are determined to do their utmost to conform to the provisions of the act, to support it in every particular, and to accede to the opinions of this Department respecting its construction. It is hoped, therefore, that the publication of the opinions and decisions of the Department will lead to the avoidance of litigation which might arise due to decisions which may be reached by this Department indicating violations of the act, violations which would not have occurred had the opinions and decisions of the Department been brought to the attention of the offender.
James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture.
Washington, D. C., December 1, 1906.
(F. I. D. 45.)
BLENDED WHISKIES.
Many letters are received by the Department making inquiries concerning the proper method of labeling blended whisky. Manufacturers are anxious to know the construction placed by the Department upon this particular part of the food and drugs act of June 30, 1906, and to ascertain under what conditions the words "blended whisky" or "whiskies" may be used. The following quotation from one of these letters presents a particular case of a definite character:
On account of the uncertainty prevailing in our trade at the present time as to how to
proceed under the pure-food law and regulations regarding what will be considered a blend
of whiskies, I am taking the liberty of expressing to you to-day two samples of whisky
made up as follows:
Sample A contains 51 percent of Bourbon whisky and 49 percent of neutral spirits. In this sample a small amount of burnt sugar is used for coloring, and a small amount of prune juice is used for flavoring, neither of which increases the volume to any great extent.
Sample B contains 51 percent of neutral spirits and 49 percent of Bourbon whisky. Burnt sugar is used for coloring, and prune juice is used for flavoring, neither of which increases the volume to any great extent.
I have marked these packages "blended whiskies" and want your ruling as to whether it is proper to thus brand and label such goods.
My inquiry is for the purpose of guiding the large manufacturing interests in the trade that I represent.
In a subsequent letter from the same writer the following additional statement is made:
The reason for wanting your decision or ruling in this matter is just this: No house in
the trade can afford to put out goods and run the risk of seizure and later litigation by the
Government on account of the odium that would be attached to fighting the food and drugs
act.
The question presented is whether neutral spirits may be added to Bourbon whisky in
varying quantities, colored and flavored, and the resulting mixture be labeled "blended
whiskies." To permit the use of the word "whiskies" in the described mixture is to admit
that flavor and color can be added to neutral spirits and the resulting mixture be labeled
"whisky." The Department is of opinion that the mixtures presented can not legally be
labeled either "blended whiskies" or "blended whisky." The use of the plural of the
word "whisky" in the first case is evidently improper for the reason that there is only one
whisky in the mixture. If neutral spirit, also known as cologne spirit, silent spirit, or alcohol,
be diluted with water to a proper proof for consumption and artificially colored and
artificially flavored, it does not become a whisky, but a "spurious imitation" thereof, not
entirely unlike that defined in section 3244, Revised Statutes. The mixture of such an
