(225 ILCS 650/13) (from Ch. 56 1/2, par. 313)

Sec. 13. Official inspection legend, marking and labeling.

(a) It is unlawful for any person except employees of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department or an authorized municipal inspection department to possess, use, or keep an inspection stamp, mark, or brand provided or used for stamping, marking, branding, or otherwise identifying carcasses of meat or poultry products, or to possess, use or keep any stamp, mark or brand having thereon a device, words, or insignia the same or similar in character or import to the stamps, marks, or brands provided or used by the United States Department of Agriculture, the State Department of Agriculture or any approved municipal inspection department for stamping, marking, branding or otherwise identifying the carcasses of meat or poultry or meat and poultry products or parts thereof intended for human food.

(b) When any meat or meat food product which has been inspected as provided in this Act and marked "Illinois Inspected and Passed" is placed or packed in an immediate container in any establishment where inspection under this Act is maintained, the person, firm, or corporation preparing the product shall attach a label as required to the immediate container under supervision of an inspector. The label shall state that the contents have been "Illinois Inspected and Passed" under this Act, and no inspection and examination of meat or meat food products or poultry or poultry food products deposited or enclosed in an immediate container in any establishment where inspection under this Act is maintained is complete until the meat or meat food products or poultry or poultry food products have been sealed or enclosed in an immediate container under the supervision of an inspector. At minimum, all amenable products derived from inspected meat, meat food products, poultry, or poultry food products shall bear a mark with an establishment name, owner/customer name, and handling statement.

(c) All carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat, meat food products, poultry, or poultry food products inspected at any establishment under the authority of this Act and found to be not adulterated shall at the time they leave the establishment bear in distinctly legible form, directly thereon or on their containers, as the Director may require, the information required under Section 2.20 of this Act.

(d) The styles and sizes of type to be used with respect to material required to be incorporated in labeling to avoid misbranding, false or misleading labeling of any articles subject to this Act, definitions and standards of identity or composition for articles subject to this Act, and standards of fill of containers for the articles shall be the standards as established under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

(e) No article subject to this Act shall be sold or offered for sale by any person, firm, or corporation under any name or other marking or labeling which is false or misleading, or in any container of a misleading form or size. Established product names and other marking and labeling and containers which are not false or misleading and which are approved by the Director are permitted.

(f) If the Director has reason to believe that any marking or labeling or the size or form of any container in use or proposed for use with respect to any article subject to this Act is false or misleading in any particular, he may direct that the use be withheld unless the marking, labeling, or container is modified in a manner as he may prescribe so that it will not be false or misleading. If the person, firm, or corporation using or proposing to use the marking, labeling, or container does not accept the determination of the Director, the person, firm, or corporation may request a hearing, but the use of the marking, labeling, or container shall, if the Director so directs, be withheld pending hearing and final determination by the Director. Any determination by the Director shall be conclusive unless within 30 days after receipt of notice of the final determination, the person, firm, or corporation adversely affected appeals to the appropriate authority.

(g) No person, firm, or corporation shall advertise for sale, solicit, offer to sell or sell meats or frozen foods intended for storage in locker boxes, home freezers or freezer units by newspapers, handbills, placards, radio, television or other medium unless the advertising is truthful and accurate. The advertising shall not be misleading or deceiving in respect to grade, quality, quantity, price per pound or piece, or in any other manner. For grade determination of meats, the grades shall conform with United States Department of Agriculture standards for designating meat grades and the standards of this Act.

No person advertising, offering for sale or selling any carcasses or parts thereof or food plan shall engage in any misleading or deceptive practices and particularly including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Bait selling.

(A) Disparage or degrade any product advertised or offered for sale by the seller, or display any product or depiction thereof to any buyer in order to induce the purchase of another product, or represent that a product is for sale when the representation is used primarily to sell another product.

(B) Substitute any product for that ordered by the buyer without the buyer's consent.

(C) Fail to have available a sufficient quantity of any product represented as being for sale to meet reasonably anticipated demands.

(2) Price representation.

(A) Use any price list related to the seller's food plan that contains prices other than the seller's current billing prices.

(B) Misrepresent the amount of money that the buyer will save on purchases of any products that are not of the same grade or quality.

(C) Fail to disclose fully and conspicuously in at least 10 point type any charge for cutting, wrapping, freezing, delivery or other services.

(D) Represent the price of any meat product to be offered for sale in bundles in units larger than one pound in terms other than price per single pound for meat products in at least 10 point type except when the advertisement or offer for sale pertains to containers of meat products weighing 15 pounds or less.

(3) Product representation.

(A) Misrepresent the cut, grade, brand or trade name, or weight or measure of any product.

(B) Use the abbreviation "U.S." in describing a product not graded by the United States Department of Agriculture, except that product may be described as "U.S. Inspected" when true.

(C) Misrepresent a product through the use of any term similar to a government grade.

(D) (Blank).

(E) Advertise or offer for sale any combinations of parts of carcasses with one unit price, except when the advertisement or offer for sale pertains to combinations consisting only of poultry or poultry products.

(F) Fail to disclose fully and conspicuously the correct government grade for any product if the product is represented as having been graded.

(G) Fail to disclose fully and conspicuously that the yield of consumable meat from any carcass or part of a carcass will be less than the weight of the carcass or part thereof. The seller shall, for each carcass or part of carcass advertised, use separately and distinctly (in at least 10 point type) the following disclosure: "Sold hanging weight subject to cutting loss".

(H) Misrepresent the amount or proportion of retail cuts that a carcass or part of carcass will yield.

(I) (Blank).

(J) Fail to disclose fully and conspicuously whether a quarter of a carcass is the front or hind quarter, and "quarters" or "sides" or "halves" must consist of only anatomically natural proportions of cuts from front or hind quarters. A "pre-trimmed side", "packer-trimmed side" or similar term describing part of a carcass shall not be represented as a side or quarter of beef, and the descriptions shall not be used for comparison to induce the sale of the product.

(K) Represent any part of a carcass as a "half" or "side" unless it consists exclusively of a front and hind quarter. Both quarters must be from the same side of the same animal unless the seller discloses fully and conspicuously that they are from different sides or different animals as the case may be. Each quarter shall be of the same grade or quality as the other quarters comprising the half or side and the seller shall advise the buyer of the weight of each quarter prior to sale. In selling quarters individually or as part of a half or side, if actual weights are not known or cannot be determined prior to sale, approximate weights may be used, provided the buyer is informed that the weights are approximate, the weights are so identified on any purchase order or contract, and the seller agrees with the buyer, in writing, to make a cash refund or grant a credit on delivery for the difference between actual weight and the approximate weight on which the sale was made.

(L) Use the words, "bundle", "sample order", "split side", or words of similar import to describe a quantity of meat or poultry unless the seller itemizes each cut and the weight thereof which the buyer will receive.

(M) Advertise or offer free, bonus, extra product, or service combined with or conditioned on the purchase of any other product or service unless the additional product or service is accurately described including, whenever applicable, grade, net weight or measure, type, and brand or trade name. The words "free", "bonus", or other words of similar import shall not be used in any advertisement unless the advertisement clearly and conspicuously sets forth the total price or amount that must be paid to entitle the buyer to the additional product or service.

(N) Misrepresent the breed, origin, or diet of slaughtered animals or parts thereof offered for sale. Sellers making these claims shall have written records available to substantiate the fact.

(Source: P.A. 91-170, eff. 1-1-00.)