The Colorado statesman., 1917-01-06
LABEL Legend BARRED
Uncle Sam Prohibits Misleading
Guaranty on Packages.
Under New Plan Familiar Statement
Regarding Food and Drugs Act
Cannot Be Used on Containers.


The legend, so familiar in the past
on food and drug packages, "Guaran-
teed by manufacturer under the food
and drugs act, June 80, 1906, serial
number 265 424," is disappearing from
labels. A method for guaranteeing
foods and drugs which will be less
misleading to the public has been pro-
vided by Uncle Sans officials in
charge of the enforcement of the food
and drugs act. Under the new plan
manufacturers may guarantee their
products on the invoice or bill of sale,
or by certain other methods, but ac-
cording to food inspection decision
which became effective on November l,
1916, they may not make any statement
regarding the guaranty or serial num-
Der on the label of packages of foods
or drugs which enter interstate or
foreign commerce.
Originally it was provided in the
rules and regulations that the manu-
facturer or wholesaler who desired to
guarantee that his products complied
with the food and drugs act might
file general guaranty with the depart
ment of agriculture to the effect that
the foods or drugs he shipped into in
terstate commerce were not adulter-
ated or misbranded within the mean
ing of that act. Upon the receipt of
n properly executed guaranty the de-
partment assigned a serial number to
the manufacturer or wholesaler who
filed the guaranty. The manufacturer
or wholesaler was authorized to
use this number on his labels to
indicate that the guaranty which he
had filed with the department cov-
cred the products on which the number
was used. After this method had been
In operation for some time it was
found that the guaranty legend on the
label was misleading to the public. 1t
was incorrectly assumed by consumers
generally and some retail dealers that
the guaranty legend on the label meant
that a saIuple of the product had been
examined by the United States depart
ment of agriculture, and that in effect
the United States department of agri-
culture actually guaranteed the prod
uct.
The food and drugs act provides that
no dealer shall be prosecuted under
the provisions of that act when he can
establish guaranty signed by the
wholesaler, jobber, manufacturer, or
other party residing in the United
states, from whom he purchased arti-
cles of food and drugs. The object of
this provision is to make the manu-
facturer or wholesaler or person who
knows the composition of the food
and drug products responsible for their
compliance with the provisions of
the law. In many cases dealer does
not know the composition of the prod
ucts he sells, and cannot afford the ex-
pense of having an analysis made in
order to determine 1t for himself. A
provision, therefore, was inserted in
the law to the effect that, If the deal
er secured a guaranty from the manu-
facturer or wholesaler or other person
from whom he purchases, the party
making the guaranty would be re-
sponsible under the law, and the deal
er would be relieved of responsibility.
The guaranty was never intended to
be, and never has been, in any sense a
guaranty by the department of agri-
culture.