Evening journal., 1907-04-04
READY TO ENFORCE
PURE FOOD LAW
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It Is expected that the state Board
Of Health, Of which Or e. w. Cooper.
OF Camden, is president, will name
some inspectors at this afternoons
meeting to start out In campaign
against adulterated food products
There is already national pure food
law in effect and the Delaware law
Just enacted Is modelled after that so
that the State and Federal authorities
both can camp on the trait Of manufac-
turers and sellers of adulterated foods
or drugs.
The enforcement Of the provisions Of
the National Pure Food Law enacted
at the last session Of Congress is evil
IDENTIFY causing the manufacturers OF
/ proprietary medicines no little concern.
! Secretary Wilson, Of the Department OF
Agriculture, is in daily receipt Of let
ters showing the unwillingness. which
some Of these gentlemen feel to reveal
I the fact that their medicines contain
] alcohol. Thus recently the Secretary
received a letter as follows:
The word alcohol has received so
much unfavoraible notoriety during the
last few years that We hesitate to place
II upon our labels. Could we not em-
| ploy some other words in place of X.
such as cologne spirits or spirits of
1 Wine, pure grain alconol.' etc?
Another manufacturer writes:
In the manufacture of some OF our
products we use opium. 1t would
however, be a financial loss to state
this fact on the label. Could we not
say this preparation contains 20 grains
Of the concentrated extract of the pa
paver somniferum to the fluid ounce?
To such questions the secretary re-
| plies that one of the objects of the law
is to inform the consumer of certain
/ ingredients or drugs IN medicines. The
] law itself uses only the common names
by which these ingredients are gener-
ally known, and the permission to use
any but these common names ds neither
expressed or implied in any part of the
law. The law uses the name "alcohol"
not "spiritus rectiflcatus" If opium
is used IL must be called opium II
the medicine contains chloral the label
must state that fact Thus, for in
stance, ''Chloral aceeone" cannot be
disguised under the technical name Of
"trichlorethivene dimeuyl ketone."
There is no objection to retaining this
usual names Of such well-known COM
pounds as Dover's powders or lauda-
mum, but in each case such names
must he accompanied I'm parathesis by
some such phrase as preparation OF
opium" followed by the number Of
minims or grains-for instance "Laud-
anum preparation Of opium) 40 min
dms pes ounce"
One interesting query came from an
establishment which evidently has a
large business in curing drug habits by
mail. The writer explains that his
house treats drug additions on a very
gradual tonic treatment reduction plan.
Thus II a man writes to this house for
Information as to the nome treatment
to cure his drug habit, he must send
full particulars OF how much Of the
drug he used every day, end in pre-
scribing for his case the medicine that
Is sent is just one e-haf the amount he
| generally used. combined with a little
bitter tonic. II Is further explained to
Secretary Wilson that 1T is necessary
for the reduction In drug cases to be
made without the patients knowledge
1t is, OF course. understood by all phy-
sicians that you cannot trust a drug
habtue 10 properly make his own re-
ductions. for as a matter of fact, If
he knew to what extent his daily al
lowance of opiates was being reduced
he would imagine the reduction too
rapid. he would get frightened and
would take to his former drug for re-
lief" The letter ends with a request
to be informed If. under the Pure Food
Law, the medicine sent must bear a
drug it contains.
The reply sent by Secretary Wilson
Is specific that on a package COM
pounded according to a physicians pre-
scription sent from one State to an
other by a druggist. a physician OF
their agent, the label must bear the in
formation called for by Congress. If
the patient himself, however, or his
physician carries such a package across
a State line. and the package is not
for SALE then the provisions Of the
Pure Food Law do not apply.
Stin another druggist wants to know
n 1t is necessary to give the amount
OF alcohol present in United States
pharmacopoeial or national formulary
products. He thinks such require
ment would be absurd, because such
products are not patent medicines He
wishes also TO know 81 he must state
the percentage Of alcohol I'm his pre-
parations IL he obtains a serial number
from the government. The reply sent
him IS. as in all other cases, very clear
that any preparation containing alcohol
must set forth that Fact in the label