NOTICE OF JUDGMENT NO. 2528.
(Given pursuant to section 4 of the Food and Drugs Act.)
U. S. v. G. W. Chase & Son Mercantile Co.    Plea of nolo contendere.    Fine,
^1 and  costs.
ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING OF CHOCOLATE BEANS.
On October 22, 1912, the United States Attorney for the Western 
District of Missouri, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agri- 
culture, filed in the District Court of the United States for said 
district an information against the G. W. Chase & Son Mercantile Co., 
a corporation, St. Joseph, Mo., alleging shipment by said company, 
in violation of the Food and Drugs Act, on or about September 30, 
1911, from the State of Missouri into the State of Nebraska, of 10 
pails of chocolate beans which were adulterated and misbranded. 
The product was labeled": " 40# Woolworth & Co., Omaha, Nebr. 
Chocolate Beans Artificial Flavors. Guaranteed by G. W. Chase & 
Son Mer. Co. under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906, Serial 
No. 4866, 54108 C B & Q Omaha 10-4."
Analysis of a sample of the product made by the Bureau of Chem- 
istry of this Department showed the following results: Ash, 0.15 per 
cent; non-volatile ether extract, 0.18 per cent; coating, none; appear- 
ance and taste do not indicate the presence of an appreciable amount 
of chocolate. Adulteration of the product was alleged in the infor- 
mation for the reason that the pails did not, in truth and in fact, 
contain chocolate beans but some other substance had been substi- 
tuted in whole or in part for chocolate and the contents of the pails 
did not contain an appreciable amount of chocolate. Misbranding 
was alleged for the reason that the statement on the label of each 
of the pails of the product in prominent position and type was false 
and misleading, in that it conveyed the impression and so stated that 
the product contained chocolate, whereas, in truth and in fact, there 
was not contained in the pails an appreciable amount of chocolate. 
The product was further misbranded in that the statement " choco- 
late beans," borne on the label, would mislead and deceive the pur-
2862°— No. 2528—13
chaser into the belief that the product contained chocolate, whereas, 
in truth and in fact, it contained no appreciable amount of chocolate 
but a mere trace thereof.
On March 7, 1913, the defendant company entered a plea of nolo 
contendere to the information and the court imposed a fine of $1 
and costs.
B. T. GALLOWAY, 
Acting Secretary of Agriculture.
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 14,1913.
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