Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics
  4. Standards, Labeling, and Adulteration of Food
  5. Adulteration and Misbranding of Food
  6. Definitions

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  1. As used in this article, the term:
    1. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Agriculture.
    2. "Contaminated with filth" applies to any food not securely protected from dust, dirt, and, as far as may be necessary, by all reasonable means, from all foreign or injurious contamination.
    3. "Federal act" means the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Title 21 U.S.C. Section 301, et seq., 52 Stat. Section 1040, et seq.).
    4. "Food" means:
      1. Articles used for food or drink for human consumption;
      2. Chewing gum; and
      3. Articles used for components of any such articles.
    5. "Food sales establishment" means retail and wholesale grocery stores; retail seafood stores and places of business; food processing plants, except those food processing plants which are currently required to obtain a license from the Commissioner under any other provision of law; bakeries; confectioneries; fruit, nuts, and vegetable stores or roadside stands; wholesale sandwich and salad manufacturers, including vending machines and operations connected therewith; and places of business and similar establishments, mobile or permanent, engaged in the sale of food primarily for consumption off the premises. Within a food sales establishment, there may be a food service component, not separately operated, which may serve customers on site. This food service component shall be considered as part of the food sales establishment. This term shall not include:
      1. The food sales component of any food service establishment defined in Code Section 26-2-370;
      2. Food service establishments as defined in Code Section 26-2-370;
      3. Establishments engaged in the sale of food primarily for consumption off the premises if such sale is an authorized part of and occurs upon the site of a fair or festival which:
        1. Is sponsored by a political subdivision of this state; and
        2. Lasts 120 hours or less;
      4. Establishments engaged in the boiling, bottling, and sale of sugar cane syrup or sorghum syrup within this state, provided that such bottles contain a label listing the producer's name and street address, all added ingredients, and the net weight or volume of the product; or
      5. Nonprofit food sales and food service provided under a permit issued pursuant to Article 14 of this chapter.
    6. "Immediate container" does not include package liners.
    7. "Label" means a display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon the immediate container of any article; and a requirement made by or under the authority of this article that any word, statement, or other information appear on the label shall not be considered to be complied with unless each such word, statement, or other information also appears on the outside wrapper or container, if there is any, of the retail package of such article, or is easily legible through the outside container or wrapper.
    8. "Labeling" means all labels and other written, printed, or graphic matter upon an article or any of its containers or wrappers or accompanying such article.
    9. "Official compendium" means the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them.
    10. "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or association or any combination thereof.
  2. The provisions of this article regarding the selling of food shall be considered to include the manufacture, production, packaging, offer, exposure, possession, and holding of any such articles and the supplying or applying of any such articles in the conduct of any food establishment.

(Ga. L. 1956, p. 195, § 2; Ga. L. 1971, p. 66, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1174, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1220, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1558, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1072, § 1/SB 300; Ga. L. 2020, p. 808, § 1/SB 345.)

The 2012 amendment, effective July 1, 2012, in paragraph (a)(5), added the undesignated language following subparagraph (a)(5)(C).

The 2020 amendment, effective August 5, 2020, rewrote paragraph (a)(5), which read: "'Food sales establishment' means retail and wholesale grocery stores; retail seafood stores and places of business; food processing plants, except those food processing plants which are currently required to obtain a license from the Commissioner under any other provision of law; bakeries; confectioneries; fruit, nuts, and vegetable stores or roadside stands; wholesale sandwich and salad manufacturers, including vending machines and operations connected therewith; and places of business and similar establishments, mobile or permanent, engaged in the sale of food primarily for consumption off the premises. Within a food sales establishment, there may be a food service component, not separately operated, which may serve customers on site. This food service component shall be considered as part of the food sales establishment. The food sales component of any food service establishment defined in Code Section 26-2-370 shall not be included in this definition. This term shall not include 'food service establishments' as defined in Code Section 26-2-370. This term also shall not include establishments engaged in the sale of food primarily for consumption off the premises if such sale is an authorized part of and occurs upon the site of a fair or festival which:

"(A) Is sponsored by a political subdivision of this state or by an organization exempt from taxes under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 48-7-25 or under Section 501(d) or paragraphs (1) through (8) or paragraph (10) of Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, as that code is defined in Code Section 48-1-2;

"(B) Lasts 120 hours or less; and

"(C) When sponsored by such an organization, is authorized to be conducted pursuant to a permit issued by the municipality or county in which it is conducted.

"This term also shall not include establishments engaged in the boiling, bottling, and sale of sugar cane syrup or sorghum syrup within this state, provided that such bottles contain a label listing the producer's name and street address, all added ingredients, and the net weight or volume of the product."

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1992, "confectioneries" was substituted for "confectionaries" in the introductory language of paragraph (a)(5).

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, a comma was inserted in two places in paragraph (a)(3).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Beer, wine, and distilled spirits manufactured for beverage purposes are "food" within the meaning of Ga. L. 1956, p. 195, § 2 (see now O.C.G.A. Title 26, Chapter 2, Article 2) and establishments manufacturing such articles are subject to inspection by the Department of Agriculture for compliance with the sanitary requirements of those provisions. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-60.

State and federal alcohol labeling laws may supersede O.C.G.A. § 26-2-21. - Laws administered by the State Revenue Commissioner, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Food and Drug Administration, regarding the labeling of beer, wine, and distilled spirits may supersede certain other state statutory provisions of this title. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-60.

Label on package of meat, in order to comply with Ga. L. 1956, p. 195 (see now O.C.G.A. § 26-2-21), must contain the name and place of business of the specific establishment where the food is packaged; merely placing the name of a retail food chain and the home office city on a label would not comply with those provisions. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-98.

Food retailers with seating facilities subject to O.C.G.A. § 26-2-21. - Food sales establishments defined in Ga. L. 1956, p. 195 (see now O.C.G.A. § 26-2-21(a)(5)) providing seats and other conveniences within its premises for customers to use in eating food purchased in that store shall be subject to inspection as a "food service establishment," as defined in former Code 1933, § 88-1001 (see now O.C.G.A. § 26-2-370). 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-65.

Provisions of Ga. L. 1956, p. 195 (see now O.C.G.A. § 26-2-28) apply to bottled soft drinks. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 7.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 32 Am. Jur. 2d, False Pretenses, § 85. 35A Am. Jur. 2d, Food, §§ 23, 26. 37 Am. Jur. 2d, Fraud and Deceit, § 83.

C.J.S.

- 36A C.J.S., Food, §§ 1, 17, 43 et seq.

ALR.

- What is "food" within meaning of statute, 17 A.L.R. 1282.

Statutes or ordinances in relation to confectionery, 58 A.L.R. 293.

Provisions of statutes against misbranding or false labeling of food, drug, or cosmetic products, as applicable to literature other than that attached to product itself, 143 A.L.R. 1453.


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