MR. JUSTICE STONE delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question for decision is whether the "Filled Milk Act" of Congress of March 4, 1923 (c. 262, 42 Stat. 1486, 21 U.S.C. §§ 61-63),
Appellee was indicted in the district court for southern Illinois for violation of the Act by the shipment in interstate commerce of certain packages of "Milnut," a compound of condensed skimmed milk and coconut oil made in imitation or semblance of condensed milk or cream. The indictment states, in the words of the statute, that Milnut "is an adulterated article of food, injurious to the public health," and that it is not a prepared food product of the type excepted from the prohibition of the Act. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the indictment on the authority of an earlier case in the same court, United States v. Carolene Products Co., 7 F.Supp. 500. The case was brought here on appeal under the Criminal Appeals Act of March 2, 1907, 34 Stat. 1246, 18 U.S.C. § 682. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has meanwhile, in another case, upheld the Filled Milk Act as an appropriate exercise of the commerce power in Carolene Products Co. v. Evaporated Milk Assn., 93 F.2d 202.
Appellee assails the statute as beyond the power of Congress over interstate commerce, and hence an invasion of a field of action said to be reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment. Appellee also complains that the
First. The power to regulate commerce is the power "to prescribe the rule by which commerce is to be governed," Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 196, and extends to the prohibition of shipments in such commerce. Reid v. Colorado, 187 U.S. 137; Lottery Case, 188 U.S. 321; United States v. Delaware & Hudson Co., 213 U.S. 366; Hope v. United States, 227 U.S. 308; Clark Distilling Co. v. Western Maryland R. Co., 242 U.S. 311; United States v. Hill, 248 U.S. 420; McCormick & Co. v. Brown, 286 U.S. 131. The power "is complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent and acknowledges no limitations other than are prescribed by the Constitution." Gibbons v. Ogden, supra, 196. Hence Congress is free to exclude from interstate commerce articles whose use in the states for which they are destined it may reasonably conceive to be injurious to the public health, morals or welfare, Reid v. Colorado, supra; Lottery Case, supra; Hipolite Egg Co. v. United States, 220 U.S. 45; Hope v. United States, supra, or which contravene the policy of the state of their destination. Kentucky Whip & Collar Co. v. Illinois Central R. Co., 299 U.S. 334. Such regulation is not a forbidden invasion of state power either because its motive or its consequence is to restrict the use of articles of commerce within the states of destination, and is not prohibited unless by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. And it is no objection to the exertion of the power to regulate interstate commerce that its exercise is attended by the same incidents which attend the exercise of the police power of the states. Seven Cases v. United States, 239 U.S. 510, 514; Hamilton v. Kentucky
Second. The prohibition of shipment of appellee's product in interstate commerce does not infringe the Fifth Amendment. Twenty years ago this Court, in Hebe Co. v. Shaw, 248 U.S. 297, held that a state law which forbids the manufacture and sale of a product assumed to be wholesome and nutritive, made of condensed skimmed milk, compounded with coconut oil, is not forbidden by the Fourteenth Amendment. The power of the legislature to secure a minimum of particular nutritive elements in a widely used article of food and to protect the public from fraudulent substitutions, was not doubted; and the Court thought that there was ample scope for the legislative judgment that prohibition of the offending article was an appropriate means of preventing injury to the public.
We see no persuasive reason for departing from that ruling here, where the Fifth Amendment is concerned; and since none is suggested, we might rest decision wholly on the presumption of constitutionality. But affirmative evidence also sustains the statute. In twenty years evidence has steadily accumulated of the danger to the public health from the general consumption of foods which have been stripped of elements essential to the maintenance of health. The Filled Milk Act was adopted by Congress after committee hearings, in the course of which eminent scientists and health experts testified. An extensive investigation was made of the commerce in milk compounds in which vegetable oils have been substituted for natural milk fat, and of the effect upon the public health of the use of such compounds as a food substitute for milk. The conclusions drawn from evidence presented at the hearings were embodied in reports of the
There is nothing in the Constitution which compels a legislature, either national or state, to ignore such evidence, nor need it disregard the other evidence which amply supports the conclusions of the Congressional committees that the danger is greatly enhanced where an inferior product, like appellee's, is indistinguishable from
Appellee raises no valid objection to the present statute by arguing that its prohibition has not been extended to oleomargarine or other butter substitutes in which vegetable fats or oils are substituted for butter fat. The Fifth Amendment has no equal protection clause, and even that of the Fourteenth, applicable only to the states, does not compel their legislatures to prohibit all like evils, or none. A legislature may hit at an abuse which it has found, even though it has failed to strike at another. Central Lumber Co. v. South Dakota, 226 U.S. 157, 160; Miller v. Wilson, 236 U.S. 373, 384; Hall v. Geiger-Jones Co., 242 U.S. 539, 556; Farmers & Merchants Bank v. Federal Reserve Bank, 262 U.S. 649, 661.
But such we think is not the purpose or construction of the statutory characterization of filled milk as injurious to health and as a fraud upon the public. There is no need to consider it here as more than a declaration of the legislative findings deemed to support and justify the action taken as a constitutional exertion of the legislative power, aiding informed judicial review, as do the reports of legislative committees, by revealing the rationale of the legislation. Even in the absence of such aids the existence of facts supporting the legislative judgment is to be presumed, for regulatory legislation affecting ordinary commercial transactions is not to be pronounced unconstitutional unless in the light of the facts made known or generally assumed it is of such a character as to preclude the assumption that it rests upon some rational basis within the knowledge and experience of the legislators.
Where the existence of a rational basis for legislation whose constitutionality is attacked depends upon facts beyond the sphere of judicial notice, such facts may properly be made the subject of judicial inquiry, Borden's Farm Products Co. v. Baldwin, 293 U.S. 194, and the constitutionality of a statute predicated upon the existence of a particular state of facts may be challenged by showing to the court that those facts have ceased to exist. Chastleton Corporation v. Sinclair, 264 U.S. 543. Similarly we recognize that the constitutionality of a statute, valid on its face, may be assailed by proof of facts tending to show that the statute as applied to a particular
The prohibition of shipment in interstate commerce of appellee's product, as described in the indictment, is a constitutional exercise of the power to regulate interstate commerce. As the statute is not unconstitutional on its face the demurrer should have been overruled and the judgment will be
Reversed.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK concurs in the result and in all of the opinion except the part marked "Third."
MR. JUSTICE McREYNOLDS thinks that the judgment should be affirmed.
MR. JUSTICE CARDOZO and MR. JUSTICE REED took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
I concur in the result. Prima facie the facts alleged in the indictment are sufficient to constitute a violation of the statute. But they are not sufficient conclusively to establish guilt of the accused. At the trial it may introduce evidence to show that the declaration of the Act that the described product is injurious to public health and that the sale of it is a fraud upon the public are without any substantial foundation. Mobile, J. & K.C.R. Co. v. Turnipseed, 219 U.S. 35, 43. Manley v. Georgia, 279 U.S. 1, 6. The provisions on which the indictment rests should if possible be construed to avoid the serious question of constitutionality. Federal Trade Comm'n v. American Tobacco Co., 264 U.S. 298, 307. Panama R. Co. v. Johnson, 264 U.S. 375, 390. Missouri Pacific R. Co. v. Boone, 270 U.S. 466, 472. Richmond Co. v. United States, 275 U.S. 331, 346. If construed to exclude from interstate commerce wholesome food products that demonstrably are neither injurious to health nor calculated to deceive, they are repugnant to the Fifth Amendment. Weaver v. Palmer Bros. Co., 270 U.S. 402, 412-13. See People v. Carolene Products Co., 345 Ill. 166. Carolene Products Co. v. McLaughlin, 365 Ill. 62; 5 N.E.2d 447. Carolene Products Co. v. Thomson, 276 Mich. 172; 267 N.W. 608. Carolene Products Co. v. Banning, 131 Neb. 429; 268 N.W. 313. The allegation of the indictment that Milnut "is an adulterated article of food, injurious to the public health," tenders an issue of fact to be determined upon evidence.
FootNotes
"Section 61. . . . (c) The term `filled milk' means any milk, cream, or skimmed milk, whether or not condensed, evaporated, concentrated, powdered, dried, or desiccated, to which has been added, or which has been blended or compounded with, any fat or oil other than milk fat, so that the resulting product is in imitation or semblance of milk, cream, or skimmed milk, whether or not condensed, evaporated, concentrated, powdered, dried, or desiccated. . . .
"Section 62. . . . It is hereby declared that filled milk, as herein defined, is an adulterated article of food, injurious to the public health, and its sale constitutes a fraud upon the public. It shall be unlawful for any person to . . . ship or deliver for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, any filled milk."
Section 63 imposes as penalties for violations "a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both . . ."
When the Filled Milk Act was passed, eleven states had rigidly controlled the exploitation of filled milk, or forbidden it altogether. H.R. 365, 67th Cong., 1st Sess. Some thirty-five states have now adopted laws which in terms, or by their operation, prohibit the sale of filled milk. Ala. Agri. Code, 1927, § 51, Art. 8; Ariz. Rev. Code, 1936 Supp., § 943y; Pope's Ark. Dig. 1937, § 3103; Deering's Cal. Code, 1933 Supp., Tit. 149, Act 1943, p. 1302; Conn. Gen. Stat., 1930, § 2487, c. 135; Del. Rev. Code, 1935, § 649; Fla. Comp. Gen. Laws, 1927, §§ 3216, 7676; Ga. Code, 1933, § 42-511; Idaho Code, 1932, Tit. 36, §§ 502-504; Jones Ill. Stat. Ann., 1937 Supp., § 53.020 (1), (2), (3); Burns Ind. Stat., 1933, § 35-1203; Iowa Code, 1935, § 3062; Kan. Gen. Stat., 1935, c. 65, § 707; Md. Ann. Code, Art. 27, § 281; Mass. Ann. Laws, 1933, § 17-A, c. 94; Mich. Comp. Laws, 1929, § 5358; Mason's Minn. Stat., 1927, § 3926; Mo. Rev. Stat., 1929, §§ 12408-12413; Mont. Rev. Code, Anderson and McFarland, 1935, c. 240, § 2620.39; Neb. Comp. Stat., 1929, § 81-1022; N.H. Pub. L. 1926, v. 1, c. 163, § 37, p. 619; N.J. Comp. Stat., 1911-1924, § 81-8j, p. 1400; Cahill's N.Y. Cons. Laws, 1930, § 60, c. 1; N.D. Comp. Laws, 1913-1925, Pol. Code, c. 38, § 2855 (a) 1; Page's Ohio Gen. Code, § 12725; Purdon's Penna. Stat., 1936, Tit. 31, §§ 553, 582; S.D. Comp. Laws, 1929, c. 192, § 7926-0, p. 2493; Williams Tenn. Code, 1934, c. 15, §§ 6549, 6551; Vernon's Tex. Pen. Code, Tit. 12, c. 2, Art. 713a; Utah Rev. Stat., 1933, §§ 3-10-59, 3-10-60; Vt. Pub. L., 1933, Tit. 34, c. 303, § 7724, p. 1288; Va. 1936 Code, § 1197c; W. Va. 1932 Code, § 2036; Wis. Stat., 11th ed. 1931, c. 98, § 98.07, p. 1156; cf. N. Mex. Ann. Stat., 1929, §§ 25-104, 25-108. Three others have subjected its sale to rigid regulations. Colo. L. 1921, c. 30, § 1007, p. 440; Ore. 1930 Code, v. 2, c. XII, §§ 41-1208 to 41-1210; Remington's Wash. Rev. Stat., v. 7, Tit. 40, c. 13, §§ 6206, 6207, 6713, 6714, p. 360, et seq.
It is unnecessary to consider now whether legislation which restricts those political processes which can ordinarily be expected to bring about repeal of undesirable legislation, is to be subjected to more exacting judicial scrutiny under the general prohibitions of the Fourteenth Amendment than are most other types of legislation. On restrictions upon the right to vote, see Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536; Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73; on restraints upon the dissemination of information, see Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson, 283 U.S. 697, 713-714, 718-720, 722; Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233; Lovell v. Griffin, supra; on interferences with political organizations, see Stromberg v. California, supra, 369; Fiske v. Kansas, 274 U.S. 380; Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357, 373-378; Herndon v. Lowry, 301 U.S. 242; and see Holmes, J., in Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 673; as to prohibition of peaceable assembly, see De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353, 365.
Nor need we enquire whether similar considerations enter into the review of statutes directed at particular religious, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, or national, Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390; Bartels v. Iowa, 262 U.S. 404; Farrington v. Tokushige, 273 U.S. 484, or racial minorities, Nixon v. Herndon, supra; Nixon v. Condon, supra: whether prejudice against discrete and insular minorities may be a special condition, which tends seriously to curtail the operation of those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect minorities, and which may call for a correspondingly more searching judicial inquiry. Compare McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 428; South Carolina v. Barnwell Bros., 303 U.S. 177, 184, n. 2, and cases cited.
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