30954. Misbranding of Hain Col-Lax; alleged Misbranding of Hain Kelp 
Tablets. V. S. v. Harold Hain (Hain Pure Food Co.). Judgment of 
guilty on counts charging Misbranding of Col-Lax; not guilty on 
counts charging Misbranding of Kelp Tablets.    Fine, $300.     (F. & D.
No. 40817.    Sample Nos. 86735-C, 36736-C.)
The labeling of the Col-Lax bore false and fraudulent curative and therapeutic 
claims and false and misleading representations regarding its ingredients. That 
of the Hain Kelp Tablets bore curative and therapeutic claims and other rep- 
resentations that were alleged to be false, fraudulent, and misleading.
On June 10, 1938, the United States attorney for the Southern District of Cali- 
fornia, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the district 
court an information against Harold Hain, trading as the Hain Pure Food Co., 
Los Angeles, Calif., alleging shipment by said defendant on or about May 1 and 
August 7, 1C37, from the State of California into the State of Ohio, of a quantity 
of Hain Col-Lax and of a quantity of Hain Kelp Tablets.
Analysis of the Col-Lax showed that it consisted essentially of ground psyllium, 
agar, and milk sugar. Microscopic examination showed the presence of the 
bran as well as the mucilaginous portion of the psyllium seed. Analysis of the 
Kelp Tablets showed that they consisted of powdered kelp.
Misbranding of the Col-Lax was alleged in that certain statements in the 
labeling represented that the article was free from herbs and drugs; that in 
preparing the psyllium for it the irritating substance, such as bran, was removed, 
leaving only the highly mucilaginous part; that it was an ideal laxative food, 
an extract of the mucilaginous, nonirritating part of the psyllium and that it 
contained no ingredients which were habit-forming or irritating, which state- 
ments were false and misleading in view of the composition of the article, as 
disclosed by analysis.   Further Misbranding of the Col-Lax was alleged in that
statements in the labeling regarding its curative and therapeutic effectiveness 
falsely and fraudulently represented that it was not a cathartic; would not 
irritate the most delicate system, might be used with safety in colitis, ulceration, 
hemorrhoids, etc.; that the lactose was capable of feeding the friendly colon 
bacteria; that it would help to maintain the acid-alkaline balance in the intesti- 
nal tract; that it was capable of adequately meeting an urgent need for a 
natural, harmless, effective laxative food, of being used with safety and good 
results in all cases of intestinal disorders, including aggravated cases of chronic 
constipation, colitis, prolapsus hemorrhoids, etc., of producing easy and copious 
elimination, without in the least irritating the delicate, already sensitive or 
inflamed mucous membrane of the intestines, of supplying both the needed bulk 
and lubrication, of helping to overcome constipation by stimulating intestinal 
musculature into normal action and by changing the intestinal flora, and of 
averting through its use exclusively all danger from ordinary laxatives; 
and that it was an ideal laxative food and accepted as such by many physicKans.
It was alleged in the information that the Kelp Tablets were misbranded in 
that representations in the circular that the article was a true gland food, that 
it was a wholesome and effective product that differed from the many so-called 
gland foods in that it was wholly natural and was without drugs or other 
harmful stimulants, that it was a true food and not a medicine, that it was 
devoid of drugs and provided the means by which the value which otherwise 
might be obtained only by the consumption of prodigious quantities of the raw 
products were by it made available, were false and misleading. It was alleged 
further in the information that the circular contained representations regarding 
the curative and therapeutic effects of the article which were false and fraudu- 
lent, namely, representations that it was effective to cure glandular inadequacies, 
nervous debility, mental exhaustion, general rundown conditions, and was so 
effective because its qualities as a food and the plant elements contained therein 
imparted to it constructive capability with regard to the human physical 
organization.
On August 17,1939, the defendant having pleaded not guilty and a jury having 
been waived, the case came on for trial before the court. The trial was con- 
cluded on August 23, 1939. The case was continued to August 28 for decision, 
on which date the court found the defendant guilty on the two counts charging 
Misbranding of Col-Lax, and not guilty on the two counts charging misbranding 
of Kelp Tablets. The defendant was sentenced to pay a fine of $150 on each of 
the two counts on which he had been convicted.
GEOVEB B. HIIX, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.