The Bulletin 

 FEE AND COFFEE SUBSTITUTES— Cow^wwed. 



21 



Remarks and Conclusions 



Compound coffee and chicory; misbranded; sale illegal. 

 Compound coffee and chicory. 



do. 



Compound, chicory and coffee; misbranded; sale illegal. 

 Compound coffee and chicory. 



do. 



But to be adulterated a food product does not have to contain a sub- 

 stance that renders it deleterious to health. It is deemed to be 

 adulterated if it be mixed, colored, powdered, coated or stained so as to 

 hide or conceal damage or inferiority. 



If the bleaching of flour improves its appearance without improving 

 its quality it would appear that bleaching tends to hide inferiority, and 

 if so, then artificially bleached flour should be labeled bleached. 



The food laws seem to attach just as much importance to misbranding 

 food products as they do to the adulteration of them. In fact, 

 adulteration and misbranding are so closely connected that it is hard 

 to separate them. Many compounds if not labeled at all, would, under 

 the food laws, be misbranded, when, if properly labeled or branded to 

 show their real character their sale would be perfectly legal and legiti- 

 mate. 



If flour is bleached to appear better than the same flour would appear 

 if unbleached, is there not good reason why it should be labeled 

 bleached ? 



The Legislature of 1915 passed an act, known as the "Bleached Flour 

 Law" which requires artificially bleached flour to be labeled "Artificially 

 Bleached." The act provides for an inspection fee to bear the expense 

 of the enforcement of the law. 



A few mills, not in the State, but doing business in the State, ob- 

 jected to the law, and on the grounds that the act was in conflict with 

 the Federal Statutes, and therefore, unconstitutional and void, asked 

 the courts to enjoin the Commissioner of Agriculture, and prevent him 

 from enforcing the act. The matter was heard by the State Superior 

 Court and the court rendered an opinion to the effect that the act is 

 constitutional and enforcible. 



When the act went into effect the department began such efforts as 

 Fere necessary for the enforcement of same, and examined 506 sam- 



