108  The  Food  and  Drugs  Act.         {AmMJa°rch. Tw!m" 
which  have  been  drafted  for  its  enforcement,  are  not  obscure.  They 
are  based  upon  common  honesty.  That  is,  no  hardship  is  worked 
upon  persons  who  sell  their  products  for  what  they  are,  without  any 
misrepresentation.  This  at  first  glance  would  not  seem  to  be  a 
harsh  requirement,  but  when  we  go  into  the  subject  a  little  more 
fully  we  are  confronted  with  the  fact  that  the  present  era  of  adver- 
tising has  developed  a  carelessness  of  statement  to  say  nothing  of 
numerous  instances  of  wilful  misrepresentation  suggesting  that  the 
allegation  of  P.  T.  Barnum  that  the  American  people  like  to  be 
humbugged,  was  never  more  true  than  at  the  present  time. 
Academic  questions  as  to  the  harmfulness  of  certain  preservatives 
or  colors,  or  substitutes  for  this  or  that  well-known  foodstuff,  do  not 
enter  into  the  question  at  all.  The  phrase  "  caveat  emptor,"  let  the 
buyer  beware,  is  not  applicable  to  foodstuffs,  for  the  buyer  as  a  rule 
is  not  capable  of  judging  as  to  the  presence  or  absence  of  certain 
constituents  which  may  or  may  not  be  harmful  according  to  the 
idiosyncrasy  of  the  consumer. 
For  example,  fifty  or  seventy-five  years  ago  the  commonly  used 
chemical  preservatives,  salicylic  and  benzoic  acids  and  saccharin 
were  unknown  and  when  they  were  resorted  to  by  manufacturers  of 
foodstuffs  it  was  done  secretly  and  without  notice  to  the  consumer. 
While  the  presence  of  a  small  amount  of  any  one  of  these  substances 
might  not  occasion  any  disturbance  in  a  normal  individual  there  are 
many  instances  in  which  even  small  amounts  are  absolutely  con- 
traindicated.  Under  commercial  conditions  existing  previous  to  the 
passage  of  the  act  mentioned  the  buyer  never  could  tell  just  what 
was  contained  in  a  package,  which  might  be  marked  absolutely  pure 
and  be  decorated  with  representations  of  dozens  of  medals  and  prize 
awards,  often  based  upon  superficial  judgment  of  the  products  so 
honored. 
The  misbranding  clause  is  Section  8  of  the  law  and  reads  as  fol- 
lows : 
"  That  the  term  1  misbranded  '  as  used  herein  shall  apply  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, 
design  or  device  regarding  such  article,  or  the  ingredients  or  sub- 
stances contained  therein,  which  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 
produced." 
