Commonwealth v. Burtnett

Citations

• 58 Pa. Super. 604
• 1915 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2

Syllabus

<p>Food law—Adulteration of vinegar—Act of May 21,1901, P. L. 275— Criminal law.</p> <p>1. A person may be convicted of violating the Act of May 21, 1901, P. L. 275, relating to the sale of apple or cider vinegar, where it appears that he sold a product containing approximately twenty per cent of water not derived from the apple, but added to the vinegar by the maiiufahturer in the process of manufacturing.</p> <p>2. - Pure cider vinegar within the meaning of the act must be the legitimate product of pure apple juice; it must-be made exclusively of apple cider; and having these qualities it must contain no foreign substances, drugs or acids.</p> <p>3. On the trial of an indictment for a violation of the Act of May 21, 1901, P. L. 275, relating to the sale of apple or cider vinegar, the court properly excludes evidence as to the process of manufacturing the vinegar in question, where the defendant admits that twenty per cent of water had been designedly added to the apple juice produced through the mechanical and chemical appliances of his factory. In such a case it is immaterial that the use of water was necessary to reduce the acetic acid content as it came from the convertors in order to make the vinegar more palatable and salable. It is no answer to say that after such manipulation the article offered for sale was just as good as that produced by the older and simpler processes.</p>