FOOD INSPlvCTlON. 2^1 



sale any adulterated or misbranded article of food, shall be pun- 

 ished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for the first 

 offense and not exceeding two hundred dollars for each subse- 

 quent offense. 



Sec 7. Whenever said director becomes cognizant of the 

 violation of any of the provisions of this act, he shall report such 

 violation to the commissioner of agriculture, and said commis- 

 sioner shall prosecute the party or parties thus reported. 



Sec 8. No action shall be maintained in any court in this 

 state on account of any sale or other contract made in violation 

 of this act. 



Sec 9. Sections ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, 

 fifteen, sixteen and seventeen of chapter one hundred and 

 twenty-nine of the revised statutes and all acts or parts of acts 

 inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed. 



Sec id. This act shall- take effect when approved. 



Approved March 15, 1905. 



Food Standards. 



It is from the nature of the case impracticable for a legisla- 

 ture to establish food standards. This is a matter that calls for 

 careful research on the part of experts. It has, therefore, 

 become customary, both in state and national legislation, to place 

 the responsibility of the establishment of standards upon the 

 executive officer. Section 5 of the above cited law empowers 

 the Director of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station " to 

 adopt or fix standards of purity, quality or strength when such 

 standards are not specified or fixed by law and shall publish 

 them, together with such other information concerning articles 

 of food as may be of public benefit." 



The Association of Official Agricultural Chemists of the 

 United States has for some 3'ears been preparing definitions and 

 schedules for such standards. The demand for these standards 

 became so urgent as to lead Congress by an act approved Jur.e 

 3, 1902, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to co-operate 

 with the above named association for the accomplishment of this 

 work. As a result, although the work is still incomplete, stand- 

 ards for the more important food products have already beerj 

 fixed and established by the Secretar}^ of Agriculture, acting for 

 the United States. 



