Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 21a - Consumer Protection › 100 - Labeling of Cuts of Meat Sold by Food Establishments › Section 21a-100-5 - Labeling requirements

Current through July 10, 2024
(a) No food
			 establishment shall produce, prepare, package, advertise, sell, or offer for
			 sale any meat unless it is clearly and conspicuously labeled or advertised as
			 the case may be, as to its true name. The labeling or advertising shall also
			 state whether the product is boneless or whether it has the bone-in.
(b) Fanciful names, such as "His and Her
			 Steak," "Chicken Steak," and "Chicken Roast," are prohibited.
(c) A name in addition to the true name may
			 be used, provided that such name is not false, misleading, deceptive, or
			 confusing in any way. Any such additional name shall appropriately describe the
			 cut of meat to which it refers or the use to which such cut is put or its
			 method of preparation. Examples of permissible additional names include "Pot
			 Roast," "Oven Roast," "Delmonico Steak," "Cube Steak," "Sandwich Steak," "Steak
			 for Swissing," and "Beef Chuck for London Broil."
(d) Whenever a name in addition to the true
			 name is used, the true name shall appear contiguous to the additional name in
			 at least the same size of type and style of lettering and on the same
			 background as the additional name. For example:
SANDWICH STEAK - BEEF ROUND
(e) Whenever a name in addition to the true
			 name is used orally in a radio or television advertisement, an immediate
			 reference shall be made to the true name of the cut of meat being
			 advertised.
(f) The true name need
			 not be included in the labeling or advertising of bacon, club steaks, Delmonico
			 steaks, filet mignon, and other cuts of meat specifically defined in Section IV
			 of these regulations, provided that, the meat is clearly and conspicuously
			 labeled or advertised as to its name as defined in these regulations.
(g) Meat food products, such as chili con
			 carne, hash, meat stews, spaghetti sauces, deviled ham, bologna, and
			 frankfurters, need not be identified with their true name, provided that, in
			 the case of any of these products, it complies with the labeling standards
			 prescribed in Section XV of the Connecticut Meat and Poultry Products
			 Inspection Act.
(h) Grading terms
			 may not be used in the labeling or advertising of meat unless the carcass or
			 part thereof from which such meat is derived has been so marked by the U.S.
			 Department of Agriculture. No qualifying words may be used with an official
			 U.S. grade. Grading terms, such as "prime" or "choice," shall not be used in
			 the labeling or advertising of pork.
(i) If a grading term other than "prime" or
			 "choice" is used in labeling or advertising meat, the grading term used must
			 appear contiguous to the true name of such meat and be at least equal in size
			 and as prominent as the true name. "Packer graded" meat shall be so described
			 if the packer name is used to indicate grade or quality.
(j) Qualifying statements, such as
			 "water-added" or "chopped, shaped and cubed," shall be contiguous to the
			 product name, not less than two-thirds of the size, and in the same style type
			 as the product name.
(k) The term
			 "larding" or "fat added" means the addition of fat in a uniform layer not more
			 than ¼ inch in thickness surrounding the exterior of a roast with a
			 thickness of not more than ¼ inch of fat in any portion thereof. If a
			 piece of meat is larded, it shall contain the name thereof, the true name of
			 the meat with the words "fat added" contiguous to the true name and not less
			 than ? of the size in the same style lettering as the true name. The fat shall
			 be fat from the same species of animal as the meat to which it is
			 added.
(l) The term "steak" when
			 used in conjunction with meat shall mean the whole portion of meat as removed
			 from the carcass. Ground or chopped meat shall not be labeled as
			 steak.
(m) The term "hanging
			 tender" means meat derived from the thick muscular dorsal attachment (pillar)
			 of the diaphragm of cattle. Whenever such meat is labeled or advertised for
			 sale at retail, the term "hanging tender" and only such term shall be used in
			 said labeling or advertising and then only if used in conjunction with the term
			 "pillar of diaphragm."
(n) For pork
			 chops, the true name shall consist of one of the following primal sources:
			 shoulder or blade, rib, loin, center, or loin end or sirloin. When a quarter
			 loin is cut into chops and sold in a combination pack or family pack, the label
			 shall specify the number of center cut pork chops and the number of end cut
			 pork chops included in the package.