Commonwealth v. Clewell

Citations

• 49 Pa. Super. 389
• 1912 Pa. Super. LEXIS 339

Syllabus

<p>Food, law — Oleomargarine—Coloration—Act of May 29, 1901, P. L. 327.</p> <p>1. The Act of May 29, 1901, P. L. 327, which prohibits the sale and manufacture of oleomargarine “which shall be an imitation of yellow butter produced from pure unadulterated milk, or cream of the same, with or without coloring matter,” applies to all butter made wholly from the milk of cows by the ordinary processes of manufacture having a yellow color, although that color may vary in degree, and whether the natural color, or a color artificially produced in imitation of the natural color. It is not to be confined to butter made in June which has a distinct yellow color and which is known as “June butter” or “ commercial butter.”</p> <p>2. On the trial of an indictment for violation of the act of May 29, 1901, where the evidence shows that the oleomargarine in question contained cotton seed oil and butter fat, and in the opinion of the expert chemist palm oil also, and that it possessed a distinct yellow butter color, the ease is necessarily for the jury.</p> <p>3. On the trial of such an indictment where samples of oleomargarine aiid butter were to be sent out with the jury for the purpose of applying the testimony of the witnesses to the exhibits in the case, it is not error for the court to tell the jury that they ought not to substitute their own judgment irrespective of what the witnesses said, or their own comparisons of the samples for the sworn testimony which they had in the case.</p> <p>4. In such a case an offer to introduce a sample of what was alleged to be yellow butter for the purpose of establishing a standard of comparison without offering to show that the proposed standard was in fact butter, was clearly inadmissible and properly rejected by the court. An offer to introduce a sample of artificially colored oleomargarine is also irrelevant.</p>