22446. Misbranding of  canned  sweetpotatoes.     TJ.   S.  v. 460   Cases   of   Canned
Sweetpotatoes.     Product   released   under   bond   to   be   relabeled.
(F. & D. no. 32465.    Sample no. 61574-A.)
This case involved a product labeled candied sweetpotatoesi which was found 
to consist of mashed sweetpotatoes. Examination also showed that the product 
was short weight.
On or about March 29, 1934, the United States attorney for the Northern 
District of Texas, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed 
in the district court a libel praying seizure and condemnation of 460 cases of 
canned sweetpotatoes at Sweetwater, Tex., alleging that the article had been 
shipped in interstate commerce, en or about February 5, 1934, by Barnette & 
Sibelle, from Sunset, La., and charging misbranding in violation of the Food 
and Drugs Act as amended. The article was labeled in part: "Pecan Valley 
Brand Sweet Potatoes prepared with Cane Sugar and Corn Syrup Average Net 
Weight One Lb. Seven Ozs. Delicious Candied Sweet Potatoes Distributed by 
Walker Smith Co., Main Office Brownwood, Texas."
It was alleged in the libel that the article was misbranded in that the state- 
ments on the label, " Candied Sweet Potatoes", as applied to mashed sweet- 
potatoes, and "Average net Weight one lb. seven ozs.", were false and misleading 
and tended to deceive and mislead the purchaser. Misbranding was alleged for 
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the further reason that the article was offered for sale under the distinctive 
name of another article, and for the further reason that it was food in package 
form and the quantity of the contents was not plainly and conspicuously marked 
on the outside of the package.
On April 18, 1934, the Walker-Smith Co., a Texas corporation, claimant, 
having admitted that the product was misbranded, and having executed a bond 
in the sum of $500, conditioned that the labels be corrected to meet the require- 
ments of the Federal Food and Drugs Act, the court ordered that the goods be 
released to the claimant.
M. L. WILSON, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.