SECTIONS 38951-38956 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 38951-38956

38951. Any person or association or corporation engaged in the
manufacture, sale, or distribution of products resembling milk
products shall label such products in accordance with the provisions
of this article and with regulations which shall be adopted by the
director. The labels may be submitted to the director for approval.

38952. Each container which contains a product resembling a milk
product, shall be labeled with the name and address of the
manufacturer or distributor, and in the event the address is not the
address of the manufacturer or final packaging plant, the label shall
include the national uniform federal information processing
standards state code number to be immediately followed by a hyphen
and the plant number assigned by the appropriate state regulatory
agency. The list of ingredients of any product resembling a milk
product shall be immediately preceded by the product name, such as
"Imitation ____," "Nondairy Product," "Filled Product," or any other
applicable term the director has established for the products by
regulation. In addition, the director may, by regulation, require any
other information to be included on the label which the director
determines to be in the public interest.

38952.5. Any product labeled as a "nondairy product" and containing
one or more ingredients derived from milk shall clearly indicate
upon such label, in a manner established by the director through
regulation, which ingredients are milk derivatives.

38953. An imitation milk product, the composition and physical
characteristics of which closely resemble those of a milk product or
a specified variety of a milk product may be labeled "imitation,"
followed by the name of the milk product imitated; for example,
"imitation milk," "imitation coffee cream," "imitation cheddar
cheese."
An imitation milk product, the composition and physical
characteristics of which do not closely resemble those of a milk
product or a defined variety of a milk product shall be labeled as
"imitation" or "filled" or by any other term approved by the
director, followed by a term which generally describes that category
of milk product; for example, "imitation milk product," "imitation
cream product," "imitation cheese product."

38954. Labels or products resembling milk products may contain
references and comparisons of the products with milk products as long
as such statements are reasonable, relevant, truthful, complete, and
not deceptive or misleading. The director may require satisfactory
proof of the compliance of any statement with the provisions of this
section.

38955. On the labels of imitation milk products the use of pictures
and symbols depicting dairy or agricultural activities, or
associating the product with such activities, and use of dairy or
agricultural terms or words, or derivations or cognates thereof,
shall be subject to restriction or prohibition by the director by
regulation. The basis for such regulations shall be the degree to
which such symbols or words make or fail to make a significant
contribution to a truthful and complete representation of the
product, or appear to be likely to be deceptive and misleading to the
purchaser.

38956. Nondairy product containers and labels shall not contain any
combination of words, symbols, marks, designs, or representations
commonly used or associated with the sale, advertising, or
distribution of milk products. The labels shall not contain
statements regarding milk products except those permitted by Section
38954 and any necessary factual statement regarding any ingredient
milk products.