Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-07

FOOD ADULTERATfON

That much of the food people eat is
adulterated is matter of common
knowledge, yet very few give any at
tention to it. AS a rule the adulterants
are not injurious to health, but they
impair the quality and value of foods.
Needless to say that the great body of
consumers are defrauded.
committee of the United States
senate is investigating food adultera-
tion and the evidence already elected
is highly interesting. DR.. Wiley, chief
chemist of the Agricultural department,
said that the grocery store shelves are
groaning under loads of adulterated
coffee, spices, jellies, syrups and so on.
He had found green and roasted coffee
to contain % per cent of false beans.
So-called jelly is to a large extent gela-
tin. Much of what is sold as olive oil
is cottonseed OIL There is very little
pure sugarcane syrup, most of it being
glucose colored with the refuse from
sugar houses. "Vermont" maple syrup
is manufactured in large quantities in
Iowa. Most spices and condiments con-
tain IS and 80 per cent of adulteration.
A great deal of what is sold for honey
Is simply glucose. AS to canned fruits
and vegetables DR.. Wiley stated that
poisonous chemicals are used as pre-
servatives and for colorng.
Another witness gave testimony simi-
lar to that of the chemist of the Agri-
cultural department and referred espe-
cially to the adulteration of foreign
manufactured foodstuffs. While most
European countries have stringent laws
to prevent the selling of adulterated
foods at home they put no restriction
upon their export and they come to
the American market in large quanti-
ties. Confederation of the evidence be-
fore the senate committee is furnished
in the results of an official investiga-
tion in Connecticut a report of which
has Just been issued. The Agricultural
experiment station of that state found
adulteration in every article examined
except tea and -four. A federal law
prohibits the importation of adulteratcd
tea and another act requires flour adul-
terators to brand their product. 1t thus
appears that this legislation is effective
and suggests that more may be done
to prevent or lessen food adulterati ton.
But the problem is not SO simple as
to some 1t may appear TO be. 1t is
a natural presumption that everybody
| desires pure food and that consequently
there would be few opposed to pure
| food legislation, yet as a matter of fact
efforts to secure such legislation, ma
| tional and state, have encountered a
very strong opposition. One Of the wit
nesseS before the senate committee
urged that national law governing
pure food and drink Is of great i'm
portance both to the consumers in gen
eral and the manufacturers of this
country who desire to carry on a legitl-
mate business without having to COM
pete with foreigners who resort to
| fraudulent methods in adulteratiOn ant
misrepresentation. His idea was no
to inhibit the adulteration of food, bu
to require that adulterated food b,
kind would seem 10 belong to the states
rather than TO the federal government
but the latter can at all events eXclud,
from our markets adulterated food
stuffs of foreign manufacture and thi
should be done.
The question Is one of no little in