17528. Action to enjoin and restrain the interstate shipment of adulterated
cheese.   U. S. v. Costastine Economou (C. Economou).   Decree for 
permanent injunction.    (Inc. No. 123.)
time of filing the complaint had been preparing and packing cheese which was 
adulterated under Sections 402 (a) (3) and (4), in that it consisted in whole 
or in part of a filthy substance and was unfit for food, and had been pre- 
pared under insanitary conditions; and the cheese so prepared and packed 
was being shipped in interstate commerce by the defendant.
The complaint alleged further that a sanitary inspection made of the de- 
fendant's place of business on July 12, 1945, showed that the plant was very 
filthy; that flies were breeding in manure in a barnyard nearby and were gain- 
ing access to the plant and alighting upon equipment, raw materials, inter- 
mediate products, and finished cheese; that some of the cheese had maggots 
on it and other cheese had flies and parts of flies embedded in it; that rodent 
excreta pellets were found on a cheese drying table, and hundreds of large 
rodent pellets were observed on drain racks in the refrigerator room where 
finished cheese was stored; that rodent-gnawed cheese was observed by the 
inspector, and other signs of rodent activity were observed; and that exam- 
ination of the milk being purchased by the defendant showed that a large 
amount was very dirty and unfit for human consumption and was being used 
by the defendant without clarification.
The complaint alleged further that the plant was reinspected on August 8, 
1945, during which inspection, conditions similar to those existing at the 
time of the earlier inspection were observed; that an inspection of October 26, 
1945, showed continuing rodent infestation and use of unfit milk; that a 
seizure had been made of a shipment of the firm's cheese at New York, N. Y., 
because of the presence of larvae and insect fragments; and that defendant 
had been warned of the conditions found in his plant during inspections and 
had been advised to correct them but had failed to do so.
The complaint alleged further, on information and belief, that the defendant 
would continue to ship adulterated food in interstate commerce unless re- 
strained from so doing. The complaint prayed the issuance of a preliminary 
injunction, and that after due proceedings, the preliminary injunction be made 
permanent.
DISPOSITION : On November 21,1945, pursuant to a stipulation between counsel 
for the Government and the defendant, a preliminary injunction was entered 
by the court. On February 27, 1946, after a hearing before the court, a per- 
manent injunction was entered, restraining the defendant and all other per- 
sons acting on his behalf from directly on indirectly shipping or delivering 
for shipment into interstate commerce, cheese or cheese products which are 
adulterated in that they are filthy or decomposed or otherwise unfit for food, 
or which had been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions 
whereby they may have become contaminated with filth, or had been manu- 
factured from milk which was dirty and unfit for human consumption.