16700. Adulteration   and   Misbranding of   canned   oysters.    U.   S.   v.   600
Cases, et al., of Canned Oysters. Consent decree of condemna- 
tion and forfeiture.    Product  released under bond.     (F.  & D. No.
23984.    I.,S. Nos. .01162, 01163, 01164.    S. No. 2226.)
On or about September 5, 1929, the United States attorney for the District of 
Kansas, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the Dis- 
trict Court of the United States for said district a libel praying seizure and 
.condemnation of 600 cases of 4-ounce cans, 150 cases of 5-ounce cans, and 90 
cases of 8-ounce cans of canned oysters, remaining in the original unbroken 
packages at Wichita, .Kans., ,alleging that the article had been shipped by the
Shelmore Oyster Products Co., from Charleston, S. C, on or about March 1, 
1929, and transported from the State of South Carolina into the State of Kan- 
sas, and charging adulteration and misbranding in violation of the food and 
-drugs act as amended. The article was labeled in part: " Oysters Crystal Bay 
Brand Shelmore Oyster Products Co., * * * Contents 4 Ozs. Net," (or 
" Contents 5 Ozs. Net" or " Contents 8 Ozs. Net").
It was alleged in the libel that the article was adulterated in that it con- 
tained excessive brine, which had been mixed and packed with it so as to 
injure, lower, and affect its quality, purity, and strength.
Misbranding was alleged in substance for the reason that the statements on 
the labels, " Contents 4 Ozs. Net," " Contents 5 Ozs. Net," and " Contents 8 Ozs. 
Net," were false and misleading, and for the further reason that the article 
was in package form and the quantity of the contents was not plainly and 
?conspicuously marked on the outside of the package.
On September .27, 1929, the Shelmore Oyster Products Co., Charleston, S. C, 
having appeared as claimant for the property and having consented t > the entry 
of a decree, judgment of condemnation was entered, and it was ordered by the 
court that the product be released to the said claimant upon payment of costs 
and the execution of a bond in the sum of $500, conditioned in part that it 
?should not be sold or offered for sale in violation of law and be relabeled to 
-show the true quantity of the contents.
ABTHUE M. HTDE, Secretary of Agriculture.