Golden Grain MacAroni Co., Inc. v. United States

Appellant Golden Grain Company is a California corporation doing business at Seattle, and appellant Dedomenico is its president and the general manager of its Seattle plant. The corporation manufactures and sells various types of macaroni, spaghetti, and other similar food products. In a six-count indictment the appellants were jointly charged with violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by causing adulterated foods to be introduced into interstate commerce. The indictment specifically alleged that the foods in question consisted in part of filthy substances such as insect larvae or fragments of insects, and had been prepared, packed, and held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been contaminated with filth. The charges were laid under 21 U.S.C.A. § 342 (a) (3) and (4). On a trial to the court without a jury each defendant was convicted on counts two to six, acquitted on count one, and sentenced to pay a fine of $5,000.

Appellants argue or suggest a variety of grounds for reversal, only a few of which are worthy of notice. One is that the evidence on behalf of the government was obtained illegally in that the officers designated by the Administrator to…