Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
The label for any pet food distributed within commonwealth,
must comply with the following:
(1)
The quantity statement and product name must be shown on the principal display
panel. All other required information may be placed elsewhere on the label but
shall be sufficiently conspicuous as to render it easily read by the average
purchaser under ordinary conditions of purchase and sale.
(2) The quantity statement shall be made in
conformity with the United States "Fair Packaging and Labeling Act" and the
regulations promulgated thereunder.
(3) The information required to appear in the
"Guaranteed Analysis" shall be listed in the following order:
(a) Crude protein (Minimum
Percentage);
(b) Crude fat (Minimum
Percentage);
(c) Crude fiber
(Maximum Percentage);
(d) Moisture
(Maximum Percentage); and
(e)
Additional guarantees shall follow moisture.
(4) The label shall specify the name and
address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor of the pet food. The
statement of the place of business should include the street address, if any,
of such place. If a person manufactures, packages, or distributes a pet food in
a place other than his principal place of business, the label may state the
principal place of business in lieu of the actual place where each package of
such pet food was manufactured or packaged or is to be distributed, if such
statement is not misleading in any particular.
(5) When a pet food is enclosed in any outer
container or wrapper which is intended for retail sale, all required label
information must appear on such outside container or wrapper.
(6) The words "Dog Food", "Cat Food", or
similar designations must appear conspicuously upon the principal display
panels of the pet food labels.
(7)
The label of a dog or cat food shall bear, on either the principal display
panel or information panel, in type of a size comparable to the largest type on
the panel, a statement of the nutritional adequacy or purpose of the product.
Such statement shall consist of one of the following:
(a) A Claim that the pet food meets the
requirements of one or more of the recognized categories of nutritional
adequacy: gestation, lactation, growth, maintenance, and is complete for all
life stages. The claim shall be stated as one of the following:
1. (Name of Product) is Formulated to meet
the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog or Cat Nutrient Profiles
for_______________ .
2. Animal
feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that (Name of Product)
provides complete and balanced nutrition for ___________.
(b) A nutrition or dietary claim for purposes
other than those listed in 13.03 (7)(a) if the claim is scientifically
substantiated.
(c) The statement:
"this product is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only," if a
product does not meet either the requirements of 330 CMR 13.03(10)(f) or any
other special nutritional or dietary need and so is suitable only for limited
or intermittent or supplementary feeding.
(d) The statement: "Use only as directed by
your veterinarian", if it is a pet food product intended for use by, or under
the supervision or direction of a veterinarian and shall make a statement in
accordance with 330 CMR 13.03(7)(a) or (c).
(8) Dog and cat foods labeled as complete and
balanced for any or all life's stages as provided in 330 CMR 13.03(7)(a) except
those pet foods labeled in accordance with 330 CMR 13.03(7)(d) shall list
feeding directions on the product label. These directions shall be expressed in
common terms and shall appear prominently on the label. Feeding directions
shall, at a minimum state "Feed (weight/unit of product) per (weight unit) of
dog (or cat)".
(9) Unless the pet
food product meets the requirements of 330 CMR 13.03(7)(c) and (d), any label
of pet food product which is suitable only for intermittent or supplemental
feeding or for some other limited purpose must bear a clear and conspicuous
disclosure to that effect or contain specific feeding directions which clearly
state that the product should be used only in conjunction with other
foods.
(10) No label shall contain
any misleading statement and must comply with the following:
(a) A vignette, graphic, or pictorial
representation of a product on a pet food label shall not misrepresent the
contents of that package.
(b) The
use of the word "proven" in connection with label claims for a pet food is not
allowed unless scientific or other empirical evidence establishing the claim
represented as "proven" is available.
(c) No statement shall appear upon the label
of a pet food which makes false or misleading comparisons between that pet food
and any other pet food.
(d) Persons
or commercial endorsements are permitted on pet food labels where said
endorsements are factual and not otherwise misleading.
(e) The use of the word "complete" on pet
food labels shall be restricted to those products that are nutritionally
adequate and compounded by a specific formula to be fed as sole ration and
capable of maintaining life and/or promoting normal reproduction in healthy
pets without any additional substances being required except water.
(f) No unqualified representation or claim,
directly or indirectly, shall be made that the pet food is or meets the
requisites of a complete, perfect, scientific or balanced ration for dogs or
cats unless the food:
1. Contains ingredients
in quantities sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements for all lifestages
established by the AAFCO Dog or Cat Food Nutrient Profiles, or some other
AAFCO-recognized authority on animal nutrition; or,
2. Contains a combination of ingredients
which when fed to a normal animal as the only source of nourishment in
accordance with the testing procedures established by AAFCO, meets the criteria
of such testing procedures for all life stages.
(g) Products which are compounded for or
which are suitable for only a limited purpose (
i.e., a product
designed for the feeding of puppies) may contain representations that the pet
food is or meets the requisites of a complete, perfect, scientific or balanced
ration for dogs or cats only:
1. In
conjunction with a statement of a limited purpose for which the product in
intended or suitable (for example, in the statement a complete food for
puppies). Such representations and qualification shall be juxtaposed on the
same panel and in the same size, style and color print; and
2. Such qualified representations may appear
on pet food labels only if the pet food contains ingredients in quantities
sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements established by the AAFCO Dog and
Cat Food Nutrient Profiles or some other AAFCO-recognized authority on animal
nutrition, for such limited or qualified purpose; or contains a combination of
ingredients which when fed for such limited purpose satisfies the nutrient
requirements for such limited purpose and has had its capabilities in this
regard demonstrated by adequate testing.
(h) The name of any ingredient which appears
on the label other than in the product name shall not be given undue emphasis
so as to create the impression that such an ingredient is present in the
product in a larger amount than is the fact, shall constitute at least 3% of
the total ingredients (exclusive of water sufficient for processing) when
preceded by the designation "with" or like term, shall be in the same size,
style and color print and if the names of more than one such ingredient are
shown, they shall appear in the order of their respective predominance by
weight in the product.
(i) The use
of claims on pet food labels stating improvement or newness shall be
sufficiently substantiated by the manufacturer and limited to six months of
production. The use of claims stating reference or comparative attribute claims
shall be sufficiently substantiated by the manufacturer and limited to one year
production after which the claim must be removed or resubstantiated.
