21 U.S.C. § 17 — Penalty for sale or introduction of falsely labeled dairy or food products; venue

This law sets the penalty for violating section 16 of this title, which deals with falsely labeled dairy or food products. Anyone who violates section 16 is guilty of a misdemeanor. This is true whether the person acts alone or has someone else act for them. The punishment is a fine. The fine must be at least $500. The fine cannot be more than $2,000. This section also sets venue, meaning where the case can be prosecuted. The case must be prosecuted in the federal district court for the district where the violation happened. In short, this law does two things. First, it defines the crime as a misdemeanor tied to violating section 16. Second, it fixes both the fine range and the correct court for the case.

The record. According to the source credit, this section derives from the Act of July 1, 1902, chapter 1357, section 2, enacted at 32 Stat. 632. The source credit reflects no subsequent amendments to the section since its original enactment, indicating that the text stands as Congress wrote it more than a century ago. Historical context. The Act of July 1, 1902 is commonly associated with early federal efforts to regulate the labeling and adulteration of food and dairy products, particularly imitation or substitute dairy items such as oleomargarine and similarly marketed goods. Legislation of this era is generally understood to reflect growing public and congressional concern about consumer deception in food markets, as producers of dairy substitutes sometimes labeled their goods in ways that obscured their true composition or origin. Congress in this period increasingly used its taxing and regulatory powers to address such practices, often pairing substantive labeling requirements with penal provisions to ensure compliance. The specific section here appears to function as the enforcement mechanism for a companion provision, establishing criminal liability and a fine range for violations, along with a venue rule directing prosecution to the federal district where the offense occurred. Beyond this general historical backdrop, the record does not establish the particular legislative reasoning, debates, or specific market conditions that led Congress to adopt this penalty provision in its precise form. Readers seeking that level of detail should consult the original statutory context and contemporaneous legislative history directly.