AB 2632: Packaging and labeling: containers: slack fill.

Existing law, known as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, prohibits a commodities container, or a food container subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) from being made, formed, or filled as to be misleading and provides that a container that does not allow a consumer to fully view its contents is misleading if it contains nonfunctional slack fill. Existing law provides that nonfunctional slack fill is the empty space in a package that is filled to substantially less than its capacity for other than specified reasons. Existing law specifies 15 reasons a commodities container, and 6 reasons a food container subject to the FDCA, may contain slack fill without violating the prohibition. Existing law also provides that these state provisions regarding food containers are operative only to the extent they are identical to specified federal requirements.

Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, establishes the same prohibition against nonfunctional slack fill as described above for commodities containers subject to that law and specifies 14 reasons that a container may contain slack fill without violating the prohibition.

This bill would revise and recast one of the reasons nonfood containers may contain slack fill without violating the nonfunctional slack fill prohibition, and would also make this reason applicable to food containers subject to the FDCA. The bill would specify an additional reason containers subject to any of these provisions may contain slack fill without violating the nonfunctional slack fill prohibition.