Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) No product, and
no container thereof, shall be labeled with any false or deceptive name but
established trade names which are usual to such articles and are not false or
deceptive and which have been approved by the commissioner may be
used.
(b) No statement, word,
picture, design, or device, which is false or misleading in any particular or
conveys any false impression or gives any false indication of origin, identity,
or quality, shall appear on any label. For example:
(1) Official grade designations such as the
letter grades A, B, and C may be used in labeling individual carcasses of
poultry and consumer packages of poultry and poultry products only if such
poultry has been graded by a licensed grader of the Federal or Federal-State
poultry grading service.
(2) Terms
having geographical significance with reference to a particular locality may be
used only when the product was produced in that locality.
(3) Terms, such as "baby", may be used to
indicate immaturity of poultry which is marketed earlier than the usual
marketing age: provided, that such terms are printed in a style and size of
type no larger than is used to indicate the name of the
product.
(c) Poultry
products which have been treated with compounds to retard spoilage shall be
labeled to indicate such treatment.
(d) The terminology specified in paragraphs
(1) through (10) of this subdivision are applicable to parts of poultry cut in
the manner described therein.
(1)
Breasts shall be separated from the back at the shoulder joint
and by a cut running backward and downward from that point along the junction
of the vertebral and sternal ribs. The ribs may be removed from the breasts,
and the breasts may be cut along the breast bone to make two approximately
equal halves; or the wishbone portion, as described in paragraph (3) of this
subdivision, may be removed before cutting the remainder along the breast bone
to make three parts. Pieces cut in this manner may be substituted for lighter
or heavier pieces for exact weight-making purposes and the package may contain
two or more of such parts without affecting the appropriateness of the labeling
as "chicken breasts". Neck skin shall not be included with the
breasts.
(2)
Breasts with
ribs shall be separated from the back at the junction of the vertebral
ribs and back. Breasts with ribs may be cut along the breast bone to make two
approximately equal halves; or the wishbone portion, as described in paragraph
(3) of this subdivision, may be removed before cutting the remainder along the
breast bone to make three parts. Pieces cut in this manner may be substituted
for lighter or heavier pieces for exact weight-making purposes and the package
may contain two or more of such parts without affecting the appropriateness of
the labeling as "breasts with ribs". Neck skin shall not be included.
(3)
Wishbones (pulley
bones), with covering muscle and skin tissue, shall be severed from the breast
approximately halfway between the end of the wishbone (hypocledium) and front
point of the breast bone (cranial process of the sternal crest) to a point
where the wishbone joins the shoulder. Neck skin shall not be included with the
wishbone.
(4)
Drumsticks shall be separated from the thigh by a cut through
the knee joint (femorotibial and patellar joint) and from the hock joint
(tarsal joint).
(5)
Thighs shall be disjointed at the hip joint and may include
the pelvic meat, but shall not include the pelvic bones. Back skin shall not be
included.
(6)
Legs
shall include the whole leg, i.e., the thigh and the
drumstick, whether jointed or disjointed. Back skin shall not be
included.
(7)
Wings shall include the entire wing with all muscle and skin
tissue intact, except that the wing tip may be removed.
(8)
Backs shall include the
pelvic bones and all the vertebrae posterior to the shoulder joint. The meat
shall not be peeled from the pelvic bones. The vertebral ribs and/or scapula
may be removed or included without affecting the appropriateness of the title.
Skin shall be substantially intact.
(9)
Stripped backs shall
include the vertebrae from the shoulder joint to the tail, and include the
pelvic bones. The meat may be stripped off of the pelvic bones.
(10)
Necks, with or without
neck skin, shall be separated from the carcass at the shoulder joint.
(11) Parts of poultry may be cut in any
manner the processor desires as long as the labeling appropriately reflects the
contents of the container of such poultry.
(e) The name of the product required to be
shown on labels for fresh or frozen raw whole carcasses of poultry shall be in
either of the following forms: The name of the kind (such as chicken, turkey,
or duck) preceded by the qualifying term "young" or "mature" or "old",
whichever is appropriate; or the appropriate class name as described in
subdivision (f) of this section. The name of the kind may be used in addition
to the class name, but the name of the kind alone without the qualifying age or
class term is not acceptable as the name of the product. The class name may be
appropriately modified by changing the word form such as using the term
"roasting chicken", rather than "roaster". The name "chicken" may be used
without qualification with respect to a ready-to-cook pack of fresh or frozen
cut-up young chickens, or a half of a young chicken, and the name "duckling"
may be used without qualification with respect to a ready-to-cook pack of fresh
or frozen young ducks. The appropriate names for cut-up parts are set forth in
subdivision (d) of this section. When naming parts cut from young poultry, the
identity of both the kind of poultry and the name of the part shall be included
in the product name. The product name for parts or portions cut from mature
poultry shall include, along with the part or portion name, the class name or
the qualifying term "mature". The name of the product for cooked or heat
processed poultry products shall include the kind name of the poultry from
which the product was prepared.
(f)
The appropriate class names for the various kinds of poultry are as follows:
(1) Chickens.
(i) Rock Cornish game hen or Cornish game
hen. A Rock Cornish game hen or Cornish game hen is a young immature chicken
(usually five to six weeks of age) weighing not more than two pounds
ready-to-cook weight, which was prepared from a Cornish chicken or the progeny
of a Cornish chicken crossed with another breed of chicken.
(ii) Broiler or fryer. A broiler or fryer is
a young chicken (usually nine to 12 weeks of age), of either sex, that is
tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin and flexible breastbone
cartilage.
(iii) Roaster. A roaster
is a young chicken (usually three to five months of age), of either sex, that
is tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin and breastbone
cartilage that may be somewhat less flexible than that of a broiler or
fryer.
(iv) Capon. A capon is a
surgically unsexed male chicken (usually under eight months of age) that is
tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin.
(v) [Reserved]
(vi) Stag. A stag is a male chicken (usually
under 10 months of age) with coarse skin, somewhat toughened and darkened
flesh, and considerable hardening of the breastbone cartilage. Stags show a
condition of fleshing and a degree of maturity intermediate between that of a
roaster and a cock or old rooster.
(vii) Hen or stewing chicken or fowl. A hen
or stewing chicken or fowl is a mature female chicken (usually more than 10
months of age) with meat less tender than that of a roaster, and non-flexible
breastbone tip.
(viii) Cock or
rooster. A cock or rooster is a mature male chicken with coarse skin, toughened
and darkened meat; and hardened breastbone tip.
(2) Turkeys.
(i) Fryer-roaster turkey. A fryer-roaster
turkey is a young immature turkey (usually under 16 weeks of age), of either
sex, that is tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin, and
flexible breastbone cartilage.
(ii)
Young hen turkey. A young hen turkey is a young female turkey (usually five to
seven months of age) that is tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured
skin, and breastbone cartilage that is somewhat less flexible than in a
fryer-roaster turkey.
(iii) Young
tom turkey. A young tom turkey is a young male turkey (usually five to seven
months of age), that is tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin,
and breastbone cartilage that is somewhat less flexible than in a fryer-roaster
turkey.
(iv) Yearling hen turkey. A
yearling hen turkey is a fully matured female turkey (usually under 15 months
of age), that is reasonably tender-meated and with reasonably smooth-textured
skin.
(v) Yearling tom turkey. A
yearling tom turkey is a fully matured male turkey (usually under 15 months of
age), that is reasonably tender-meated and with reasonably smooth-textured
skin.
(vi) Mature turkey or old
turkey (hen or tom). A mature or old turkey is an old turkey of either sex
(usually in excess of 15 months of age) with coarse skin and toughened
flesh.
(3) Ducks.
(i) Broiler ducking or fryer duckling. A
broiler duckling or fryer duckling is a young duck (usually under eight weeks
of age), of either sex, that is tender-meated and has a soft bill and soft
windpipe.
(ii) Roaster duckling. A
roaster duckling is a young duck (usually under 16 weeks of age), of either
sex, that is tender-meated and has a bill that is not completely hardened and a
windpipe that is easily dented.
(iii) Mature duck or old duck. A mature duck
or an old duck is a duck (usually over six months of age), of either sex, with
toughened flesh, hardened bill, and hardened windpipe.
(4) Geese.
(i) Young goose. A young goose may be of
either sex, is tender-meated, and has a windpipe that is easily
dented.
(ii) Mature goose or old
goose. A mature goose or old goose may be of either sex and has toughened flesh
and hardened windpipe.
(5) Guineas.
(i) Young guinea. A young guinea may be of
either sex, is tender-meated, and has a flexible breastbone
cartilage.
(ii) Mature guinea or
old guinea. A mature guinea or an old guinea may be of either sex, has
toughened flesh, and a hardened breastbone.
(g) Boneless poultry products shall be
labeled in a manner that accurately describes their actual form and
composition. The product name shall specify the form of the product
(e.g., emulsified, finely chopped, etc.), and the kind name of
the poultry, and if the product does not consist of natural proportions of
meat, skin, and fat, as they occur in the whole carcass, shall also include
terminology that describes the actual composition. If the product is cooked, it
shall be so labeled. Boneless poultry product shall not have a bone content of
more than one percent, on a raw weight basis. For the purpose of this Part,
natural proportions of skin, as found on a whole carcass, will be considered to
be as follows:
|
Raw |
Cooked |
|
Percent |
| Chicken ....... |
20 |
25 |
| Turkey ....... |
15 |
20 |
