FOODS AND FOOD CONTROL-I.

Revised to July 1, 1905.

I. Federal laws and laws of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, and Connecticut. a

FEDERAL LAWS.

The United States laws relating to the food supply are enforced by the Department of Agriculture and the Treasury Department.

The Acts of Congress under which the Bureau of Chemistry works along these lines are the law of July 1, 1902, forbidding the misbranding of foods as to the State or Territory in which they are manufactured, and those sections of the annual acts making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture which define the control of imported and exported foods, the investigation of adulterations, the establishment of food standards, etc. The enforcement of the imported food law by the Bureau of Chemistry is accomplishing much in improving the character of the foods imported into this country, especially by regulating the labels under which the foods are imported. It has been found, however, that it is possible to import foods in bulk and bottle or put them up in smaller packages in this country, using then any label that is desired. This law, therefore, practically only applies to foods that are sold in the packages in which they are imported. The enactment of an interstate food law, giving the Department some control over the goods after they are imported, as well as control over foods that enter into interstate commerce, will be necessary to make the law thoroughly effective.

The work of the Bureau of Animal Industry relating to the supervision of food products is carried on under the act approved March 3, 1891, providing for the inspection of live stock slaughtered for human consumption and the carcasses and products thereof which are intended for export to foreign countries or which are the subjects of interstate

a In this compilation, the Statutes are followed literally, except as regards punctuation and capitalization.

commerce, as amended by the appropriation act approved March 2, 1895; under that portion of the act approved May 9, 1902, which provides for the sanitary inspection of all renovated or process butter factories, their products, and the materials going into the same, and for the marking of the product for identification on the market; and under the several appropriation acts which authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to construe the provisions of the act of March 3, 1891, as amended March 2, 1895, "to include dairy products intended for exportation to any foreign country."

The Treasury Department, through the Bureau of Internal Revenue, is charged with the enforcement of certain fiscal laws and regulations which have to do with the purity of foods. These are as follows: The act of August 2, 1886, amended by the act of May 9, 1902, taxing oleomargarin, renovated butter, and adulterated butter; the act of June 6, 1896, taxing filled cheese; the act of June 13, 1898, taxing mixed flour; the act of October 1, 1890, allowing the use, free of tax, of grape brandy in the fortification of pure sweet wines, and the act of March 3, 1897, allowing the bottling of distilled spirits in bond.

INSPECTION OF EXPORTED AND IMPORTED FOODS.

CATTLE AND MEAT.a

SEC. 1. Salt pork and bacon for exportation; penalty for defacing stamps or certificates. The Secretary of Agriculture may cause to be made a careful inspection of salted pork and bacon intended for exportation, with a view to determining whether the same is wholesome, sound, and fit for human food whenever the laws, regulations, or orders of the government of any foreign country to which such pork or bacon is to be exported shall require inspection thereof relating to the importation thereof into such country, and also whenever any buyer, seller, or exporter of such meats intended for exportation shall request the inspection thereof.

Such inspection shall be made at the place where such meats are packed or boxed, and each package of such meats so inspected shall bear the marks, stamps, or other device for identification provided for in the last clause of this section: Provided, That an inspection of such meats may also be made at the place of exportation if an inspection has not been made at the place of packing; or if, in the opinion of the Secretary of Agriculture, a reinspection becomes necessary. One copy of any certificate issued by any such inspector shall be filed in the Department of Agriculture; another copy shall be attached to the invoice of each separate shipment of such meat, and a third copy shall be delivered to the consignor or shipper of such meat as evidence that packages of salted pork and bacon have been inspected in accordance with the provisions of this act and found to be wholesome, sound, and fit for human food; and for the identification of the same such marks, stamps, or other devices as the Secretary of Agriculture may by regulation prescribe, shall be affixed to each of such packages.

Any person who shall forge, counterfeit, or knowingly and wrongfully alter, deface, or destroy any of the marks, stamps, or other devices provided for in this section on any package of any such meats, or who shall forge, counterfeit, or knowingly and wrongfully alter, deface, or destroy any certificate in reference to meats provided

a General provision in secs. 2-5.

for in this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the

court.

SEC. 2. Importation of adulterated food, drug, or liquor; penalty. It shall be unlawful to import into the United States any adulterated or unwholesome food or drug or any vinous, spirituous, or malt liquors adulterated or mixed with any poisonous or noxious chemical, drug, or other ingredient injurious to health. Any person who shall knowingly import into the United States any such adulterated food or drug or drink, knowing or having reasons to believe the same to be adulterated, being the owner or the agent of the owner, or the consignor or consignee of the owner, or in privity with them, assisting in such unlawful act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to prosecution therefor in the district court of the United States for the district into which such property is imported; and on conviction such person shall be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars for each separate shipment and may be imprisoned by the court for a term not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 3. Forfeiture of imported food or drink. Any article designed for consumption as human food or drink, and any other article of the classes or description mentioned in this act, which shall be imported into the United States contrary to its provisions, shall be forfeited to the United States, and shall be proceeded against under the provisions of chapter eighteen of title thirteen of the Revised Statutes of the United States; and such imported property so declared forfeited may be destroyed or returned to the importer for exportation from the United States after the payment of all costs and expenses, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe; and the Secretary of the Treasury may cause such imported articles to be inspected or examined in order to ascertain whether the same have been so unlawfully imported.

Whenever the President

SEC. 4. Proclamation suspending adulterated importations. is satisfied that there is good reason to believe that any importation is being made, or is about to be made, into the United States from any foreign country of any article used for human food or drink that is adulterated to an extent dangerous to the health or welfare of the people of the United States, or any of them, he may issue his proclamation suspending the importation of such articles from such country for such period of time as he may think necessary to prevent such importation; and during such period it shall be unlawful to import into the United States from the countries designated in the proclamation of the President any of the articles the importation of which is so suspended.

SEC. 5. Proclamation suspending importations from countries discriminating against products of the United States. Whenever the President shall be satisfied that unjust discriminations are made by or under the authority of any foreign state against the importation to or sale in such foreign state of any product of the United States, he may direct that such products of such foreign state so discriminating against any product of the United States as he may deem proper shall be excluded from importation to the United States; and in such case he shall make proclamation of his direction in the premises, and therein name the time when such direction against importation shall take effect, and after such date the importation of the articles named in such proclamation shall be unlawful. The President may at any time revoke, modify, terminate, or renew any such directions as, in his opinion, the public interest may require.

SEC. 6. Importation of diseased cattle; penalty. The importation of neat cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, and swine, which are diseased or infected with any disease, or which shall have been exposed to such infection within sixty days next before their exportation, is hereby prohibited; and any person who shall knowingly

violate the foregoing provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, and any vessel or vehicle used in such unlawful importation, with the knowledge of the master or owner of said vessel or vehicle that such importation is diseased or has been exposed to infection as herein described, shall be forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 7. Quarantine of imported cattle. The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, at the expense of the owner, to place and retain in quarantine all neat cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, and all swine, imported into the United States, at such ports as he may designate for such purpose, and under such conditions as he may by regulation prescribe, respectively, for the several classes of animals above described; and for this purpose he may have and maintain possession of all lands, buildings, animals, tools, fixtures, and appurtenances now in use for thể quarantine of neat cattle, and hereafter purchase, construct, or rent as may be necessary, and he may appoint veterinary surgeons, inspectors, officers, and employees by him deemed necessary to maintain such quarantine, and provide for the execution of the other provisions of this act.

SEC. 8. Valuation of imported animals slaughtered in accordance with this law. The importation of all animals described in this act into any port in the United States, except such as may be designated by the Secretary of Agriculture, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, as quarantine stations, is hereby prohibited; and the Secretary of Agriculture may cause to be slaughtered such of the animals named in this act as may be, under regulations prescribed by him, adjudged to be infected with any contagious disease, or to have been exposed to infection so as to be dangerous to other animals; and that the value of animals so slaughtered as being so exposed to infection, but not infected, may be ascertained by the agreement of the Secretary of Agriculture and owners thereof, if practicable, otherwise by the appraisal by two persons familiar with the character and value of such property, to be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, whose decision, if they agree, shall be final; otherwise the Secretary of Agriculture shall decide between them and his decision shall be final; and the amount of the value thus ascertained shall be paid to the owner thereof out of money in the Treasury appropriated for the use of the Bureau of Animal Industry, but no payment shall be made for any animal imported in violation of the provisions of this act. If any animals subject to quarantine according to the provisions of this act are brought into any port of the United States where no quarantine station is established the collector of such port shall require the same to be conveyed by the vessel on which they are imported or are found to the nearest quarantine station, at the expense of the owner.

SEC. 9. Suspension of importation of certain animals. Whenever, in the opinion of the President, it shall be necessary for the protection of animals in the United States against infectious or contagious diseases, he may, by proclamation, suspend the importation of all or any class of animals for a limited time, and may change, modify, revoke, or renew such proclamation as the public good may require; and during the time of such suspension the importation of any such animals shall be unlawful.

SEC. 10. Inspection and disinfection of cattle, exported and imported. The Secretary of Agriculture shall cause careful inspection to be made by a suitable officer of all imported animals described in this act, to ascertain whether such animals are infected with contagious diseases or have been exposed to infection so as to be dangerous to other animals, which shall then either be placed in quarantine or dealt with according to the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture; and all food, litter, manure, clothing, utensils, and other appliances that have been so related to such animals on board ship as to be judged liable to convey infection shall be dealt with according to the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture; and the Secretary of Agriculture may cause inspection to be made of all animals described in this act intended for exporta

tion, and provide for the disinfection of all vessels engaged in the transportation thereof, and of all the barges or other vessels used in the conveyance of such animals intended for export to the ocean steamer or other vessels, and of all attendants and their clothing, and of all head ropes and other appliances used in such exportation, by such orders and regulations as he may prescribe; and if, upon such inspection, any such animals shall be adjudged, under the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, to be infected or to have been exposed to infection so as to be dangerous to other animals, they shall not be allowed to be placed upon any vessel for exportation; the expense of all the inspection and disinfection provided for in this section to be borne by the owners of the vessels on which such animals are exported.

Approved, August 30, 1890. Statutes of the United States of America, 1889-1890, ch. 839, pp. 414–417.

SEC. 1. Certificate of health for exported cattle. The Secretary of Agriculture shall cause to be made a careful inspection of all cattle intended for export to foreign countries from the United States, at such times and places and in such manner as he may think proper, with a view to ascertain whether such cattle are free from disease; and for this purpose he may appoint inspectors, who shall be authorized to give an official certificate clearly stating the condition in which such animals are found, and no clearance shall be given to any vessel having on board cattle for exportation to a foreign country unless the owner or shipper of such cattle has a certificate from the inspector herein authorized to be appointed, stating that said cattle are sound and free from disease.

SEC. 2. Certificate of health for cattle to be killed for export. The Secretary of Agriculture shall also cause to be made a careful inspection of all live cattle, the meat of which, fresh, salted, canned, corned, packed, cured, or otherwise prepared, is intended for exportation to any foreign country, at such times and places and in such manner as he may think proper, with a view to ascertain whether said cattle are free from disease and their meat sound and wholesome, and may appoint inspectors who shall be authorized to give an official certificate clearly stating the condition in which such cattle and meat are found, and no clearance shall be given to any vessel having on board any fresh, salted, canned, corned, or packed beef being the meat of cattle killed after the passage of this act for exportation to and sale in a foreign country from any port in the United States until the owner or shipper shall obtain from an inspector appointed under the provisions of this act a certificate that said cattle were free from disease and that their meat is sound and wholesome.-As amended March 2, 1895. United States Statutes at Large, 1893–1895, vol. 28, ch. 169, p. 732.

SEC. 3. Inspection of live cattle and post-mortem examination of carcasses intended for interstate commerce. The Secretary of Agriculture shall cause to be inspected, prior to their slaughter, all cattle, sheep, and hogs which are subjects of interstate commerce and which are about to be slaughtered at slaughterhouses, canning, salting, packing, or rendering establishments in any State or Territory, the carcasses or products of which are to be transported and sold for human consumption in any other State or Territory, or the District of Columbia, and, in addition to the aforesaid inspection, there may be made in all cases where the Secretary of Agriculture may deem necessary or expedient, under rules and regulations to be by him prescribed, a post-mortum examination of the carcasses of all cattle, sheep, and hogs about to be prepared for human consumption at any slaughterhouse, canning, salting, packing, or rendering establishment in any State or Territory, or the District of Columbia, which are the subjects of interstate commerce.

SEC. 4. Penalty for falsifying stamps or certificates of inspection. Said examination shall be made in the manner provided by rules and regulations to be prescribed by

a So in Statutes.