Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations Papyras Classics

← Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations

Chapter 155

Food Inspection Decision 46, as Amended. Fictitious Firm Names

F. I. D. 46, Issued on December 13, 1906, on the Subject of Fictitious Firm Names, is Hereby Amended to Read as Follows, for the Purpose of Obviating Any Ambiguity That May Have Existed in the Original Decision. The Amended Portion is Set in Italics.

The following extract from a letter is typical of a question frequently asked:

In connection with our manufacture of flavoring extracts, we produce an article containing a certain percentage of artificial coumarin and vanillin. This product has been placed on the market under the name of ———— and Company, a fictitious firm, although dealers have always understood that it was our product. Is there any objection to our continuing to brand the product as manufactured by ———— and Company?

The same question has frequently been asked by importers who state that they desire to assume the responsibility for particular brands.

It has been held by the Attorney-General (F. I. D. 2) that—

the words “... Daisy Sugar Corn, ———— ———— Company, Milwaukee, Wis.,” clearly imply that the goods referred to are manufactured or prepared by that company in Wisconsin. The general public, unfamiliar with trade practices, would inevitably reach that conclusion.

Regulation 18 provides that if the name of the manufacturer and the place of manufacture be given, they must be the true name and the true place. If would appear, therefore, that the use of a fictitious name in such a manner that it would be understood to be the name of the manufacturer would be clearly a violation of Regulation 18. It is apparent that the provisions of Regulation 18 will not be fulfilled by the nominal incorporation of a fictitious firm. The regulations require that goods must be actually manufactured by the firm represented on the label as the manufacturer.

When a proper name, other than that of the manufacturer, is placed upon a label it must not be used in the possessive. For instance,

CHARLES GASTON’S
OLIVE OIL
BORDEAUX

can only be properly used on an oil manufactured by Charles Gaston at Bordeaux. The same is true if the designation

GASTON’S
OLIVE OIL
BORDEAUX

be employed.

On the other hand, the word “Gaston” might be used in an adjective sense, and not in the possessive case as qualifying the words “olive oil,” in a manner that would indicate that it represented a brand and not a manufacturer, as

GASTON OLIVE OIL.

Or,

OLIVE OIL, GASTON BRAND.

In such case, however, neither given name nor initials should be employed. The word “Gaston” should be in the same type as “olive oil” and in equal prominence, thus forming a part of the label.

The phrase “Olive Oil, Charles Gaston Brand,” may be used, in which case the name of the actual manufacturer should appear, in order that no false indication of the name of the person or firm manufacturing the product may be given.

James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture.

Washington, D. C., February 21, 1907.