CHAPTER 3. General Requirements [32901. - 32921.]

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC 3.

in effect

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32901. Section 32901.

It is unlawful for any person to sell, give away, deliver, or knowingly purchase or receive any milk, cream, product of milk or cream, imitation milk, imitation cream, product resembling a milk product, or any substitute for any milk product which does not conform to the standards which are established by this division. It is unlawful for any person to sell, give away, deliver, or knowingly purchase or receive as, or for, milk or cream any product which is prepared or manufactured by the mixing or blending of milk, skim milk, or any of the derivatives of milk or skim milk, with butter.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32902. Section 32902.

It is unlawful for any person to sell, for human consumption as cow’s milk, any goat’s milk or any mixture of cow’s milk and goat’s milk. It is unlawful for any person to sell for human consumption as goat’s milk, any cow’s milk or any mixture of goat’s milk and cow’s milk.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32903. Section 32903.

It is unlawful for any person to sell any milk, or any product of milk, from cows or goats that have not negatively passed a tuberculin test applied regularly in accordance with regulations of the department by one of the following: (a) A veterinarian in the employ of the department. (b) A veterinarian of the United States Department of Agriculture. (c) A veterinarian approved by the department and accredited by the United States Department of Agriculture. In the case of cows or goats which are producing milk that is to be used as raw market milk, “tuberculin test applied regularly” means at least once annually.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32903.5. Section 32903.5.

It is unlawful for any person to sell any milk, or any product of milk, from cows or goats that are reactors to a brucellosis test applied in accordance with the law and regulations of the department.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32904. Section 32904.

If reacting animals are found they shall be removed from the herd immediately by the owner and kept separate and apart from other cattle or goats and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Part 2 (commencing with Section 9801) of Division 5.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32905. Section 32905.

Milk or any milk product may be sold in this state in the following cases: (a) If such milk or milk product was produced in a modified accredited or modified certified area or their equivalent within the United States. (b) If, in the case of any milk product which was produced in a foreign country, satisfactory evidence is presented which indicates its origin from nonreacting tuberculin or brucellosis tested animals.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32906. Section 32906.

It is unlawful for any person to sell, give away, or deliver, or to knowingly purchase or receive any impure, polluted, tainted, unclean, unwholesome, stale or adulterated milk or cream, or any product which is manufactured wholly or in part from such milk or cream.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32907. Section 32907.

It is unlawful for any person to sell, give away, deliver, or knowingly purchase or receive any milk or any product of milk which has been produced or handled in or by a dairy farm, milk products plant, carrier, store, or depot, that is in an insanitary condition.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32909. Section 32909.

It is unlawful for any person to produce, manufacture, prepare for sale, or sell any of the following: (a) Any milk, cream, or other product of milk to which has been added, or that contains, any compound of boron, salicylic acid, formaldehyde, or other preservative. (b) Any milk or product of milk, except as otherwise provided in this division, to which has been added any coloring matter or any gelatin or other substance. (c) This section does not prohibit the use of harmless coloring matter and common salt (chloride of sodium) in butter and cheese, the use of gelatin, sweetening, eggs or egg products, harmless coloring or flavoring, or edible stabilizer in the manufacture of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, or edible stabilizer or citric acid in the creaming mixture for cottage cheese, or lowfat cottage cheese, or the use of alkalies approved by the director, in the manufacture of butter, or the adjustment of the acidity of ice cream mix within the limits designated by the director. (d) Mixed tocopherols (vitamin E) or ascorbic palmitate (vitamin C), as approved by the director, may be added to UHT cream, UHT whipped cream, UHT cream topping, whipped cream, or cream topping, and buttermilk to protect and enhance the flavor of these products.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32910. Section 32910.

Except as otherwise provided in this division, it is unlawful for any person to manufacture or sell any milk, cream, skim milk, buttermilk, condensed or evaporated milk, powdered milk, condensed skim milk, or any of the fluid derivatives of any of them or any ice cream, ice milk, cheese, or any other milk product to which has been added any fat or oil, except milk fat, or the fat naturally contained in chocolate and not separated from it, either under the name of such products, articles, or the derivatives of them, or under any fictitious or trade name. The addition, however, to the products which are commonly known as condensed skim milk, condensed buttermilk, or semisolid buttermilk of not more than 5 percent of pure cod liver oil is not a violation of this section, if the product is sold for poultry or stock feed.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32911. Section 32911.

A person shall not efface, erase, cancel, or remove any mark, statement, or label which is required by this division, with intent to mislead, deceive, or to violate any provision of this division.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32912.5. Section 32912.5.

(a) The secretary shall enforce the labeling requirements established under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.) and Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations in the review of labels to be used in connection with advertising and retail sales of milk, frozen and cultured dairy products, cheese, and products resembling milk products and for all dairy products sold in the state. (b) Sample copies of all labels to be used in connection with advertising and consumer sales of milk, milk products, frozen desserts, cheeses, and products resembling milk products shall be submitted to the secretary for approval before the use of those labels. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or negate the standards of identity or compositional requirements for milk fat, milk solids-not-fat, or total milk solids for milk products defined in Sections 35784, 38181, 38191, 38211, and 38221.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32913. Section 32913.

A person shall not use the name of any such product, orally, printed, or written, in connection with the sale of any product or substance unless such product or substance conforms to the definitions and standards which are prescribed by this division.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32914. Section 32914.

A person shall not make or cause to be made any statement, oral, written, or printed, or make or print, or cause to be made or printed, any design, symbol, picture, or illustration in connection with the advertising or sale of any product, article, or compound which is defined in this division, which statement, design, symbol, picture, or illustration is false, deceptive, or misleading in any manner.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32915. Section 32915.

The labeling requirements of Sections 32912, 32913, and 32914 also apply to milk and cream which is sold in bulk to the wholesale trade and to milk and cream which is sold by any milk products plant for processing purposes. When any nonnutritive or artificial sweetener is added to any milk product or product resembling a milk product, the words “artificially sweetened” shall become a part of the name of the product, except milk products sweetened with sweeteners pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 36670) of Chapter 1 of Part 3.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32916. Section 32916.

All cream, skim milk, buttermilk, ice cream, butter, cheese, or other milk product which is sold, designated, or advertised as certified shall be conspicuously marked with the name of the commission which certifies it and certifies the milk from which such cream, skim milk, buttermilk, ice cream, butter, cheese and other milk product was obtained.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32917. Section 32917.

A person shall not render any statement or bill which shows the weight, grade, percentage of fat, amount of fat, solids not fat, bacteria count, price, or total amount paid, for milk or any milk product which is false, deceptive, or misleading in any particular.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32918. Section 32918.

Every vehicle from which any milk or milk product is regularly sold and marketed or peddled shall have the name of the distributor plainly lettered upon it in letters at least 3 inches high on both sides of such vehicle.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32919. Section 32919.

The director may by regulation require every distributor that delivers any packaged milk in fluid state to any agency of the United States government for resale for off-premises consumption to label the containers of such packaged milk, if practicable, with a conspicuous notice that the milk has been procured for use by such agency. The director may also require such additional notice regarding prohibition against resale of such packaged milk as he, under the circumstances, deems proper.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32920. Section 32920.

Any pasteurized milk or milk product, frozen dessert, cheese, or product resembling milk products shall be produced, distributed, or sold in accordance with the current good manufacturing practices set forth in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32920.5. Section 32920.5.

Any sanitary, sterilization, or pasteurization requirement relating to or affecting the production of raw milk for pasteurization or the processing, distribution, or sale of any pasteurized milk or pasteurized milk product, frozen dessert, cheese, or product resembling milk products, that is adopted by the secretary pursuant to this section, shall be in conformity with the “Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food” in Part 110 (commencing with Section 110.3) of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The secretary, after public hearing, may adopt regulations referencing sections or portions thereof, of the most current revision of the “Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance/Grade A Dry Milk Ordinance—Recommendations of the United States Public Health Service/Food and Drug Administration.”

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 32921. Section 32921.

The secretary may, by regulation, adopt official final action methods of testing for the determination of the components of milk and products of milk as required to meet a legal compositional requirement of this division.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026