30081. Adulteration and misbranding of flour. U. S. v. 25 Bags of Flour (and
2 other seizure actions against the same product). Default decrees
of condemnation and destruction. (F. & D. Nos. 43498, 43550, 43551,
44052. Sample Nos. 37648-D, 38046-D, 38086-D, 38208-D.) ·
This product, which had been shipped in interstate commerce and remained
unsold and in the original packages at the time of examination, was found to
be insect-infested. It also was bleached but was not labeled to indicate that
fact.
On August 31, September 3, and October 3, 1938, the United States attorney
for the Eastern District of Louisiana, acting upon reports by the Secretary of
Agriculture, filed in the district court libels praying seizure and condemnation
of 75 bags of flour at New Orleans, La.; alleging that the article had been
shipped in part on or about .July 19, 1938, and in part on or about August 8,
1938, by Midland Flour Milling Co. from Blackwell, Okla.; and charging adulteration
and misbranding in violation of the Food and Drugs Act. A portion
of the article was labeled in part: "Harina Lealtad Newton Milling & Elevator
Co., Newton, Kans." The remainder was labeled in part: "Harina De Trigo
Duro Osiris [or "Town Crier Flour"] The Midland Flour Milling Co. Kansas
City."
The article was alleged to be adulterated in that bleached flour had been substituted
wholly or in part for it, and in that it consisted wholly or in part of
a filthy vegetable substance.
It was alleged to be misbranded in that the statements on the labels, ''Harina,"
"Harina De Trigo Duro" ( Spanish terms which mean flour and hard wheat
flour, respectively), and "Flour," were false and misleading and tended to
deceive and mislead the purchaser when applied to bleached fl.our.
On November 11, 1938, no claimant having appeared, judgments of condemnation
were entered and the product was ordered destroyed.