The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-04-06
Consumer Notes
Issued Weekly by Consumer
Counsel Division, A. A. A..
Washington, D. c.

i
A "Famous First" For Consumers
It's a consumer headliner when for
the first time the Federal Trade COM
mission goes into the courts and gets
an injunction against further adver-
tising of drug dangerous to health.
That's what happened recently when
F. T. C. attorneys secured an in
junction against further advertising of
a weight reducing remedy distributed
by a Chicago firm. Use of the drug,
the Commission found, may prove in
furious to hsalth and eyesight.
To prevent the advertising of this
drug, the Federal Trade Commission
exercised it's new powers under the
Wheeler-Lea Amendment to the orig
inal ETC Act and for the first time
went to court for an injunction.
All advertisements of the drug were
stopped under the injunction until the
issuance of the recent Cease and De-
sist Order by the ETC, which con-
tinues the prohibition and makes it
permanent, unless reversed by the
courts.
X X \
Facts For Easter Egg Artists
Easter eggs not only should look
good, but their color should be safe.
Color often seeps through the por-
Gus shell of an egg onto the white. If
there is any harmful substance in the
dye, such an arsenic or lead, illness
may result if hungry small consumers
lay hands on colored eggs.
Almost all Easter egg dyes on the
market today are made from harmless
vegetable or harmless coal-tar dyes.
Many of the latter are composed of
dyes certified for their purity by the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture.
Certified coal-tar dyes are practical
ly the only food ingredient for the
purity of which the Government takes
responsibility before it is added to a
food. At the present there are only
Is colors on the permitted list Of dyes
which may be legally added to food.
A sample from each batch of a per-
mitted dye made by dye manufacture
er must be tested by the Food and
Drug Administration and pronounced
free from harmful impurities before
it is a certified color and only that
batch is thus certified.
Once approved, the manufacturer
may label color as Certified by the
Dept. of Agriculture" The color is
given lot number which is stated on
the label of each package.
Dyes packaged for the Easter trade
although possibly obtained from a GER
titled batch, are generally sold in such
small amounts as to be impracticable
for the manufactures to go through
the procedure emitting him to 1abel
them as certified. -
No system of certification is in eff.
feet for animal or vegetable dyes.
X X X
Look Before You Sign
Buying on time is all right for those
who don't have the ready cash, but be
sure you know what the sales contract
says before you sign on the dotteC
line.
Here are some Of the questions the
instalment buyer should ask himself
and the dealer-before he signs:
1) What will the credit actually
cost me in money? What rate of in
tereSt is charged?
(2) Are all the dollars and cent.
figures in the contract correct? Are
there any blank spaces to be filled il
later?
CD What are the insurance charges
if any? What insurance is actually
provided?
(4) TO whom will | owe the pay
ments?
(5) What penalty charges may be
imposed for late payment? Are there
any other extra charges?
Co Do have right to fair notice
before the merchandise can be re
possessed? What repossession charges
may be collected?
CD What security have | given
Does the security include other mer
chandise previously bought? Does i
include a wage assignment?
(8) What legal safeguards ant
guarantees have | waived?
(9) Do terms in fine print comm
me to additional obligations?
1OD Is there provision for fail
refund on carrying charges if carl,
payment is made?