4136. Misbranding of Vit-Ra-Tox No. 21.  U. S. v. 25 Cartons, etc   (F. D. C. No.
34391.   Sample Nos. 62612-L, 62613-L.)
LIBEL FILED :   January 6, 1953, Eastern District of Missouri.
ALLEGED SHIPMENT : On or about December 16 and 24, 1952, V. E. Irons, Inc.,
from Franklin and Boston, Mass.
PRODUCT: 25 cartons of Vit-Ra-Tox No. 21 at St. Louis, Mo., together with a
number of leaflets entitled "No. 21 A Natural Food" and "What Price Refine-
ment" and 1 copy of a newsletter dated October 24, 1952.
LABEL, IN PART : "V. E. Vit-Ra-Tox Irons Inc. No. 21A . . . Part of No. 21
A Natural Food with Greenii/e Raw Veal Bone and Defatted Wheat Germ
Vit-Ra-Tox No. 21A with GreenZifc Green Life is a concentrate of the juices
of 2 or more young, tender green cereal (grain) shoots (oats, corn, barley.
rye or wheat) ; raised in one of the richest soils known to man on the world's
largest Organic Compost Farm near Kansas City, Mo.; extracted in a manner
as to retain Nature's vitamins, living enzymes, synergists, and activating
minerals (except Vitamin D) ; rich natural source of Carotene (provitamin A)
and the complete natural complexes of Vitamins B, C, B, F, and K with the P
fractions of the C complex and the Wulzen factor of the F complex, plus the
living enzymes, synergists and mineral activators. It contains organic iron,
?calcium, phosphorus, iodine and a host of other minerals in trace amounts
with Live Chlorophyll in its natural, untreated, and edible state. Also con-
tains * * * Raw Veal Bone Meal with its natural marrow. (1 oz.) An
excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, and amino acids in easily assimilable
form" and "No. 21B V. E. Vit-Ra-Tox Irons Inc. A Natural Food This
part containing: Garlic Derivative * * * Vit-Ba-Tox No. 21B Two green
capsules contain the following: Garlic Derivative 4 Mgs. Formulated in the
following Organic Base (good natural sources of nutritional elements) Wheat
Germ Oil 129.6 Mgs. and Lecithin from soy beans 666.4 Mgs. are used as
emulsiflers."
NATURE OF CHARGE: Misbranding, Section 502 (a), the labeling of the article,
namely, the accompanying leaflets and newsletter, when taken as a whole as
well as through specific claims and in the setting in which they were presented,
contained statements which represented and suggested that the average Amer-
ican diet is deficient in vitamins, minerals, and enzymes; that, as a result of
such deficiencies, everyone is suffering from imperfect health and disease; that
such conditions can only be eliminated by the ingestion of the article; that
the article would be effective in the treatment, prevention, and cure of com-
mon infections, external and internal, and intestinal infections, ranging from
amebic dysentery to paratyphoid; that the article was of special value for
the circulatory system; that the article had a primary place in treating the
symptoms of aging and would keep workirigmen at high efficiency and guarded
from illness; that the article was the solution to many of the most perplexing
physical, special, and economic problems; that the article would prevent
sterility and was of vital importance to prevent heart trouble; that the article
would be effective in the treatment, prevention, and cure of heart trouble,
diabetes, indigestion, anemia, nervousness, varicose veins, asthma, and hay
fever, diseases of the digestive system, respiratory system, and the glands,
bones, skin, and muscles, tuberculosis, cancer, pernicious anemia, maras-
mus, dentition difficulties and imperfect teeth in children and in adults,
dyspepsias, diarrheas, constipation, obesity, inability to nurse children, neuro-
ses, infantile paralysis, certain myalgias or "Rheumatism," dementia praecox,
high blood pressure, low blood pressure, polio, arterial disease, flatulence,
infections of the respiratory system, worms, lice, ulcers, and symptoms of
aging; that the action of garlic in the article was comparable to that of peni-
cillin and that garlic would make the dread symptoms of. diphtheria present
in the system disappear. Such representations and suggestions were false
and misleading since the article was not effective in the treatment of the
conditions stated and implied, and it was not capable of fulfilling the promises
of benefit made for it. The article was alleged to be misbranded when intro-
duced into, while in, and while held for sale after shipment in, interstate
commerce.
The article was alleged also to be misbranded under the provisions of the
law applicable to foods, as reported in notices of judgment on foods.
DISPOSITION : January 30, 1953. Default decree of condemnation. The court
ordered that a portion of the article be delivered to the Food and Drug
Administration and that the remainder be destroyed.