2000 Minnesota Statutes

     31.103 Fair packaging and labeling provisions. 

    Subdivision 1.    Consumer commodities labeling rules.  
 All labels of consumer commodities must conform with the 
 requirements for the declaration of net quantity of contents of 
 section 4 of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (United States 
 Code, title 15, section 1451 et seq.) and federal regulations in 
 effect on April 1, 2000, adopted under authority of that act, 
 except to the extent that the commissioner amends the rules 
 under chapter 14.  Consumer commodities exempted from the 
 requirements of section 4 of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act 
 are also exempt from this subdivision.  

    Subd. 2.  The label of any package of a consumer commodity 
 which bears a representation as to the number of servings of 
 such commodity contained in such package shall bear a statement 
 of the net quantity (in terms of weight, measure, or numerical 
 count) of each such serving.  

    Subd. 3.  No person shall distribute or cause to be 
 distributed in commerce any packaged consumer commodity if any 
 qualifying words or phrases appear in conjunction with the 
 separate statement of net quantity of contents required by 
 subdivision 1, but nothing in this section shall prohibit 
 supplemental statements, at other places on the package, 
 describing in nondeceptive terms the net quantity of contents; 
 provided, that such supplemental statements of net quantity of 
 contents shall not include any term qualifying a unit of weight, 
 measure, or count that tends to exaggerate the amount of the 
 commodity contained in the package.  

    Subd. 4.  Whenever the commissioner determines that rules 
 containing prohibitions or requirements other than those 
 prescribed by subdivision 1, are necessary to prevent the 
 deception of consumers or to facilitate value comparisons as to 
 any consumer commodity, the commissioner shall promulgate, with 
 respect to that commodity, rules effective to: 

    (a) Establish and define standards for the characterization 
 of the size of a package enclosing any consumer commodity, which 
 may be used to supplement the label statement of net quantity of 
 contents of packages containing such commodity, but this 
 paragraph shall not be construed as authorizing any limitation 
 on the size, shape, weight, dimensions, or number of packages 
 which may be used to enclose any commodity; 

    (b) Regulate the placement upon any package containing any 
 commodity, or upon any label affixed to such commodity, of any 
 printed matter stating or representing by implication that such 
 commodity is offered for retail sale at a price lower than the 
 ordinary and customary retail sale price or that a retail sale 
 price advantage is accorded to purchasers thereof by reason of 
 the size of that package or the quantity of its contents; 

    (c) Require that the label on each package of a consumer 
 commodity bear the common or usual name of such consumer 
 commodity, if any, and, in case such consumer commodity consists 
 of two or more ingredients, the common or usual name of each 
 such ingredient listed in order of decreasing predominance, but 
 nothing in this clause shall be deemed to require that any trade 
 secret be divulged; or 

    (d) Prevent the nonfunctional slack-fill of packages 
 containing consumer commodities.  

    For the purposes of clause (d), a package shall be deemed 
 to be nonfunctionally slack-filled if it is filled to 
 substantially less than its capacity for reasons other than 
 protection of the contents of such package or the requirements 
 of machines used for enclosing the contents in such package.  

    HIST: 1974 c 84 s 28; 1975 c 412 s 16; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 
 444; 1989 c 350 art 11 s 3; 1994 c 571 s 3; 1997 c 220 s 3; 2000 
 c 477 s 29