6 The Bulletin. 



number of violations by retail dealers are due to carelessness in their 

 purchases. They allow themselves to be imposed upon and then in turn 

 proceed to impose upon their customers. The Department has worked 

 faithfully for several years to cause the dealers to know and comply with 

 the requirements of the law, but they go along until they are caught 

 and then plead ignorance of the law or of the facts in the case, and 

 think they should not be prosecuted for the offense when they have 

 actually imposed upon their customers, by selling them short weight 

 or adulterated or misbranded products. 



When dealers can show at the hearings reasonable cause why they 

 should not be prosecuted for violations, the matter is dropped. When 

 they can not show a good ' reasonable cause why they should not be 

 prosecuted, the facts in the case are reported to the State Solicitors for 

 prosecution. 



STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS. 



NOTES ON. 



The Food Law provides that the Board of Agriculture shall adopt 

 and publish standards of strength and purity and regulations for the 

 enforcement of the law. It further provides that when the Secretary 

 of Agriculture of the United States has adopted standards for food 

 products that the Board of Agriculture shall adopt them for standards 

 imder the State Food Law of J^orth Carolina. 



These standards and regulations have been adopted and published in 

 the Food Reports from time to time, and copies in pamphlet form will 

 be sent on application. Some objections have been made to certain 

 of these standards, saying that they are too high, as in the case of ice 

 cream where 14 per cent of milk fat is required. In this and other 

 cases, where the standard has been adopted by the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, the Department and Board of Agriculture have no choice in 

 the matter. The Food Law requires the Board to adopt them and gives 

 the latter no discretion in the matter. However, these standards have 

 been carefully worked out by experts, and have been adopted by most 

 of the States that are enforcing food laws. 



Dealers are cautioned to make themselves familiar with the laAv, the 

 standards and the regulations under the Food Law for they must be 

 enforced. Feeling that the dealers have had time and opportunity to 

 know the law and standards, it will be the policy of the Department in 

 the future to prosecute cases when similar ones have been excused in 

 the past because of ignorance of the law. 



EXTRACT FROM FOOD LAW. 



The following extract from the Pure Food Law is very important, 

 and the same is herewith printed in order that the grocerymen may 

 become more familiar with the requirements of the law. 



State Food Law, section 6, defines and describes what constitutes 

 food adulteration. Section 7 defines and describes Avhat constitutes 

 the misbranding of food products. Section 9 provides for a guaranty 

 by which the retail dealer may be exempt from prosecution for vio- 

 lation of the law. 



