Chap. 372.— An ACT to prevent the manufacture or sale of adulterated, mis-
branded, poisonous, or deleterious foods or liquors and to repeal an act to
prevent the sale of adulterated and misbranded foods in the State of Vir-
ginia, approved February 27, 1900.

Approved March 14, 1908.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to prevent the sale of adulterated and misbranded foods
in the State of Virginia, approved February twenty-seventh, nineteen
hundred, be and the same is, hereby repealed and be it further enacted
by the general assembly of Virginia.

§1. That for the purpose of protecting the people of the State from
imposition by the adultering and misbranding of food, the dairy and food
commissioner shall cause to be procured from time to time, and under
the rules and regulations to be prescribed by him, with the approval of the
board of agriculture and immigration in accordance with the provisions
of this act, samples of food offered for sale in this State, and shall cause
the same to be analyzed and examined microscopically or otherwise by
the chemists or other experts of the department of agriculture and immi-
gration; and he is hereby authorized to make such publication of the
results of the examination, analyses, and so forth, as he may deem proper ;
and for the proper execution of the provisions of this act, the dairy and
food commissioner shall with the approval of the board make such ap-
pointments as may be necessary and the board shall fix the compensa-
tion of such appointees.

§2. That no person, firm or corporation, either directly or through
any agent, shall manufacture, sell, expose for sale or have in his pos-
session with intent to sell, any article of food, which is adulterated or
misbranded within the meaning of this act, and any person who shall
violate any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
and for such offense, shall be fined not exceeding two hundred dollars
for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense not exceeding three
hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both, in
the discretion of the court; and such fines less legal costs and charges,
shall be paid into the treasury of the State.

$3. That the chemists or other experts of the department of agriculture
and immigration shall make, by the methods in use at the time by the
association of official agricultural chemists of the United States, ex-
aminations of specimens of food offered for sale in Virginia, which may
be collected from time to time as prescribed by this act in various parts
of the State; and if it shall appear from any such examinations that
any such specimen is adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of
this act, that notice thereof shall be given to the manufacturer, guarantor,
or person from whom the sample was obtained. Any person so notified
shall be given an opportunity to be heard under such rules and regu-
lations as may be prescribed by the dairy and food commissioner and the
commissioner and board of agriculture and immigration, and if it
appears that any of the provisions of this act have been violated, the
dairy and food commissioner shall certify the facts to the Common-
wealth’s attorney of the city or county in which the sample was obtained,
and furnish the officer with a copy of the results of the analysis or other
examinations of such article, duly authenticated by the analyst or other
officer making such examination under the oath of such officer. In all
prosecutions arising under this act the certificates of the analyst or other
officer making the analysis or examination, when duly sworn to by such
officer, shall be prima facie evidence of the fact or facts therein certified.

§4. That it shall be the duty of every Commonwealth’s attorney to
whom the dairy and food commissioner shall report any violation of this
act to cause the proceedings to be commenced‘ and prosecuted without
delay for the fines and penalties in such cases prescribed.

§5. That the term “food” as used in this act shall include all arti-
cles used for food, drink, confectionery, or condiment by man or other
animals, whether simple, mixed, or compound.

§6. That for the purpose of this act an article shall be deemed to be
adulterated : ;

In the case of confectionery :

First. If it contains terra alba, barytes, talc, chrome yellow, or other
mineral substance or poisonous color or flavor, or other ingredient dele-
terious or detrimental to health, or any vinous, malt, or spirituous liquor
or compound or narcotic drug.

In case of other food:

First. If any substance has been mixed or packed with it, so as to
reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength.

Second. If any substance has been substituted wholly or in part for
the article.

Third. If any valuable constituent of the article’has been wholly or
in part abstracted.

Fourth. If it be mixed, colored, powdered, coated, polished or stained
in a manner whereby damage.or inferiority is concealed.

Fifth. If it contains any added poisonous or other added deleterious
ingredient which may render such article injurious to health. Pro-
vided, that when in the preparation of food products for shipments they
are preserved by any external application in such manner that the pre-
servative is necessarily removed mechanically, or by maceration in water,
or otherwise, and directions for the removal of said preservative shall
be printed on the covering of the package or furnished with the article,
the provisions of this act shall be construed as applying only when said
products are ready for consumption.

Sixth. If it consists in whole or in part of diseased, filthy, decomposed,
or putrid animal or vegetable matter, or any portion of an animal unfit
for food whether manufactured or not, or if it is the product of a dis-
eased animal, or one that had died otherwise than by slaughter.

Seventh. If the containing vessel or any part of it be of such compo-
sition as will be acted upon, in the ordinary course of use, by the contents
thereof in such a way as to produce an injurious, deleterious, or poisonous
compound.

§7. That the term “misbranded” as used herein shall apply to all
articles of food, or articles which enter into the composition of food, the
package or label of which shall bear any statement, design or device
regarding such article, or the ingredients or substance contained therein,
which shall be false or misleading in any particular, and to any food
product which is falsely branded as to the State, territory, or country in
which it is manufactured or produced.

That for the purpose of this act an article shall also be deemed mis-
branded :

First. If it be an imitation of, or offered for sale under the distinctive
name of another article.

Second. If it be labeled or banded so as to deceive or mislead the
purchaser, or purport to be a foreign product when not so, or if the con-
tents of the package as originally put up shall have been removed in
whole or part, and other contents shall have been placed in such package,
or if it fail to bear a statement on the label of the quantity or proportion
of any morphine, opium, cocaine, heroin, alpha or beta eucaine, chloro-
form, cannabis indica, chloral hydrate, or acetanalide or any derivative
or preparation of any such substance contained therein.

Third. If in package form, and the contents are stated in terms of
weight or measure, they are not plainly and correctly stated on the out-
side of the package.

Fourth. If the package or its label shall bear any statement, design,
or device regarding the ingredients or substance contained therein,
which statement, design, or device shall be false or misleading in any
particular: Provided, that an article of food which does not contain any
added poisonous or deleterious ingredients shall not be deemed to be
adulterated or misbranded in the following cases:

First. In the case of mixtures or compounds which may be now or
fiom time to time hereafter known as articles of food under their own
distinctive names, and not an imitation of, or offered for sale under the
distinctive name of, another article of food, if the name be accompanied
on the same label or brand with a statement of the place where said
article has been manufactured or produced.

Second. In the case of articles labeled, branded, or tagged so as to
plainly indicate that they are compounds, imitations or blends, and hav-
ing the word “compound,” “imitation,” or “blend” as the case may be,
plainly stated on the package in which such article is offered for sale:
provided, the labeling is according to the rules prescribed by the dairy
and food commissioner with the approval of the commissioner and
board of agriculture and immigration:

Provided, that the term “blend” as used herein shall be construed to
mean a mixture of like substances, not excluding harmless coloring or
flavoring ingredients used for the purpose of coloring and flavoring only:
and pxovided further that nothing in this act shall be construed as
requiring or compelling proprietors or manufactures of proprietary foods
which contain no unwholesome added ingredient to disclose their trade
formulas, except in so far as the provisions of this act may require to
secure freedom from adulteration and misbranding.

§8. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons, firm or corpo-
ration, to sell, or to have in his possession with intent to sell for human
food, meat or meat food products which has been slaughtered, prepared,
or kept where the sanitary conditions, are such that the meat or meat
food products are rendered unhealthy, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit
for human food.

All peace and health officers shall have the power and are required to
seize any animal carcass or parts of carcasses which are intended for
sale or offered for sale for human food, which have been slaughtered and
prepared, handled or kept under unsanitary conditions, and shall de-
liver the same forthwith to and before the nearest police judge or justice
of the peace, together with all information obtained, and said police
judge or said justice of the peace shall, upon sworn complaint being
filed, issue warrant for the arrest of all persons who have violated the
provisions of this section, and proceed to try the case. Any person,
persons, firm or corporation found guilty of violating the provisions of
this section shall be fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred
dollars, and the meat in question shall be destroyed.

§9. That no dealer shall be prosecuted under the provisions of this
act when he can establish a guaranty signed by a wholesale dealer, manu-
facturer or other party, residing in Virginia, from whom he purchased
such articles, to the effect that the same is not adulterated or misbranded
within the meaning of this act, designating it. Provided, however,
that if the article in question is in a broken or open package, said guar-
anty shall not afford immunity from prosecution, unless such dealer shall
furnish satisfactory proof that the article has not been changed in quality.
The affidavit of such person shall be accepted as such proof, and the
person making such affidavit falsely shall be guilty of perjury, and pun-
ished accordingly: Said guaranty, to afford protection, shall contain the
name and address of the party or parties making the sale of such articles to
such dealer, and in such cases said party or parties shall be amenable to
to the prosecutions, fines, and other penalties which would attach in due
course, to the dealer under the provisions of this act: provided, that
the above guaranty shall not afford protection to any dealer after the first
offense in connection with a product from a particular wholesale dealer
or manufacturer.

§10. The dairy and food commissioner with the approval of the com-
missioner and board of agriculture and immigration shall from time to
time, fix and publish standards or limits of variability permissible in any
article of food, and these standards when so published shall be the stand-
ards before all courts: provided, that when standards have been or may
he fixed by the secretary of agriculture of the United States, they shall
be accepted by the department of agriculture and immigration and pub-
lished as standards for Virginia, but said standards shall not go into
effect until a reasonable time after publication. The dairy and food
commissioner, with the approval of the commissioner and hoard of agri-
culture and immigration shall have authority to make uniform rules
and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this act.

§11. That every person who exposes or offers for sale or delivers
to a purchaser any food, shall furnish within business hours and upon
tender and full payment of the selling price, a sample of such food, to
any person duly authorized to secure the same, and who shall apply to
such manufacturer or vendor or person delivering such food to a pur-
chaser for such sample in sufficient quantity for the analysis of such
‘article or articles in his possession. Samples may be purchased on the
open market and shall be representative samples; the collector shall
also note the name of the vendor and agent through whom the sale was
actually made, together with date of purchase, and all samples not
taken in unbroken and sealed original packages shall be sealed by the col-
lector in the presence of the vendor with a seal provided for the purpose.

When possible, samples shall be unbroken and sealed original packages,
or taken out of unbroken and sealed original packages. Three like
samples shall be obtained where the article is in the original package,
or, if not in the original package, the sample obtained shall be divided
into three equal parts and each part shall be labeled with the marks,
brands or tags upon the package, carton, container, wrapper or accom-
panying printed or written matter. One sample shall be delivered: to the
party from whom purchased, or to the party guaranteeing such me:chan-
cise ; two samples shall be sent to the dairy and food commissioner, one of
which is to be analyzed, as provided in this act and the o her shall be
held under seal by the dairy and food commissioner.

§12. That any manufacturer, dealer or person who refuses to comply
upon demand with the requirements of this act or who shal! impede, ob-
struct, hinder or otherwise prevent or attempt to prevent any chemist
inspector or other person in the performance of his duty in connection
with this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction be
fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or
be imprisoned not more than one hundred days, or both, in the dis-
cretion of the court; and said fines, less the legal costs, shall be paid
into the treasury of the State.

813. The word “person” as used in this act shall be construed
to import both the plural and the singular, as the case demands, and shall
include partnership, corporations, companies, societies and associations.
When construing and enforcing the provisions of this act, the act,
omission or failure of any officer, agent or other individual acting for or
emploved by any partnership, corporation, company, society, or associa-
tion within the scope of his employment or office, shall in every case be,
also deemed the act, omission, or failure of such partnership, corporation,
company, society, or association, as well as that of the individual.

814. That any person, firm, or corporation who shall manufacture,
sell or offer for sale any article of food that is adulterated within the
meaning of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition to
being subject to the penalties already provided in this act, the article
of food shall be subject to seizure, and condemnation, followed by sale
or destruction.