SUBCHAPTER H. FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING; FALSE ADVERTISING

Sec. 431.181. FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING. (a) All labels of consumer commodities, as defined by this chapter, shall conform with the requirements for the declaration of net quantity of contents of Section 4 of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; provided, that consumer commodities exempted from the requirements of Section 4 of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act shall also be exempt from this subsection.

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

(c) 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 the net quantity of contents required by Subsection (a), but nothing in this subsection shall prohibit supplemental statements at other places on the package describing in nondeceptive terms the net quantity of contents; provided, that the 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.

(d) Whenever the executive commissioner determines that rules containing prohibitions or requirements other than those prescribed by Subsection (a) are necessary to prevent the deception of consumers or to facilitate value comparisons as to any consumer commodity, the executive commissioner shall adopt with respect to that commodity rules effective to:

(1) 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 subdivision shall not be construed as authorizing any limitation on the size, shape, weight, dimensions, or number of packages that may be used to enclose any commodity;

(2) regulate the placement on any package containing any commodity, or on any label affixed to the 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;

(3) require that the label on each package of a consumer commodity (other than one which is a food within the meaning of Section 431.002) bear:

(A) the common or usual name of the consumer commodity, if any; and

(B) in case the consumer commodity consists of two or more ingredients, the common or usual name of each ingredient listed in order of decreasing predominance, but nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to require that any trade secret be divulged; or

(4) prevent the nonfunctional slack-fill of packages containing consumer commodities. For the purpose of this subdivision, a package shall be deemed to be nonfunctionally slack-filled if it is filled of substantially less than its capacity for reasons other than:

(A) protection of the contents of the package; or

(B) the requirements of the machine used for enclosing the contents in the package.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0976, eff. April 2, 2015.