Ninth Circuit Affirms Invalidation of California Slack-Fill Law as Applied to Meat and Poultry Products

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s decision
that California cannot enforce its statute regulating the empty space
between a product and its packaging against producers of meat and
poultry products, finding that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)
and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) preempt the statute. Del
Real v. Harris, No. 13-16893 (9th Cir., order entered February 12, 2016).

California Attorney General Kamala Harris appealed a district court’s
permanent injunction barring enforcement of the slack-fill law against
Del Real, which produces heat-and-serve meat and poultry products.
The appeals court’s opinion cites precedent interpreting the FMIA and
PPIA as creating a uniform national labeling standard. “When the FMIA
and PPIA’s express preemption clauses are read in light of Congress’s
concern for uniformity and a lesser level of regulation, it is unlikely that
Congress intended for the states to be allowed to develop and apply a
more specific standard for slack fill when the Secretary [of Agriculture] has not yet done so,” the court held, noting that the opinion “should not
be read to prevent California from exercising its concurrent authority
under both the FMIA and PPIA to address misleading packaging of meat
and poultry products.”

Issue 595