28493. Adulteration and misbranding of lemon juice.     IT. S. v. 21 and 93 Cases
of Alleged Lemon Juice.     Judgment releasing: product for relabeling.
(F. & D. No. 38956.    Sample No. 31229-C.)
This product was diluted with water and contained added acid, but was repre- 
sented to be pure lemon juice. Moreover, a portion of it was short in volume, 
and its labeling bore false and fraudulent representations regarding its curative 
and therapeutic effects.
On January 23, 1937, the United States attorney for the District of Montana, 
acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the district court a 
libel praying seizure and. condemnation of 114 cases of alleged lemon juice at 
Butte, Mont., alleging that the article had been shipped in interstate commerce 
on or about September 25,1936, from Los Angeles, Calif., by General Food Prod- 
ucts Co., and charging adulteration and misbranding in violation of the Food and 
Drugs Act. The article was labeled in part: "Golden Flow Brand Pure Lemon 
Juice * * * Contents 15 F. Oz. [or "8 FL Oz."] * * * Pure Foods 
Corp., Los Angeles, Calif."
It was alleged to be adulterated in that it had been mixed and packed so as to 
reduce and lower its quality and in a manner whereby its inferiority was con- 
cealed; and in that a mixture of lemon juice, water, and acid had been substi- 
tuted for pure lemon juice, which it purported to be.
The article was alleged to be misbranded in that the design of lemons and a 
glass of what apparently was lemon juice, and the statements, "Lemon Juice" 
and "Pure Lemon Juice," borne on the label, were false and misleading and 
tended to deceive and mislead the purchaser as applied to lemon juice diluted with 
water and containing added acid; in that it was an imitation of and was offered 
for sale under the distinctive name of another article, pure lemon juice; and 
in that the statements, "An aid to Beauty, Health of Skin and Scalp, when Ap- 
plied Externally * * * Repels nerve inflammation, of Special Value in 
Southern Climates to Combat Disease," appearing on the labels, falsely and 
fraudulently represented the curative and therapeutic effects of the article. The 
product in the 8-ounce cans was alleged to be misbranded further in 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, since the quantity stated 
was not correct.
On January 18, 1938, the Western States Grocery Co., Butte, Mont., claimant, 
having admitted the allegations of the libel and having consented to the entry 
of a decree, the product was ordered released under bond for relabeling.
HARBY L. BROWN, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.