Adulterated and Mislabeled Products on Shelves in North Carolina Stores, 1914

You go to the store and buy olive oil, but it turns out that the bottle contains cotton-seed oil. Does this matter to you? The N.C. Department of Agriculture was trying to help consumers with this issue in 1914. “Sweet Oil and Sweet Oil Substitutes” from the Bulletin of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, 1914

Sweet oil is olive oil. Any oil other than olive oil branded sweet oil would be misbranded. It is not correct to label cotton-seed oil sweet oil, and elsewhere on the label describe the true character of the oil.

There seems to have been a difference of opinion as to what constitutes sweet oil. The Department in 1911 made an investigation of the subject and found that the oily oil to which the term “sweet oil” may be correctly applied is olive oil. The United States Department of Agriculture in food inspection decision No. 139 has since that time held that any oil other than olive oil is misbranded when sold under the name “Sweet Oil,” and it is not correct to label cotton-seed oil as “sweet oil” and then elsewhere place on the label words to describe the true character of the oil.

This department does not wish to in any way discriminate against cotton-seed oil, for it is a good food product and justly deserves the good name it bears; but it is not sweet oil and cannot be legally sold as such.

In addition to selling cotton-seed oil as olive oil, margarine was being sold as butter, coffee containing chickory was sold as pure coffee, and reduced fat ice cream and cheese was sold as full fat ice cream and cheese (the full-fat variety being more desirable to consumers in 1914). Margarine and chickory coffee, and reduced fat ice cream and cheese were all legal products; they just had to be properly labeled.