11879. Adulteration  and  misbranding  of Intein   tablets.     V.   S.  v.  5  Tubes
of  I/utein   Tablets.     Default   decree   of  condemnation,   forfeiture, 
and destruction.     (F. & D. No. 17674.    I. S. No. 1785-v.    S. No. E-4461.)
On August 6, 1923, the United States attorney for the District of Massa- 
chusetts, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the Dis- 
trict Court of the United States for said district a libel of information praying 
the seizure and condemnation of 5 tubes, more or less, of so-called lutein tablets, 
remaining in the original unbroken packages at Boston, Mass., alleging that 
the article had been shipped by Morgenstern & Co., from New York, N. Y., on 
or about April 30, 1923, and transported from the State of New York into the 
State of Massachusetts, and charging adulteration and misbranding in violation 
of the Food and Drugs Act.
Analysis of a sample of the article by the Bureau of Chemistry of this de- 
partment showed that the tablets consisted essentially of potato starch, licorice 
root, and celery seed, with little or no corpus luteum or other animal tissue.
Adulteration of the article was alleged in the libel for the reason that its 
strength and purity fell below the professed standard and quality under which 
it was sold, in that it was sold as a product containing 5 grains of lutein (cor- 
pus luteum), whereas, in truth and in fact, it contained not more than' a 
trace of, if any, corpus luteum.
Misbranding of the article was alleged for the reason that the package con- 
taining the article bore statements regarding the said article and the ingredi- 
ents and substances contained therein, as follows, "5 Gr. Lutein (Corpus Lu- 
teum) Tablets H. W. & D. * * * Baltimore Each tablet represents ap- 
proximately twenty grains of fully developed corpora lutea," which were false 
and misleading, in that the said statements represented that the said article 
contained 5 grains of lutein (corpus luteum) and that each tablet represented 
approximately 20 grains of fully developed corpora lutea, whereas, in truth and 
in fact, the said article did not contain 5 grains of lutein (corpus luteum) and 
each tablet did not represent approximately 20 grains of fully developed cor- 
pora lutea, since the article contained not more than a trace of, if any, corpus 
luteum. Misbranding was alleged for the further reason that the article was 
an imitation of and was offered for sale under the name of another article, to 
wit, genuine lutein (corpus luteum) tablets.
On September 24, 1923, no claimant having appeared for the property, judg- 
ment of condemnation and forfeiture was entered, and it was ordered by the 
court that the product be destroyed by the United States marshal.
HOWABD M. GOEE, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.