Dec. 13, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



791 



THE BROSIUS PURE FOOD BILL. 



Mr. Brosius introduced the following bill in the House of 

 Representatives, March 16, 1900, which was referred to 

 the Committee on Interstate and Foreig-n Commerce, 

 and ordered to be printed : 



A BILI, 



For preventing the adulteration, misbranding, and imita- 

 tion of foods, beverages, candies, drugs, and condi- 

 ments in the District of Columbia and the Territories, 

 and for regulating interstate traffic therein, and for 

 other purposes. 



Be it enacted by the Seiiate and House of Representatives of 

 the United States of .Imerica in Congress assembled. 



That for the purpose of protecting the commerce in 

 food products and drugs between the several States and in 

 the District of Columbia and the territories of the United 

 States and foreign countries, the Secretary of Agriculture 

 shall organize the Chemical Division of the Department of 

 Agriculture into a bureau of chemistry, which shall have 

 the direction of the chemical work of the present Division 

 ■of Chemistry, and of the chemical work of the other 

 Executive Departments, whose respective heads may 

 apply to the Secretary of Agriculture for such collabora- 

 tion, and which shall also be charged with the inspection of 

 iood and drug products, as hereinafter provided in this Act. 

 The Secretary of Agriculture shall make necessary rules 

 and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act, 

 under which the Director of the Bureau of Chemistry shall 

 procure from time to time, or cause to be procured, and 

 analyze, or cause to be analyzed or examined, chemically, 

 microscopically, or otherwise, samples of foods and drugs 

 offered for sale in original unbroken packages in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, in any Territory, or in any State other 

 than that in which they shall have been respectively manu- 

 factured or produced, or from a foreign country, or intended 

 for export to a foreign country. The Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture is hereby authorized to employ such chemists, inspec- 

 tors, laborers, and other employees as may be necessary to 

 carry out the provisions of this Act, and to make such pub- 

 lication of the results of examinations and analyses as he 

 may deem proper. 



Sec. 2.— That the introduction into any State or Terri- 

 tory 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 per- 

 son 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, or who, hav- 

 ing received, shall deliver, in original unbroken packages, 

 for pay or otherwise, or offer to deliver to any other person, 

 any 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 in any Territory of 

 the United States such adulterated, mixt, misbranded, or 

 imitated foods or drugs, or export or offer to export the 

 same to any foreign country, shall be guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, and for such offense be fined not exceeding two 

 hundred dollars for the first offense, and for each subse- 

 quent offense not exceeding three hundred dollars, or be 

 imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both, in the discre- 

 tion of the court. 



Sec. 3. — That the Director of the Bureau of Chemistry 

 shall make, or cause to be made, under rules and regula- 

 tions to be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, ex- 

 aminations of specimens of food and drugs offered for sale 

 in original unbroken packages in the District of Columbia, 

 in any Territory, or in any State other than that in which 

 they shall have been respectively manufactured or pro- 

 duced, or from any foreign country, or intended for ship- 

 ment to any foreign country, which may be collected from 

 time to time in various parts of the country. If it shall 

 appear from such examination that any of the provisions 

 of this Act have been violated 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 analyses, 

 duly authenticated by the analyst under oath. 



Sec. 4.— That it shall be the duty of every district at- 

 torney to whom the Secretary of Agriculture shall report 

 any violation of this Act to cause proceedings to be com- 



menced and prosecuted without delay for the fines and 

 penalties in such case provided. 



DEFINITIONS. 



SivC. 5. — That the term " drug," as used in this Act. 

 shall include all medicines and preparations recognized in 

 the United States Pharmacopuia for internal or external 

 use. The term " food," as used herein, shall include all 

 articles used for food, drink, confectionery, or condiment, 

 by man or domestic animals, whether simple, mixt, or com- 

 pound. The term "misbranded," as used herein, shall ap- 

 ply to all drugs, or articles of food, or articles which enter 

 into the composition of food, the package or label of which 

 shall bear any statement regarding the ingredients or sub- 

 stances contained in such article, which statement shall be 

 false or misleading in any particular, and to any food or 

 drug product which is falsely branded as to the State, 

 Territory, or country in which it is manufactured or pro- 

 duced. 



ADUI.TER.\TIOXS. 



Sec. 6.— 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 rec- 

 ognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, it differs from, 

 the standard of strength, quality, or purity, as determined 

 by the tests laid down in the United States Pharmacopftia, 

 official at the time of the investigation. 



Second.— If its strength or purity fall below the profest 

 standard under which it is sold. 



Third. — If it be an imitation of or offered for sale under 

 the name of another article. 

 in the case of confectionery : 



If it contain terra alba, barytes, talc, chrome yellow, or 

 other mineral substances, or poisonous colors or flavors, or 

 other ingredients deleterious or detrimental to health. 

 In the case of food : 



First. — If any substance or substances has or have been 

 mixt and packt with it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously 

 affect its quality or strength, so that such product, when 

 offered for sale, shall deceive or tend to deceive the pur- 

 chaser. 



Second. — If any substance or substances has or have 

 been substituted wholly or in part for the article, so that 

 the product, when sold, shall deceive or tend to deceive the 

 purchaser. 



Third. — If any valuable constituent of the article has 

 been wholly or in part abstracted, so that the product, when 

 sold, shall deceive or tend to deceive the purchaser. 



Fourth. — If it be an imitation of or offered for sale un- 

 der the specific name of another article. 



Fifth. — If it be mixt, colored, powdered, or stained in a 

 manner whereby damage or inferiority is concealed, so that 

 such product, when sold, shall deceive or tend to deceive the 

 purchaser. 



Sixth.— If it contain any added poisonous ingredient or 

 any ingredient which may render such article injurious to 

 the health of the person consuming it. 



Seventh. — If it be labeled or branded so as to deceive 

 or mislead the purchaser, or purport to be a foreign product 

 when not so, or is an imitation, either in package or label, 

 of another substance of a previously establisht name, or 

 which has been trade-markt or patented. 



Eighth.— If it consists of the whole or any part of a 

 diseased, filthy, decomposed, or putrid animal or vegetable 

 substance, or any portion of an animal unfit for food, 

 whether manufactured or not, or if it is the product of a 

 diseased animal, or one that has died otherwise than by 

 slaughter : 



Provided, That an article of food which does not con- 

 tain any added poisonous or deleterious ingredient shall 

 not be deemed to be adulterated in the following cases : 



First. — In the case of mixtures or compounds which 

 may be now, or from time to time hereafter known as arti- 

 cles of food, under their own distinctive names, and not in- 

 cluded in definition fourth of this section. Second. In the 

 cases of articles labeled, branded or tagged so as plainly to 

 indicate that they are mixtures, compounds, combinations, 

 imitations, or blends : Provided, That the same shall be 

 labeled, branded, or tagged, as prescribed by the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, so as to show the exact character thereof. 

 And provided further. That nothing in this Act shall be 

 construed as requiring or compelling proprietors or manu- 

 facturers of proprietary foods which contain no unwhole 

 some added ingredient to disclose their trade formulas, ex' 



