Section 40. Labeling

Part V. Labeling

No person may produce, provide, manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or store in the Commonwealth or bring into, send into, or receive into the Commonwealth any milk, milk product, or condensed and dry milk product for use in the commercial preparation of grade A pasteurized, ultra-pasteurized, aseptically processed and packaged, or retort processed after packaged milk or milk products that are not labeled in compliance with the following:

1. Each grade A permit holder's bottles, containers, and packages enclosing any milk or milk products shall be labeled in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended; the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990, and regulations developed thereunder; and the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004;

2. The grade A permit holder shall label or mark all bottles, containers, and packages enclosing any milk or milk products with:

a. The name of a defined milk product, if there is a definition, and if there is no definition, a name that is not false or misleading;

b. The word "reconstituted" or "recombined" if the milk product is made by reconstitution or recombination;

c. The term "grade A" located on the exterior of the package on the principal display panel, the secondary or informational panel, or the cap or cover;

d. The identity of the plant where the grade A permit holder's milk or milk product is pasteurized, ultra-pasteurized, aseptically processed and packaged, or retort processed after packaged by specifying:

(1) The street address, city, state, and zip code of the plant; or

(2) The code assigned the plant under the National Uniform Coding System for Packaging Identification of Milk and Milk Product Processing Plants;

e. In the case of concentrated milk or concentrated milk products the volume or proportion of water to be added for recombining;

f. The name of the milk product that the concentrated milk product will produce, which name shall be preceded by the term "concentrated." In the case of flavored milk or flavored reconstituted milk, the grade A permit holder shall substitute the name of the principal flavor for the word "flavored";

g. In the case of aseptically processed and packaged milk and milk products or retort processed after packaged milk and milk products, the words "keep refrigerated after opening";

h. In the case of aseptically processed and packaged milk or milk products, the term "UHT" ultra-high-temperature;

i. The term "ultra-pasteurized" if the milk or milk product has been ultra-pasteurized;

j. The term "goat" preceding the name of the milk or milk product when the milk or milk product is goat milk or is made from goat milk;

k. The term "sheep" preceding the name of the milk or milk product when the milk or milk product is sheep milk or is made from sheep milk;

l. The term "water buffalo" preceding the name of the milk or milk product when the milk or milk product is water buffalo milk or is made from water buffalo milk;

m. As in the case of cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, and water buffalo's milk, the common or usual name of the mammal from which the milk was obtained shall precede the name of the milk, milk product, condensed milk, condensed milk product, dry milk, or dry milk product;

n. The information appearing on the label of any bottle, container, or package of milk or milk product shall contain no marks, pictures, graphics, endorsements, or words that are misleading;

o. The "pull date" shall not interfere with the legibility of other labeling required for the milk or milk product and shall be expressed by the first three letters in the name of the month, followed by or preceded by the numeral or numerals constituting the calendar date after which the product shall not be sold or expressed numerically by the number of the month followed by the number of the day. For example, June 1 shall be expressed "JUN 1," "1 JUN," "06 01," or "06-01";

p. The grade A permit holder who operates a milk plant and offers for sale milk or milk product within the Commonwealth shall file and certify with the State Regulatory Authority the maximum number of days after manufacturing or processing the grade A permit holder's milk or milk products that will be used to determine the "pull date." The grade A permit holder shall establish a "pull date" that under normal storage the milk or milk product meets for a minimum of 96 hours after the "pull date," standards set by this chapter;

q. No person may sell or offer for sale any packaged grade A pasteurized milk, grade A pasteurized milk product, or milk product after the date of the "pull date" on the package;

r. No person may sell or offer for sale any grade A pasteurized milk, grade A pasteurized milk product, or milk product in a package that does not bear the "pull date";

s. Nothing in this chapter shall apply to containers of grade A pasteurized milk, grade A milk products, or milk products that are not to be sold in the Commonwealth; and

t. In the case of condensed or dry milk products, the label shall also contain (i) the identity of the State Regulatory Authority issuing the processing plant's permit; (ii) the identity of the distributor if the condensed or dry milk products are distributed by a party other than the processing plant, the name and address of the distributor shall also be shown by a statement such as "distributed by"; (iii) the code or lot number identifying the contents with a specific date, run, or batch of the product; and (iv) a statement of the quantity of the contents of the container.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR115-05-01 § 4, eff. October 15, 1986; amended, Volume 03, Issue 10, eff. March 18, 1987; Volume 09, Issue 23, eff. September 8, 1993; Volume 23, Issue 20, eff. May 23, 2007; Volume 27, Issue 09, eff. December 10, 2010; Volume 31, Issue 12, eff. January 21, 2015.

Statutory Authority

§ 3.2-5206 of the Code of Virginia.