12196. Adulteration and misbranding of butter.     D. S. v.  100 Cases, et al.*
of Butter. Decrees entered providing- for release of product 
under bond to be reprocessed. (F. & D. Nos. 18442, 18444. I. S. Nos. 
15065-v, 15066-v, 15068-v.    S. Nos. E.-4763, E-4764.)
On March 4, 1924, the United States attorney for the District of Maryland, 
acting upon reports by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the District Court 
of the United States for said district libels praying the seizure and condemna- 
tion of 218 cases of butter, remaining in the original unbroken packages at 
Baltimore, Md., alleging that the article had been shipped by the Hanford 
Produce Co., from Blue Island, Ill., on or about February 4, 1924, and trans- 
ported from the State of Illinois into the State of Maryland, and charging- 
adulteration and misbranding in violation of the Food and Drugs Act.
Adulteration of the article was alleged in the libels for the reason that a 
product deficient in butterfat and containing excessive moisture had been 
mixed and packed therewith so as to reduce and lower and injuriously affect 
its quality and strength and had been substituted wholly or in part for butter, 
which the- article purported to be. Adulteration was alleged for the further 
reason that a valuable constituent of the article, to wit, butterfat, had been 
in whole or in part abstracted.
Misbranding of the article was alleged in substance for the reason that the 
statements, to wit, " 1 Lb. Net Weight    *    *    *   Pasteurized Armour's Clover-
bloom * * * Creamery Butter," " Creamery Butter," and " Supreme Fancy 
Creamery Butter * * * Supreme Butter Is Guaranteed Absolutely Pure 
Creamery Butter, Made From Pasteurized Cream In The Best Creameries In 
The Finest Butter Producing Section Of The World. And If Not Better Than 
Any Other Butter You Ever Had On Your Table," as the case might be, 
appearing on the labels of respective portions of the said article, were false 
and misleading and deceived and misled the purchaser when applied to a 
product containing excessive moisture- and deficient in butterfat.
On March 12, 1924, the North American Provision Co. and Armour & Co. 
having appeared as claimants for respective portions of the property, judg- 
ments of the court were entered ordering that the product be released to the 
said claimants, upon the execution of bonds in the aggregate sum of $7,000, in 
conformity with section 10 of the act, conditioned in part that it be reprocessed 
under the supervision of this department and that the claimants pay the costs 
of the proceedings.
HOWARD M. GORE, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.