NOTICE OF JUDGMENT NO. 2378.
(Given pursuant to section 4 of the Food and Drugs Act.)
ADULTERATION  AND  MISBRANDING  OF  ESSENCE  OF JAMAICA
GINGER.
At a stated term of the District Court of the United States for 
the Northern District of California, begun and holden at San Fran- 
cisco on the first Monday in March, 1912, the grand jurors of the 
United States within and for said district, acting upon a r3port by 
the Secretary of Agriculture, returned an indictment against the 
Crown Distilleries Co., a corporation, of San Francisco, Cal., charg- 
ing shipment by said company, in violation of the Food and Drugs 
Act, on August 20, 1910, from the State of California into the Ter- 
ritory of Alaska of a quantity of so-called essence of Jamaica ginger 
which was adulterated and misbranded. The product was labeled: 
"Unrivaled for exquisite flavor. Crown Distilleries Co. This label 
with fac-simile of our signature on every bottle." And also labeled: 
"Essence of Jamaica Ginger."
An analysis.of a sample of the product by the Bureau of Chem- 
istry of this Department showed the following results: Specific 
gravity (15.6° C), 0.9361; alcohol (per cent by volume), 48.42; 
solids (gram per 100 cc), 0.29; capsicum (Lewall-Nelson test), 
positive; ginger (Seeker test), positive; color removed by fuller's 
earth, 75 per cent. Adulteration of the product was charged in 
the indictment for the reason that capsicum and artificial coloring 
matter had been mixed and packed with it so as to reduce, lower, 
and injuriously affect its quality and strength; and for the further 
reason that capsicum and coloring matter had been substituted for 
a large portion of the genuine essence of Jamaica ginger, and that 
said product was composed of a very highly dilute essence of Jamaica 
ginger, capsicum, and artificial coloring matter; and for the further
88842°—No. 2378—13
reason that the said product had been colored in a manner whereby 
inferiority was concealed. Misbranding was charged for the rea- 
son that the labels on the product, as set forth above, were false 
and misleading, in that they would and were calculated to mislead 
and deceive the purchaser into the belief that the product was an 
essence of Jamaica ginger, whereas, in truth and in fact, it was not 
so, but was a mixture of a highly dilute essence of Jamaica ginger, 
capsicum, and artificial coloring matter.
On December 20, 1912, the defendant company entered a plea of 
guilty to the indictment and the court imposed a fine of $50.
W. M. HAYS, 
Acting Secretary of Agriculture.
WASHINGTON, D. C, March 3, 1913.
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