entry on a subsequent declaration that it will be reserved for technical purposes only. Any product which may be used either for technical purposes or for food will be regarded as a food product, irrespective of any declaration subsequent to inspection respecting the use to which it is to be put.
The use of a food product for other purposes is incidental, and should not be construed as exempting food products of that class from examination in the regular way.
F. I. D. 26.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY,
H. W. WILEY, Chief of Bureau.
FOOD INSPECTION DECISION 26.
LABELING IMPORTED FOOD PRODUCTS.
By reason of representations which were made before this Department on June 14 by a committee representing the importers of New York, it is hereby ordered that all cases of inspection of imported food products to date, where exclusion thereof has been required by reason of misbranding or false labeling, may be reopened with permission to relabel, if granted by the Secretary of the Treasury, under supervision of an official detailed from the Treasury Department for that purpose. These labels shall be in the form of a paster attached securely to, or just above or below the principal label, in a manner not to be easily detached, and bearing a legend showing the contents of the package not of the nature represented by the principal label, in letters not smaller in size than long primer capitals of the usual facing, such labels to be submitted to the proper representative of this Department and be approved as satisfactory before the release of the invoice.
In order to more clearly set forth the requirements of this Department as contained in Circulars 18 and 21 of the Bureau of Chemistry (F. I. D. 4 and 5) and in other publications of the Department, the following general principles of labeling of food products are to be observed:
1. A food product should be designated by its usual name, English name preferred, and
need not bear any further description of its components or qualities. Food products which
are prepared by established processes of refining need not bear upon the label any statement
respecting the refining process. For illustration, the term "flour" is sufficient for
the food product known by that name; the term "olive oil" is sufficient for the food product
known by that name. The usual processes of manufacture and refining in these cases are
not required to be stated.
2. When any foreign substance is added to a food product other than that necessary to its manufacture or refining, the label should bear a statement to that effect. For instance, a food product which is artificially colored or to which a preservative has been added should have these facts appear upon the label. If a substance which itself is not a coloring matter be added to a food product for the purpose of preserving or intensifying the natural color of the food, the name of the substance shall be specifically mentioned, as, for instance, when sulfate of copper is used to intensify or preserve the green color of food products.
