American Meat Institute v. Ball

• Decision Date: 31 August 1982
• Docket Number: No. G 75-39.,G 75-39.
• Citation: 550 F. Supp. 285
• Parties: AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE, Plaintiff, v. Dale B. BALL, Replaced by Dean M. Pridgeon, Director of the Department of Agriculture of the State of Michigan and Edward C. Heffron, Chief of the Food Inspection Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

550 F. Supp. 285

AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE, Plaintiff, v. Dale B. BALL, Replaced by Dean M. Pridgeon, Director of the Department of Agriculture of the State of Michigan and Edward C. Heffron, Chief of the Food Inspection Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Defendants.

No. G 75-39.

United States District Court, W.D. Michigan, S.D.

August 31, 1982.

J. Stanley Stroud, Washington, D.C., David VanderHaagen, Lansing, Mich., for plaintiff.

Henry J. Boynton, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lansing, Mich., for defendants.

John Smietanka, U.S. Atty., Grand Rapids, Mich., Ronald D. Cipolia, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Regulatory Div., Andrea Bateman, Regulatory Div., OGC, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., J. Paul McGrath, Asst. Atty. Gen., Dennis G. Linder, Branch Director, Theodore C. Hirt, Attys., Civ. Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae U.S.

OPINION

ENSLEN, District Judge.

Plaintiff, American Meat Institute, a national trade association of the meat packing industry, has charged that Section 4a of Michigan's Comminuted Meat Law, M.S.A. § 12.964(4.1) M.C.L.A. § 289.584a is unconstitutional.¹ AMI alleges that the placard requirement for certain comminuted meat products violates the Supremacy Clause by prescribing a labeling requirement that is "in addition to or different than" those specified in the Federal Meat Act, as amended by the Federal Wholesome Meat Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 601-678 and by effectively enforcing ingredient standards different from those provided by the Wholesome Meat Act. The Complaint also alleges that Michigan's Comminuted Meat Law discriminates against out-of-state meat processors and imposes an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause.

As Count I, the labeling issue, involved a question of law, I have previously dismissed that count by summary judgment on the basis that the information did not "accompany" the article for sale as there was no common origin or destination. (American Meat Institute v. Ball, No. G 75-39 (W.D. Mich. December 1, 1981.)) However, as material factual issues remained in dispute as to whether Michigan was merely protecting a legitimate state interest in a reasonable and non-burdensome way or whether the state had erected an impermissible commercial barrier, I denied summary judgment as it applied to violations of the Commerce Clause. Also, as the sale of products meeting the federal standards was not per se illegal under Michigan law, I concluded that determining whether the state had indirectly imposed an ingredient requirement in violation of federally preempted standards must await trial on the merits. (American Meat Institute v. Ball, 520 F.Supp. 929 (W.D.Mich.1981.))² Consequently, the evidence adduced at trial pertains primarily to the accuracy, significance, and effect of the placard required for products not meeting Michigan standards, and a comparison of the federal standards as defined by the Federal Wholesome Meat Act with Michigan's ingredient standards.

While the Commerce Clause of the Constitution presumes an area of free trade among the several states, Congress never intended to cut the states off from legislating on all subjects relating to the health, life and safety of its citizens. Preparation of foodstuffs for market has traditionally been a matter of local concern. Florida Avocado Growers v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963); Head v. New Mexico Board of Examiners in Optometry, 374 U.S. 424, 83 S.Ct. 1759, 10 L.Ed.2d 983 (1963). When an area has been preempted under the Supremacy Clause, as meat ingredient standards have been under the Federal Wholesome Meat Act, subject to an exception for intra-state processors, of course, a contradictory state law must be held invalid. However, the issue here has been whether the state through its placard requirement has indirectly achieved this effect which is not so easily discerned.

Throughout this litigation, Plaintiff has vigorously contended that Michigan does not have a legitimate health or safety interest in enforcing Section 4a of the Comminuted Meat Act. AMI also asserts that if the state does have a valid interest in providing consumer information at the marketplace, the placard is inadequate, ineffective, and inaccurate. As a result, Plaintiff believes that the Michigan statute cannot withstand the balancing test found in Pike v. Bruce Church, 397 U.S. 137, 90 S.Ct. 844, 25 L.Ed.2d 174 (1970) which permits a state to enforce a valid local interest if it does so reasonably and evenhandedly and does not unnecessarily and unduly burden interstate commerce. That the placard appears to distinguish quality or ingredient standards rather than place of origin is not determinative. Best & Company v. Maxwell, 311 U.S. 454, 61 S.Ct. 334, 85 L.Ed. 275 (1940) prohibits discrimination whether forthright or ingenious. AMI has repeatedly asserted that by effectively preventing meat processors from marketing their products within the State of Michigan, the state legislature has exceeded the bounds outlined in the balancing test and has illegally imposed an ingredient standard. Finally, AMI claims that even if the state had a valid state interest to protect in enforcing Section 4a, and even if the placard requirement did not violate the Supremacy Clause by imposing an ingredient standard, Michigan can no longer legitimately publicize any apparent distinction between state and federal standards as the federal government now inspects Michigan processors. As might be expected, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will only inspect to insure compliance with federal, not state, standards.

The Defendants have consistently maintained that the placard is neither discriminatory nor misleading, that the state has an important health and educational interest to protect, and have disputed AMI's contention that the federal standards in many ways are not only more restrictive or "higher" than the state standards but also that by exempting certain "ethnic" products from the placard requirement, the state exhibited a discriminatory purpose in enacting the legislation. Additionally, Defendants have continued to refute the contention that the federal inspection of meat processing plants in Michigan has negated any purported state interest, at least as of October, 1981, when the federal government assumed responsibility for inspections, by claiming that enforcement of 4a takes place at the retail rather than the processing level and that the consumer is still entitled to be informed of the different ingredient standards. Michigan also denies that it has enforced the Comminuted Meat Law in a haphazard and selective manner, but asserts that the State Department of Agriculture continues a serious and committed effort to uphold the Act.

The United States, on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, has filed briefs with this Court as amicus curiae. While arguing that the placard is not a label, as defined by the statute and interpreted by the case law, the government does contend that Section 4a unduly burdens interstate commerce by creating a barrier to the sale of federally inspected meat and violates the Supremacy Clause by imposing Michigan ingredient standards on federally inspected meat. The government claims that the effect is the same as if the state were imposing civil and criminal penalties on meat processors who fail to meet Michigan's ingredient standards rather than providing for sanctions when these products are not placarded. Additionally, the government argues that since Michigan has decided to surrender inspection responsibilities over Michigan meat processing plants to the federal government as of October 1981, Michigan processors are now subject to federal inspection and the state cannot legitimately continue to enforce its additional or different requirements.

Jones v. Rath Packing Company, 430 U.S. 519, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977) requires consideration of the "relationship between the state and federal laws as they are interpreted and applied not merely as they are written." Although there are considerable distinctions between the two ingredient standards, I note at this point that testimony at trial has elicited the admission that the state has adopted a policy of conforming to the federal standards as they apply to the addition of non-fat dry milk in comminuted meat products and that similar alignment can be expected in enforcing the standards related to inclusion of tomato and egg products as a consequence of the USDA inspection of Michigan processing plants. Given this joint venture, and policy of accommodation, the state has a more difficult, if not an impossible burden to persuade the Court that it continues to have a significant interest to promote through Section 4a and that enforcement of the placard requirement is a proper exercise of the state police power.

As my denial of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment indicates, I believe that a consumer has the right to be informed of the nature and substance of the food he ingests. Nutrition, as well as the pleasure of the palate, affects the quality of life. I do not believe that the consumer must automatically be limited to the terms appearing on the label of the food package he buys to ascertain the ingredients in a product. Physicians, nutritionists, and educators, as well as state and federal health agencies, emphasize the increasing awareness of the importance of a balanced diet, the need to control caloric intake, and the effects of additives, preservatives, and processing methods associated with commercially prepared foods by providing the consumer with essential information about the elements of a healthy diet. It would be a paradox indeed to conclude that this information could not be presented in the marketplace or that the state legislature could not act in the public interest by providing accurate information to the consumer at...