し AMENDMENTS TO THE PURE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 8954 OCTOBER 27-28, 1919 ᏢᎪᎡᎢ 1 WASHINGTON 1919 AMENDMENTS TO THE PURE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washinton, D. C., Monday, October 27, 1919. The committee this day met, Hon. Gilbert N. Haugen (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. The committee has been called together this morning for the purpose of considering amendments to the food and drugs act, more especially those having for their object the protection of the public against deception in regard to the matter of the appearance of packages and containers. The chair lays before the committee for its consideration H. R. 8954, which is as follows: [HI. R. 8954, Sixty-sixth Congress, first session.] A BILL To further amend section 8 of an act entitled "An act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes," approved June 30, 1906, and amended by the act approved March 3, 1913. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 8 of an act entitled "An act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes," approved June 30, 1906, and amended by the act of March 3, 1913, be, and the same is hereby, amended in the following particulars: By adding in said section 8, after paragraph 3 in the case of food, the following paragraph: "Fourth. If in package form and irrespective of whether or not the quantity of the contents be plainly and conspicuously marked on the outside of the package in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count as provided in the preceding paragraph, the package, with guilty intent and for fraudulent purposes, be not filled with the food it purports to contain: Provided, however, That reasonable variations and tolerances shall be established by rules and regulations made in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of this act." In the paragraph heretofore designated "fourth," in the case of food, of said section 8, by striking out the word Fourth at the beginning of said paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof the word "Fifth," so that, when amended, said paragraph will read: 66 "Fifth. If the package containing it or its label shall bear any statement, design, or device regarding the ingredients or the substances contained therein, which statement, design, or device shall be false or misleading in any particular: Provided, That an article of food which does not contain any added poisonous or deleterious ingredients shall not be deemed to be adulterated or misbranded in the following cases: "(1) In the case of mixtures or compounds which may be now or from time to time hereafter known as articles of food, under their own distinctive names, and not an imitation of or offered for sale under the distinctive name of another article, if the name be accompanied on the same label or brand with a statement of the place where said article has been manufactured or produced. 66 (2) In the case of articles labeled, branded, or tagged so as to plainly indicate that they are compounds, imitations, or blends, and the word 'com. pound,' 'imitation,' or 'blend,' as the case may be, is plainly stated on the package in which it is offered for sale: Provided, That the term 'blend' as used herein shall be construed to mean a mixture of like substances, not excluding harmless coloring or flavoring ingredients used for the purpose of coloring and flavoring only: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall be construed as requiring or compelling proprietors or manufacturers of proprietary foods which contain no unwholesome added ingredients to disclose their trade formulas, except in so far as the provisions of this act may require to secure freedom from adulteration or misbranding." In said section 8, at the end of paragraph 2, in the case of food, by striking out the period, inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon, and adding the following clause: or if it be in a container purposely and fraudulently and with guilty intent made, formed, or shaped so as to deceive or mislead the purchaser as to quantity, quality, size, kind, or origin of the food therein," so that said paragraph 2 will, when amended, read as follows: "Second. If it be labeled or branded so as to deceive or mislead the pur chaser, or purport to be a foreign product when not so, or if the contents of the package as originally put up shall have been removed in whole or in part and other contents shall have been placed in such package, or if it fail to bear a statement on the labei of the quantity or proportion of any morphine, opium, cocaine, heroin, alpha or beta eucaine, chloroform, cannabis indica, chloral hydrate, of acetanilide, or any derivative or preparation of any of such substances contained therein; or if it be in a container made, formed, or shaped so as to deceive or mislead the purchaser as to quantity, quality, size, kind, or origin of the food therein." For the convenience of the committee, the pure food and drugs act will be inserted in the printed hearings. THE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT, JUNE 30, 1906, AS AMENDED AUGUST 23, 1912. AN ACT For preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That is shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture within any Territory or the District of Columbia any article of food or drug which is adulterated or misbranded, within the meaning of this act; and any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each offense shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not to exceed $500 or shall be sentenced to one year's imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, and for each subsequent offense and conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $1,000 or sentenced to one year's imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court SEC. 2. That the introduction into any State or Territory or the District of Columbia from any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or from any foreign country, or shipment to any foreign country of any article of food or drugs which is adulterated or misbranded, within the meaning of this act, is hereby prohibited; and any person who shall ship or deliver for shipment from any State or Territory or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or to a foreign country, or who shall receive in any State or Territory or the District of Columbia from any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or foreign country, and having so received, shall deliver, in original unbroken packages, for pay or otherwise, or offer to deliver to any other person, and such article so adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this act, or any person who shall sell or offer for sale in the District of Columbia or the Territories of the United States any such adulterated or misbranded foods or drugs, or export or offer to export the same to any foreign country, shall be guilty of a misdeameanor, and for such offense be fined not exceeding $200 for the first offense, and upon conviction for each subsequent offense not exceeding $300 or be imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That no article shall be deemed misbranded or adulterated within the provisions of this act when intended for export to any foreign country and prepared or packed according to the specifications or directions of the foreign purchaser when no substance is used in the preparation or packing thereof in conflict with the laws of the foreign country to which said article is intended to be shipped; but if said article shall be in fact sold or offered for sale for domestic use or consumption, then this proviso shall not exempt said article from the operation of any of the other provisions of this act. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall make uniform rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this act, including the collection and examination of specimens of foods and drugs manufactured or offered for sale in the District of Columbia, or in any Territory of the United States, or which shall be offered for sale in unbroken packages in any State other than that in which they shall have been respectively manufactured or produced, or which shall be received from any foreign country, or intended for shipment to any foreign country, or which may be submitted for examination by the chief health, food, or drug officer of any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or at any domestic or foreign port through which such product is offered for interstate commerce, or for export or import between the United States and any foreign port or country. SEC. 4. That the examinations of specimens of foods and drugs shall be made in the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture or under the direction and supervision of such bureau for the purpose of determining from such examinations whether such articles are adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this act; and if it shall appear from any such examination that any of such specimens is adulterated or nfisbranded within the meaning of this act the Secretary of Agriculture shall cause notice thereof to be given to the party from whom such sample was obtained. Any party so notified shall be given an opportunity to be heard under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed as aforesaid, and if it appears that any of the provisions of this act have been violated by such party, then the Secretary of Agriculture shall at once certify the facts to the proper United States district attorney, with a copy of the results of the analysis or the examination of such article duly authenticated by the analyst or officer making such examination under the oath of such officer. After judgment of the court notice shall be given by publication in such manner as may be prescribed by the rules and regulations aforesaid. SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of each district attorney to whom the Secretary of Agriculture shall report any violation of this act or to whom any health or food or drug officer or agent of any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia shall present satisfactory evidence of any such violation to cause appropriate proceedings to be confmenced and prosecuted in the proper courts of the United States without delay for the enforcement of the penalties as in such case herein provided. 66 SEC. 6. That the term drug" as used in this act shall include all medicines and preparations recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary for internal or external use, and any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used for the cure, mitigation, or prevention of disease of either man or other animals. The term "food" as used herein shall include all articles used for food, drink, confectionery, or condiment by man or other animals whether simple, mixed, or compound. SEC. 7. That for the purposes of this act an article shall be deemed to be adulterated: In case of drugs: First. If, when a drug is sold under or by a name recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary, it differs from the standard of strength, quality, or purity as determined by the test laid down in the United States Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary official at the time of investigation: Provided, That no drug defined in the United States Pharmacopoeia or National Fornfulary shall be deemed to be adulterated under this provision if the standard of strength, quality, or purity be plainly stated upon the bottle, box, or other container thereof, although the standard may differ from that determined by the test laid down in the United States Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary. Second. If its strength or purity fall below the professed standard or quality under which it is sold. |