“As for our regular Taka-Diastase, our claim is and has been for years simply that Taka-Diastase will digest or hydrolyze 150 times its weight of starch in ten minutes, under proper conditions. We do not claim, we do not permit our representatives to claim, that Taka-Diastase will completely transform starch, to the colorless end-point, into sugars. Taka-Diastase is used to supplement a deficiency of ptyalin and converts the starch into soluble material with great rapidity, thus giving the gastric fluid immediate access to the proteids. “If in the enclosed labels the word ‘digest’ were replaced with the word ‘liquefy,’ the claim could not be assailed by the most carping critic. To save any possible question, we shall therefore make this change in our label, having it read: ‘Taka-Diastase will liquefy 150 times its weight of starch in ten minutes, under proper conditions.’ Is there the slightest question in your mind that this statement as just quoted is entirely correct and entirely supported by clinical experience? “It is our conviction that Taka-Diastase has a very remarkable power to hydrolyze starch either in the test-tube or in the stomach, and that this property is of great utility in clinical work. We do not claim that its conversion of the starch into sugars is complete, to the colorless end-point of the Johnson test; and on this point we have been perfectly frank with the Council, as well as with every physician who has taken sufficient interest to inquire.” In view of the above protest, the matter was submitted to a second referee, who reported as follows: “Your referee on the matter of Taka-Diastase has made a careful investigation of the reports and correspondence submitted, and begs to make the following report: “The question at issue, viz., whether Taka-Diastase should be included in New and Nonofficial Remedies, I believe, can be determined by the material before me, and further tests of the material are not necessary. “The letter of the makers of Taka-Diastase admits that the early claims regarding the strength and properties of the material were erroneous and exaggerated. Since the product was once admitted to New and Nonofficial Remedies, it may be claimed that as the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry must have been in error then, it may be now. Your referee does not consider this supposition worth discussing. The conclusion he draws is that the Council was too hasty in accepting the preparation, and that the incident shows how much better it would be in all cases to accept no remedy until sufficient time has been given for conclusive tests.