18940. Misbranding of  Stevens  Anti-Amebic  dentifrice.    U.  S. v.  3 Dozen
Packages of Stevens Anti-Amebic Dentifrice. Default decree of 
condemnation, forfeiture, and destruction. (F. & D. No. 26996. I. S. 
No. 37910.    S. No. 5213.)
Examination of samples of Stevens Anti-Amebic dentifrice having shown that 
certain statements appearing on the label of the tube containing the article 
represented that it possessed curative and therapeutic properties which, in fact, 
it did not possess, the Secretary of Agriculture reported to the United States 
attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania the interstate shipment herein 
.described, involving a quantity of the product located at Philadelphia, Pa.
On September 25, 1931, the United States attorney filed in the District Court 
tx>l the United States for the district aforesaid a libel praying seizure and 
- condemnation of three dozen packages of the said Stevens Anti-Amebic denti- 
frice, remaining in the original unbroken packages at Philadelphia, Pa., alleging 
that the article had been shipped by the Stevens Medical Manufacturing Co., 
Brooklyn, N. Y., on or about August' 29, 1931, and had been transported from 
the State of New York into the State of Pennsylvania, and charging mis- 
branding in violation of the food and drugs act as amended.
Analysis of a sample of the article by this department showed that it con- 
sisted essentially of calcium carbonate, soap, a gum, a small proportion of ipecac 
alkaloids, volatile oils including peppermint oil, glycerin, and water.
It was alleged in the libel that the article was misbranded in that the fol- 
lowing statements appearing on the tube, regarding the curative or therapeutic 
.effects of the said article, were false and fraudulent, since it contained no 
ingredient or combination of ingredients capable of producing the effects 
claimed:   " For  the Prevention  and  Treatment  of Pyorrhea  or Rigg's  Dis-
ease * * * 1. Almost all tooth and gum troubles are due to Pyorrhea 
or Rigg's Disease. 2. Over half of all adult teeth lost, are lost through disease. 
3. 95% of all adults have Rigg's Disease to some extent. 4. A remedy has 
been discovered in Ipecac and its Alkaloids. 5. Stevens Anti-Amebic Dentifrice 
contains this remedy in concentration for treatment and as a preventative. 
*    *    *   Directions:-Use twice daily upon tooth brush."
On October 16,1931, no claimant having appeared for the property, judgment 
of condemnation and forfeiture was entered, and it was ordered by the court 
that the product be destroyed by the United States marshal.
ABTHUB M. HTDE, Secretary of Agriculture.