NOTICE OF JUDGMENT NO. 969, FOOD AND DRUGS ACT.
ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING OF "TRUE EGGS SUBSTITUTE."
On or about July 18, 1910, the True Egg Substitute Company, 
Santa Monica, Cal, shipped from the State of California into the 
State of Missouri 101 cases or cans of a food product labeled: ''Yel- 
low True Eggs Substitute. 25 cents, 25 eggs. Guaranteed by the 
True Egg Substitute Co. under the Pure Food Laws, Serial No. G83. 
Made from fresh chicken egg albumen and fresh milk albumen. 
Vegetable color. Directions, 1 level teaspoon dried egg and two 
table-spoonfuls of water (make paste) is one egg. Use just as you 
use fresh cracked eggs. True Egg Substitute Co., Chicago, Ill. and 
Los Angles, Cal. Full measure." Packed with each can of the prod- 
uct was a circular which contains among others the statements that 
"' True Eggs' are made from the albumen of fresh chicken eggs and 
the albumen of fresh milk which operates the same as the chicken 
egg albumen ", and " one pound of this product is equivalent to 80 
eggs." A sample from this shipment was procured and analyzed by 
the Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of Agriculture, 
and the product was found to contain starch and not to contain the 
albumen of fresh milk in appreciable quantities but to contain casein, 
a protein quite different in character. As it appeared from the find- 
ings of the analyst and report thereon that the product was adul- 
terated and misbranded within the meaning of the Food and Drugs 
Act of June 30, 1906, and was liable to seizure under section 10 of 
the act, the Secretary of Agriculture reported the fact to the United 
States attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.
In due course a libel was filed in the District Court of the United 
States for said district against the said 101 cases or cans of the prod-
101531°—No. 969—11
uct,, charging the above shipment and alleging that the product so 
shipped was adulterated because in the manufacture thereof a mix- 
ture of milk casein, starch, and egg albumen had been mixed and 
packed with the said product, so as to reduce, lower, and injuriously 
affect its quality and strength, and had been substituted for said 
product, and because said article of food had been artificially colored 
in a manner whereby its inferiority was concealed. The libel further 
alleged the product to be misbranded because the word "substitute" 
appearing on the label of said cans was partly concealed in such a 
manner as to mislead and deceive the purchaser; because said product 
was an imitation of and offered for sale under the distinctive name of 
another article; because the booklet accompanying said product rep- 
resented it to be composed of the albumen of fresh chicken eggs and 
the albumen of fresh milk, when in truth and in fact it was an adul- 
terated product as above set forth: because said booklet represented 
that " one pound of this product is equivalent to 80 eggs ", when in 
truth and in fact one pound of genuine dried eggs is the equivalent 
of 36 eggs; and because said product was not " true eggs " and was 
not made of true eggs, said cans being labeled so as to mislead and 
deceive the purchaser into the belief that the product in question 
contains the essential constituents of true eggs, which was untrue, 
and praying seizure, condemnation, and forfeiture of the product.
On March 9,1911, the cause came on for hearing and the True Egg 
Substitute Company appearing as claimant, the matters at issue were 
submitted to the court which found the product to be adulterated and 
misbranded as alleged in said libel and decreed the condemnation 
and forfeiture thereof to the use of the United States, and ordered 
the marshal of said district to destroy the labels and brands on the 
above cases or cans, and all the booklets accompanying the same, and 
to relabel said cases or cans with labels reading as follows: "A com- 
pound of casein and corn starch artificially colored ", and sell the 
same at public auction, with the proviso, however, that the product 
should be released to the above-mentioned claimant if it should pay 
all the costs of these proceedings, and furnish a good and sufficient 
bond in the sum of $500, conditioned that said claimant would remove 
said labels and booklets and plainly relabel said cases and cans with 
some lawful label and would not sell or otherwise dispose of said 
goods in violation of law.
This notice is given pursuant to section 4 of the Food and Drugs 
Act of June 30, 1906.
JAMES WILSON, 
Secretary of Agriculture.
WASHINGTON, D. C, June 19, 1911.
969
o