Professor E.F. Ladd was North Dakota’s food commissioner. Known as a determined enforcer of the state’s pure food and drug laws, Ladd was a determined watchdog for the safety of North Dakotans. In October 1911, he visited the Fargo branch of Armour and Company and requested to purchase three pounds of lard. Instead, he was sold a pail containing two pounds and six ounces. North Dakota’s pure food and drug law required that containers of lard contain one, three, or five pounds, or a multiple of those weights, and not a fraction. As a result of Ladd’s purchase, North Dakota took Armour and Company to court.