7714. Adulteration and nsis-lirandiixgr of cocoa. U. S. * * ?* v. 52S 
POXUUJ&S of AIAejgied j&o<coa. Renault d^rrec ojf eonxlenmaiion, for- 
feiture, and destruction.     (P. & D. No. Ill11.    I. g. No. 6773-r.     S.  No.
C-1428.)
* 
On August 22, 1919, the United States attorney for the Northern District of
Illinois, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the Dis- 
trict Court of the United States for said district a libel for the condemnation 
and forfeiture of 528 pounds of alleged cocoa, remaining unsold in the original 
unbroken packages at Streator, Ill., alleging that the article had been shipped 
on or about March 28, 1939, by the National Cocoa Mills, New York, N. Y- 
and transported from the State of New York into the State of Illinois, and 
charging adulteration and misbranding under the Food and Drugs Act. The 
article was labeled in part, " My Own Pure Cocoa. Net weight J lb." or " i 
pound," as the case may be, " The Cocoa contained in this packag-e is Positively 
High Grade and guaranteed by the manufacturers to comply -with all Federal 
and State Food Laws. It is a breakfast cocoa of Superior Quality and Excel- 
lence.   Absolutely Pure.   No Alkalis.   No Chemicals."
Adulteration of the article was alleged in the libel for the reason that starcti 
and sugar had been mixed and packed with the article so as to reduce, lowerj
and injuriously affect its quality and strength and had been substituted in part 
for genuine cocoa, which the article purported to be, and for the further reason 
that the said article of food was mixed in a manner whereby damage and infe- 
riority were concealed.
Misbranding of the article was alleged for the reason that the above-quoted 
statements, borne on the label, were false and misleading in that the statement, 
to wit, " My Own Pure Cocoa," was not sufficiently corrected by the incon- 
spicuous statement " My own cocoa compound containing corn starch, sugar." 
Misbranding was alleged for the further reason that the foregoing statement 
deceived and misled the purchaser into the belief that the article of food was 
pure cocoa, whereas, in truth and in fact, the said article was not pure cocoa, 
but starch and sugar had been mixed and packed with it so as to reduce, lower, 
and injuriously affect its quality and strength, and for the reason that the 
article was an imitation of, and was offered for sale under the distinctive name 
of, another article, to wit, genuine cocoa.
On March 5, 1920, no claimant having appeared for the property, a default 
decree of condemnation and forfeiture was entered, and it was ordered by the 
court that the product be destroyed by the United States marshal.
E. D. BALL, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.