OFFlCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable f&or&s W. CO% 

state Health Officer 

Auattn, %rms 

'Dear Sir: opiplon No. 04049 

Ref State Deal&h Citioer my'not 

require~labeling of foods so 

a8 to inalude the rmmt3.u 

thereof or a list of the ingrediants ooctainsd. 

reads: 

Your request for an oyfnion of this deprtmmt 

z... ". ~- -, *Pros tine to time; the State liealth 

..Otfioer ~has promulgated rules and.adopted 

standards for foods as authorized byEFri1:. _.,( ,~ :. 

,Statutes Vol. 1, Chaptor 3, Article 4433. 

"The,Federal lhureail of Anislal Industry 

vt Inspeot$on Serviae, by and through the 

. S. Seoretary of Agriculture, haa recerttly 

.adogted regulations concernin& the labeling 

of neat.and produets whioh affects a l&rga 

pro:?ortlon of the pack& industry, except 

that part of the industry pot under yederal 

inspection. 

"Ron-Federal Insyeoted lzaokers have 

.comulted me concening the advfeabllitg of 

prmul.gatinC re&etitns ainilar to those 

of the yede:al.Covermaent, nheroby Lnfomativc labeliu is raq;lirad without referenoe 

to adultontion or nlsbrandln+ Any regu1at:on gronulgated pursuant to this request 

~would require such labeling to include the 

fomula or list cf lfigrodients. 

Wrlninal Statutes Title 12: Ch%ctor 2; 

f,rtlcle 70:: deals with the lzbelrng of foods 

. c 

. 
Honorable Oyzge 98. Coz, Page S 

and art&, In order to be consistent with 

the law, it would be naoaesary that any rullnr: adocted 'by the State Health OtflOer in 

raiieren~e to the labal.iry of foods coz~ply 

with the provfeions of that Artiale. The 

question arises aa to whether any regulatloa 

~~~~atedbymerequiringlab~~asa3ws 

,stated would'be ooasistent with the law whea 

taking Into coasideration Article 7OS, whioh 

reads~npartaefollow8t 'Nothing in thl+ 

law shall be oormtrued as raqulrlng proprie- 

: tars or nkamafaoturers of proprietary fooda 

which aontain no unwho~esaaa added lngredients to disolosa their trade formulas ex- 

: cept in sa far as the provisloas of this law 

raquire to seoum:‘freedpan from adulteration 

or mlsbrantllng.~ .I 

Will you please advise me upon this 

j?~ 

question, eiaoe any effort upon my part to 

require this ty;le of labeling would neo- 

$.:1. ,, 

- .~ .I: F;- essarily entail considerable expesse to the 

.._, ~*- : T: ~lndustry,* ._ .;_ 

-. 

Article 4400, RCN~BCJ~ Civil Statutes,'arovides Ln. 

part thst then State Realth OfSlo~r or an agent within .hia 

Repastv.e;lt subdect to the control of the iieslth Officar vzayr 

"2. Rake, pubgish and eatorcte rules 

aosslstsnt with this law, and adopt standards for foods, food.produota, beverages, 

dru$%, ate. . . T" . 

ArtLola 4471 Revised Civil Statutes, deals with 

the aduloeratlon and n~ebrand@g of foods and drugs; 

Article &72, Revised Civil Statutes; reads: 

*The term *adulterated* anO *nisbraaded*, 

as used In t&is chapter, shall be held to have 

tta same naaiking as is :;lven those terms in 

chapter two of tlt1e.M of the ?etal Code.* 

Artlolo 7c17 of the PerrdL Code defines in detail the 

tarn %vdulteratedv. 
,.! i. 

-I 1.,.) (. , i 

- . 

. 

Honorable tiorge IV, Cor,'Paga 9 

. 

Arti0le 708 or th4 Peaal c0a4, afir .dtaiaing; the 

term 'Mabranded", provide@: 

I9 . . . flotbiq i.? tbiti law ahall be OOLIatmed as~requlring proprietors or manuiactm 

a-s or proprietary roods whioh contain no unwholeeom added ingredients to disclose their 

trade formulas except in 80 rar as the provit3i0=~0r this law rsquire to 440~~4 freedom 

rraa adulteration or miabra+ng.W 

A careful oonsideration or these and other statutes 

dealing with the sower and authority of the StateHealtb Orriaor leads us to the conclusion that the Legislature of this 

State baa not vested you with ml4 makIng authority eurriaiently broad to sustain h: rule rsfiuiring the type or labeiling inquired about. \ 

Yours vary truly 

_ -. 

-,