of this subdivision 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.
III. All carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat and meat food products inspected at any establishment under the authority of this subdivision 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 RSA 427:2, XI.
IV. The commissioner, whenever he determines such action is necessary for the protection of the public, may by rule prescribe:
(a) 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 subdivision;
(b) Definitions and standards of identity or composition for articles subject to this subdivision 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.
V. No article subject to this subdivision 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.
VI. 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 subdivision 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 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 appeals to the superior court in compliance with RSA 541.
Source. 1985, 72:1, eff. July 1, 1985.