The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-05-05
ADULTERATED FOODS
Prepared in Foreign Countries and
Sold Here.
PROHIBITED BY LAW AT HOME,

But the Law Does Not Prevent Ger
mans and French From Sending the
Goods Here-Dr. wney Declares Food
Containing Preservatives . mt to Eat
Chicago, May 5.-One Of the most
important objects sought by the sena-
torial pure food investigating com.
mittee at its second session here yes
terday was the formulation Of legisla-
tion not solely for the protection OF
the public against adulterated foods
manufactured in this country. but also
those which are imported. The first
witness called was Giles Lewis, a
druggist of this city, who stated that
while other countries had laws which
prevented the selling of adulterated
goods in their own countries no pro-
visions were made against exporting
them to foreign countries. He said
the United States received articles OF
food made In Germany and France
that would not be used in the country
where they were made, because of the
preservatives used Special mention
was made by him OF the privileges Of
German manufacturers who can sell
articles of food without hindrance to
the United States which cannot be sold
in Germany,
Mr.. Lewis advocated the passage of
national pure food law and the ap-
pointment of a permanent commits
sion, the duty Of which would be to
prevent the marketing of any article
of food or drink, domestic or i'm
ported, that was misrepresented. The
limit of adulteration, he declared,
should be governed by the commits
sion, and the committee, he suggested
should analyEe articles and certify to
their purity by a government stamp.
Mr.. Wiley gave further information
to the committee regarding the articles
sold in this country which were adul-
terated Among practices that are
fraudulent, yet not Injurious to the
health, he mentioned the sale of fish
of cheap variety and grade for more
expensive kinds, especially fish packed
in oil. 1t also is a common custom,
DR.. Wiley said, for dealers to stamp
packages with foreign stamps, and
| thus deceive the public into believing
it was buying imported goods. The
sale of turtles in restaurants for ter
rapin was also a common means of
defrauding the public. Famous wines
and other drinks of foreign countries
are on sale in American markets that
never even saw the color of the
| ocean,"
The witness said that authorizations
of food and drink which are injurious
to the public health could be classed
in two groups-coloring and preserv-
ing. The methods of coloring green
vegetables were spoken of in detail
| The matter which is used mainly in
restoring the natural color of green
peas, the witness declared, sometimes
was salts of zinc and sometimes salts
Of copper, either of which Is poisonous,
and the use of which should not be
permitted. Probably the most COM
mon chemical used as a preservative,
according to DR.. Wiley, is salicyclic
acid, which is made to a great ex-
tent from carbolic acid. It should not
be permitted, he stated, because it is
very bad for the health, especially to
those who have weak stomachs. He
ended his testimony regarding the sub
ject by saying that no food which was
offered for sale which contained pre-
servatives was fit to eat.