New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-11

Of putting" q. G.. exaggerating the quail
ties possesscd) and invcnts advantages or
invests the property with qualities not
found at all. The court declares that
there is deception and fraud when the
article is not of the character and KIND
represented, and hence does not serve Its
purpose" No keener weapon could nave
been placed in the hands of the lighters
for honest advertising and merchandising
In Nav came the climax. In March,
1912. the District Court of East tennessee
had rendered a decision adverse to the gov
eminent in the famous Coca Cola case.
Two years later the Circuit Court CON
frmed the decision, deciding that Coca Cola
was distinctive name" that the product
was by nature synthetic beverage, ana
the caffein present was not an added IN
gredient but natural part of the product
and so did not come within the law. On
this ground the question of the injurious
ness Of caffein was not submitted to the
Jury at all, and the government lost It's
case on this technicality alone
The Supreme Court in reversing the
lower courts has sustained every lmpor-
tant point that the government originally
made. Virtually it is ruled that Coca Cola
is not n distinctive name, consisting as 1t
does of two words describing actual sub
stances. and that the characteristic Ingre-
dents of coca and cola should be present, or
the nroduct is misbranded; hence caffein is
an added substance, and the point of its
.iniuriousness in a soft drink of this kind is
a matter of fact to be submitted to the
Jury. The syrup of Coca Cola is over half
sugar. AZ per cent water, is made from eX-
hausted coca leaves, yielding no character
istic ingredients as far as can be deter
mined; it contains little or no cola-the
caffein added being derived from tea
sweepings and added to the syrup.
The highest court Of the land, abandon
ing casuistry and technicalities and driv-
ing straight at the intent of the law, gives
utterance to such illuminating sentences
as these: "To call the compound by a
name descriptive of ingredients which are
not present is not 10 give it its own de-
scriptive name" "Fusel oil is a poison.
If YOU extract it it becomes single active
agency of destruction, but allow it TO re-
main in the combination where nature has
placed it, and while nominally it Is a
poison. It is a harmless material, or COM
paratively So"
This is a luminous comment on the anal
ogv always drawn between coffee as a
natural caffein-bearing drink as compared
with an alleged soft drink artiicially COM
pounded in which the element caffein IS
secreted and sold to children and others Of
nervous temperament without their lnowl-
edge Of its presence. Recognition is given
bv the court TO the fact that the decision
of the lower courts would reduce the food
and drugs act to an absurdity, since by
giving a product a fanciful name any
poison. like arsenic, if not an added IN
gredient, could be present under the sane
ton Of the law.
Important as these decisions are in them
selves and in relation TO the products and
cases they specifically cover, the great
point gained is the revitalizing Of the
whole food and drugs act and arming with
fresh courage and efficiency all those forces
that ere battling for the public health and
commercial honesty.