Corn Products Refining Co. v. Eddy

• Decision Date: 11 November 1916
• Docket Number: 20280
• Citation: 99 Kan. 63,163 P. 615
• Parties: CORN PRODUCTS REFINING CO. v. EDDY ET AL.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

163 P. 615

99 Kan. 63

CORN PRODUCTS REFINING CO. v. EDDY ET AL.

No. 20280

Supreme Court of Kansas

November 11, 1916

Rehearing Denied Dec. 13, 1916.

Syllabus by the Court.

An injunction will not lie to restrain the state board of health from seeking to prevent, by legal means, the sale of a compound table syrup under the name “Mary Jane,” where the label does not show the place of manufacture or production and where it is not plainly stated on the *616 package in which the syrup is offered for sale that it is a compound.

Appeal from District Court, Shawnee County.

Action by the Corn Products Refining Company against V. C. Eddy and others. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendants appeal. Reversed, with directions.

S. M Brewster, Atty. Gen., and J. L. Hunt, of Topeka, for appellants.

Blair Magaw & Lillard, of Topeka, for appellee.

OPINION

MARSHALL, J.

The defendants appeal from a judgment enjoining them from interfering with the sale of "Mary Jane," a product manufactured by the plaintiff, and from attempting to compel the plaintiff to label "Mary Jane" a compound.

The plaintiff is engaged at Granite City and Argo, Ill., in the manufacture of a table syrup composed of 85 per cent. corn syrup or glucose, 10 per cent. molasses, and 5 per cent. sorghum. This syrup is sold under the name "Mary Jane" in cans labeled as follows:

5 Pounds

Net Weight

MARY JANE

Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.

MARY JANE is guaranteed by Corn Products Refining Co. to comply with the Food and Drug Act, June 30, 1906. Registered under serial number 2317.

Mary Jane A Table Syrup Prepared from Corn Syrup, Molasses and Pure Country Sorghum Contains Sulphur Dioxide.

M’F’D BY

CORN PRODUCTS REFINING CO.

General Offices--New York, U.S. A.

The defendants constitute the Kansas State Board of Health. They contend that Mary Jane is misbranded in several particulars. Two of these dispose of this case. The defendants claim that "Mary Jane" is a compound, and that it is misbranded because the place of its manufacture or production is not shown, and because it is not specifically stated that "Mary Jane" is a compound. The defendants, through inspectors acting under the direction of defendant S. J. Crumbine, the secretary of the board, have notified the plaintiff’s agents and representatives that "Mary Jane" is misbranded; that it is unlawful to sell it in Kansas as it is branded; and that those who sell it will be prosecuted.

Does the law require that this label shall contain a statement showing the place where "Mary Jane" is manufactured or produced? Part of section 3082 of the General Statutes of 1909 reads:

"Provided, that an article of food which does not contain any added poisonous or deleterious ingredients shall not be deemed to be adulterated or misbranded in the following cases: First, in the case of mixtures or compounds which may be now or from time to time hereafter known as articles of food, under their own distinctive names, and not an imitation of or offered for sale under the distinctive name of another article, if the name be accompanied on the same label or brand with the statement of the place where said article has been manufactured or produced."

The defendants contend that "Mary Jane" is not a distinctive name for the article sold. It is not necessary to pass on that question at this time. We will assume, for the purposes of discussing the question now under consideration that "Mary Jane" is a distinctive name, and that the article sold...