11372. Action to restrain the interstate shipment of adulterated cheese and cheese
products.    U. S. v. Cuba Cheese & Trading Co., Inc., et al.    Permanent 
injunction granted.    (In. No. 147.)
COMPLAINT FILED : August 15, 1946, Western District of New York, against the 
Cuba Cheese & Trading Co., Inc., Cuba, N. Y., Edwin S. Moses, Jr., president 
of the corporation, Isadore Van Zwanenberg, vice president and treasurer, and 
Francis Moses, secretary. The complaint alleged that since about the year 
1943 the defendants had been engaged in the business of manufacturing, sell- 
ing, and transporting in interstate commerce cheese and cheese products which 
were adulterated; and that in connection with the business the firm operated 
manufacturing plants at Sardinia, Centerville, Bliss, Friendship, Hallsport, 
Cuba, Warsaw, Fords Brook, Riceville, and Greenwood, N. Y., and Myrtle 
and Cranesville, Pa. The manufactured products .were transported from these 
plants to the corporation's warehouses at Cuba, N. Y., to be prepared for ship- 
ment into interstate commerce. Inspections of the various plants and ware- 
houses revealed the following insanitary conditions and practices, among others: 
The Sardinia plant contained a large number of flies as a result of the lack 
of screening, and considerable rodent infestation was noted, as evidenced by 
the presence of rodent excreta pellets in the storage and curing room. The 
Myrtle plant had no real protection against flies, and the utensils in use were 
dirty and bore a heavy residue of curd and dried milk. The shelves used for 
storage of the cheese were slimy and dirty, and samples of the cheese were 
found to contain cat hairs, cow hairs, rodent hair fragments, insect fragments, 
feather fragments, and nondescript dirt. The Friendship plant was in a poor 
state of repair, with large openings in the walls. Samples of cheese from the 
plant were found to contain insect fragments and rodent hairs. The Center- 
ville plant contained many flies, and there was evidence of rat and mouse 
activity. The plant was generally untidy, and cheese manufactured the week 
before was gnawed by mice. At the Bliss plant, avenues of rodent entry were 
found, and numerous rat excreta pellets were noted along the wall of the 
manufacturing room and near the cheese vat. At the Hallsport plant, cheeses 
on the curing shelves were found to be rodent-gnawed. At the Warsaw plant, a 
number of rat excreta pellets and three rodent-gnawed cheeses were found in 
the curing room. The Fords Brook plant had a whey tank which leaked, and at 
the rear of the factory there was a mire of putrid sewage. The well used as 
a source of water supply at the Riceville plant was of questionable sanitary 
quality, and the outside toilet was not flyproof.   The Greenwood plant was
infested with mice and insects. The Oranesville plant was in a dirty and 
messy condition, and several recently made cheeses were rodent-gnawed. The 
manufacturing rooms were used also by the cheesemaker as his living quarters. 
The exterior insanitary conditions included an open outside toilet, and a pig 
sty which was located nearby; and spring water probably polluted from the toilet 
and pig sty was being used. Many other insanitary conditions were noted, in- 
cluding the acceptance and use of milk that was unfit for food purposes. - The 
corporation's warehouses at Cuba, N. Y., were infested with rats, with defi- 
nite contamination and spoilage of the products in certain instances.
PRAYER OF COMPLAINT: That the defendants be restrained from shipping adul- 
terated cheese and cheese products in interstate commerce.
DISPOSITION: September 19, 1946. The defendants having failed to answer 
or otherwise plead to the complaint, judgment was entered ordering that the 
defendants be perpetually enjoined from shipping adulterated cheese and cheese 
products in interstate commerce.