20556. Misbranding of Vapex. U.S. v. 15 Dozen Bottles, et al., of Vapex. 
Default decrees of condemnation and destruction. (F. & D. nos. 
29594, 29595.    Sample nos. 21072-A, 21120-A, 32934-A.)
These cases involved various shipments of Vapex, a drug preparation. In 
one of the lots the label bore no declaration of the alcohol content, and in 
remaining lots the declaration was not properly made. Tests of the article 
showed that it did not possess the bactericidal properties claimed in the 
labeling. It also was claimed for the article that it was made in England, 
whereas a part of the manufacturing process was carried on in this country.
On December 6, 1932, the United States attorney for the Western District 
of Pennsylvania, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed 
in the District Court of the United States a libel praying seizure and condemna- 
tion of 15 dozen bottles of Vapex at Pittsburgh, Pa. On December 7, 1932, the 
United States attorney for the District of Delaware filed a libel against 41 
dozen bottles of the product at Wilmington, Del. The libels charged that the 
article had been shipped in interstate commerce, in various lots, between the 
dates of October 8, 1932 and November 23, 1932, by E. Fougera & Co., Inc., 
from New York, N. Y., and that it was misbranded in violation of the Food and 
Drugs Act.
Analysis of a sample of the article by this Department showed that it 
consisted essentially of volatile oils, such as menthol and lavender oil, alcohol 
(approximately 65 percent by volume), and water.
It was alleged in the libels that the article was misbranded in that the 
following statements appearing in the circular accompanying the packages, 
" Vapex is produced in England by This Kerfoot & Co., Ltd." and " Laboratory 
tests have proved that the Vapex vapor kills the pathogenic bacteria present in 
the breathing passages ", were false and misleading. Misbranding was alleged 
for the further reason that the labels failed to bear a statement of the quantity 
or proportion of alcohol contained in the article, since in one lot the alcohol 
was not declared, and in the other lots the declaration appeared in an incon- 
spicuous place on the bottle label, and no declaration appeared upon the outside 
of the packages.
On January 6 and January 11, 1933, no claimant having appeared for the 
property, judgments of condemnation were entered and it was ordered by the 
courts that the product be destroyed by the United States marshals.
R. G. TUGWELL, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.