Continental Divide?

[Bill Dufour]

USA Fedederal law does not allow margarine to be called butter. Same reason the fast food places call it a shake not a milk shake. To call it a milk shake it has to have some percentage of real milk in it. Not some drypowder starch added to water. I believe Cheese has to be 51% milk so I notice the latest fast food commercials "burger king?" refers to it as "cheddar" the word "cheese" is never used in the ad. I belive the only proper legal name for the stuff is, processed amercian cheese food product.
A loaf of bread has to weigh one pound ,or more by federal law. Does butter have to be at least one pound as well?
Bil lD
Bill

[Jon Nuckles]

A loaf of bread has to weigh one pound ,or more by federal law. Does butter have to be at least one pound as well?
Bil lD
Bill

Hi Bill,

I did not find a law requiring butter to be at least a pound, but there is a federal law that prohibits retail sale of colored margarine in weights over one pound. 21 U.S.C. Sec 347(b)(2). The butter lobby has traditionally been stronger than the margarine folks, so I doubt there is a minimum butter weight.

Where did you find a federal law requiring bread to weigh one pound or more? The only thing I could find on bread weights came from the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR Sec. 136.3):

Definitions.

For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

(a) The word bread when used in the name of the food means the unit weighs one-half pound or more after cooling.

(b) The words rolls and buns when used in the name of the food mean the unit weighs less than one-half pound after cooling.

This is just a definition for purposes of interpreting the rest of the regulations, but it obviously anticipates breads with weights below one pound. I found several state laws, perhaps outdated, that required bread to be sold at certain standard weights, but those usually seemed to allow weights under a pound as well. I found a Supreme Court case from about a hundred years ago interpreting one of the state laws on weights, but it does not create any federal minimum weight standard.

Regards, Jon (who didn't enjoy practicing law, but apparently missed doing legal research!)

[Rick Potter]

My folks ran a small store in Ohio during the 50's. The Margarine, at the time called Oleo, or OleoMargarine, came with a little tube of yellow coloring, which you mixed into it at home.

I remember my dad telling me that Wisconsin (The Dairy State) had gotten the Feds to pass laws against Oleo that was colored yellow. It was a big deal at the time.

We ate the Oleo at home, because it was cheap. I still remember it leaving a coating on the roof of my mouth. Not like what we call Margarin now.

[Bill Dufour]

Hi Bill,

I did not find a law requiring butter to be at least a pound, but there is a federal law that prohibits retail sale of colored margarine in weights over one pound. 21 U.S.C. Sec 347(b)(2). The butter lobby has traditionally been stronger than the margarine folks, so I doubt there is a minimum butter weight.

Where did you find a federal law requiring bread to weigh one pound or more? The only thing I could find on bread weights came from the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR Sec. 136.3):

Definitions.

For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

(a) The word bread when used in the name of the food means the unit weighs one-half pound or more after cooling.

(b) The words rolls and buns when used in the name of the food mean the unit weighs less than one-half pound after cooling.

This is just a definition for purposes of interpreting the rest of the regulations, but it obviously anticipates breads with weights below one pound. I found several state laws, perhaps outdated, that required bread to be sold at certain standard weights, but those usually seemed to allow weights under a pound as well. I found a Supreme Court case from about a hundred years ago interpreting one of the state laws on weights, but it does not create any federal minimum weight standard.

Regards, Jon (who didn't enjoy practicing law, but apparently missed doing legal research!)

My Mom told this law appeared during the depression in California because baker started to make smaller loaves so people could afford them and thought they were getting a full loaf for the new price.

[Jon Nuckles]

My Mom told this law appeared during the depression in California because baker started to make smaller loaves so people could afford them and thought they were getting a full loaf for the new price.

I saw several references to state laws regarding bread weights. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if California had one. Just not a federal law that I could find.