.JAG/UCULTURAL 



SULPHURED FRUIT AND ITS RELATIO 



PURE FOOD LAW 



AL 



By Mr. Arthur R. Briggs, President California State Board of Trade, at the 

 Riverside Fruit Growers ' Convention, April 30, 1908. 



The people of no State in the Union were more zealous advocates of a 



National Pure Food Law than were the people of California. Adulteration of 



food products in other States suggested the need of statutory regulations in the 



interest of life and health and as a protection to manufacturers of pure food 



products. Therefore, gratification and general approval were expressed on the 



| part of producers in this State, when Congress on June 30, 1906, passed the 



"National Food and Drugs Act." One of the principal features of the Act 



was to prevent the manufacture or sale of adulterated or deleterious food prod- 



;ucts, and it prescribed the method under which adulterated foods and drugs 



imight be sold. 



How comprehensively the term "deleterious foods" was to be interpreted,- 

 |how a determination was to be made in respect to them, and the status of man- 

 jufacturers and producers pending a determination were matters too remote 

 [for immediate consideration, and excited little interest. Later, as the law was 

 put in operation and its scope wa"s brought to their attention, manufacturers 

 and distributors of food products were much exercised over the particular 

 [features of the law which affected their business. 



The Law. Under the Act, three Ca-binet officers were charged with the 

 Icluty of making rules and regulations for carrying out its provisions, the 

 [specific terms being set forth as follows : 



"Section 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agri- 

 | culture, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, shall make uniform rules 

 and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act, including the collec- 

 tion 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, 

 )r at any domestic or foreign port through which such product is offered for 

 interstate commerce, or for export or import between the United States or any 

 [foreign port or country. 



"Sec. 4. That the examinations of specimens of foods and drugs, shall be 



tade in the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture, or under 



the direction and supervision of such bureau, for the purpose of determining 



Prom such examinations whether such articles are adulterated or misbranded 



r ithin the meaning of this Act. * * * ' : 



The Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture, by the Act, is 

 iade the agency for examination of products, and the head of that branch 

 )f^the department, therefore, occupies a position of much importance. The 

 >oint of safety seemed to be, that it rested with the Secretary of Agriculture, 



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