You won’t believe this, but “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” is a product that violates Missouri law — even though it’s sold in groceries throughout the state.
State Rep. Sara Lampe, D-Springfield, announced today (she cancelled a news conference because of the weather) that she “will file a bill to repeal several obsolete and universally ignored provisions of Missouri law dating to the 1890s that restrict the manufacture and sale of imitation butter and in some instances make producing, selling or even possessing such products a crime.”
” ‘If you look in the dairy section of any Missouri grocery store or in refrigerator of any Missouri home, you likely will find a stick or tub of imitation butter that is illegal under archaic state laws passed more than a century ago in an apparent attempt to protect ‘big butter’ from competition,” said Lampe in an e-release.
“These statutes haven’t been enforced in decades, if not generations, and today are honored more in the breach than the observance. As a result, there is no reason to keep them on the books.”
According to Lampe, most of the measures that she seeks to repeal ” were first adopted in 1895 and last revised in 1939.”
State agriculture officials acknowledge that the “butter laws” haven’t been enforced in decades. The Missouri Supreme Court last dealt with such a case in 1918, according to Vernon’s Annotated Missouri Statutes.
From her announcement:
Among the actions that are illegal under Missouri’s butter laws:
· Manufacturing or selling imitation butter that is yellow (RSMo. 196.755). Virtually all imitation butter sold today is yellow.
· Using the word “butter” in connection to selling or advertising any butter substitute (RSMo. 196.725). Many popular brands, such as “I Can’t Believe It’s not Butter,” run afoul of this section.
· Failing to label packaging for imitation butter with the words “substitute for butter” in Roman type that is at least one inch in length and one-half inch in width (RSMo. 196.760). A spot check of various brands at any supermarket will reveal that none are so labeled.
· Possessing imitation butter that isn’t properly marked, except when possessed for personal consumption (RSMo. 196.780).
Violations of most of the above provisions a carry maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $100 fine for a first offense, with the penalties for subsequent offenses increasing to up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. The exception is RSMo. 196.725, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $100 fine.
Jo Mannies
