File:Net Weight Statements (35207438974).jpg

When the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act was enacted consumers were beginning to shift from buying food in bulk to buying smaller packaged goods. One key provision of the law forbid the adulteration of foods with ingredients that would deceive the purchaser or lessen the product’s value. Federal food and drug inspectors found that short-weighting or under-filling packages was a far bigger problem than adulterated ingredients. Indeed, at one point fully one-third of the products examined were short-weighted or under-filled. Congress responded to these consumer “cheats” by enacting the little known Gould Net Weight Amendment in 1913. This statute required that packaged products be labeled with an accurate net weight statement or numerical count, and established FDA’s authority to require specified and standardized information on product labels. The law was later incorporated into the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The pictured bottle is an extract bottle from the early 20th century. With a label on it, it would be impossible for the housewife to see the deception contained within. Although the bottle was the expected size and shape of a two ounce extract bottle, it had been created to hold but a single ounce.