BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 363 



an organization for its enforcement is being created, and much corre- 

 spondence on the subject is being conducted. 



FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. 



The report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1922, referred briefly 

 to the installation of the project system for the enforcement of tlie 

 food and drugs act. The project system involves the formulation of 

 a comprehensive and unified plan of operations for the entire field 

 force, directed against specific classes of products which experience 

 has shown to be most likely to be found in violation. Upon the 

 completion of a campaign upon any type of products a detailed re- 

 port covering the entire field of operations is prepared. A compari- 

 son of the reports for succeeding fiscal years furnishes a ready means 

 of determining how successful the efforts have been to bring about a 

 compliance with the requirements of the law. Such a comparison of 

 reports made during the last year shows encouraging improvements 

 in conditions in some classes of products, while in others continued 

 regulatory activity is obviously necessary. 



Experience in the enforcement of the food and drugs act has 

 shown that where violations in staple foods are encountered the 

 objectionable conditions are as a rule readily demonstrated to the 

 courts and therefore easily corrected. Violations involving the less 

 important food products are frequently of a more intangible char- 

 acter, difficult to establish by the usual court procedure, although 

 they usually result in very real financial loss to the purchaser. 



Because of this condition an appar.-ntly disproportionate amount 

 of the time and energy of the regulatory force must be devoted to 

 the nonstaple food products. In the knowledge, however, that adul- 

 teration and misbranding, if existent in the staple foods, are likely 

 to have a most serious effect upon the public welfare, the bureau has 

 given special attention to these types of foods. 



Flour. — The report for the last fiscal year made brief reference to 

 actions against shipments of flour. Many shipments, especially those 

 moving to the western section of the United States, were short in 

 weight or contained excessive moisture. The weight shortages and 

 moisture excesses observed were greater than could be accounted for 

 by normal changes during shipment and in the aggregate repre- 

 sented very serious losses to the consignees. The campaign of seizures 

 begim last year was therefore continued, with the result that with 

 few exceptions flour of full weight and standard moisture content 

 is now being shipped. 



Butter. — For several years attention has been given to interstate 

 traffic in butter and action has been taken against many shipments 

 which were high in moisture, low in butterfat, or short of the de- 

 clared weight. The difficulty of enforcing the law as applied to 

 butter has been very greatly lightened by the passage at the last 

 session of Congress of an act establishing a standard for butter, 

 which fixes 80 per cent as the minimum butterfat content. During 

 the year 64 seizures against adulterated and misbranded butter and 

 117 criminal prosecutions were instituted. 



An interesting and unusual feature of the work was the discovery 

 that a concern in Jersey City, N. J., was adulterating butter with 

 coconut oil or other foreign fat and shipping it to Philadelphia. 



