The Minneapolis journal., 1901-05-25

/
ton. Violations of the law are so ingen-
ious and persistent that the most rigid
| laws. rigidly enforced, could not secure
absolute safety and the purity of all prod
ucts. But the pure food laws of this state,
enforced as far as possible by the state
dairy and food department, are a great
safeguard. Without them adulteration
would be rampant, and lives would be
ruined and even lost by the scoundrelly
practices of greedy dealers and manufac-
| turers. ~ Am
No other department of the state gov
ernment affects so closely the. welfare of
the people. Its workings are intensely in
teresting and the work of inspectors and
lchemists discloses some startling things.
! All the following practices are forbidden
| by law, but violations are continually
being detected by the department.
How the Public Is "sOld."
Skinned and watered milk is sold for the
pure article Milk is thickened with, starch
and sold for cream
| Formaldehyde or formalin, chemical prep
arations which arrest fermentation, are put
! in milk and cream to keep them from sour
ing Such chemicals arrest digestion and
are extremely injurious
| Oleomargarin and butterin, limitations Of
butter made from animal fats, are colored
and sold for butter, and palmed off by
| hotels, restaurants and boarding houses. The
| law REQUIRES that when such limitations are
sold or used, notice Of the same must be
conspicuously posted
| Process" or renovated butter is sold
| for the pure creamery article. Old and
rank butter Is melted and the clear fat is
run off and churned with cold skim milk,
then worked over, salted and nicely nodded
| 1t usually contains borax as a preservative
| detects difference
tween this and pure butter.
AnilineS or coal tar cOlors, are used to give
| imitation fruit jellies, jams and preserves
the color of the real article. Such products
are usually made of gelatin and starch
paste, sweetened with glucose. One pint Of
such jelly has furnished enough aniline dye
to color a white shirt. turning it bright red
| all over.
Honey is adulterated with glucose and
cane sugar. Maple sugar and syrup are prob
ably not to be found on the market in pure
! FORM and in many cases there is no maple in
the product at all. Boiled corn cobs give
a good imitation of the maple flavor.
"Genuine Cider Vinegar"
"Cider vinegar is made from corn or
barley malt and colored with burnt sugar
The law requires cider vinegar to contain
| . per cent of cider vinegar solids The
manufacturers are now running a with
| the state chemist, who far has detected
/ every new dodge they have used in order to
pass the test.
Ginger is adulterated with corn meal and
peanut husks. Mustard is found to contain
wheat -four rice -four and corn starch, col
ored with turmeric.
Cinnamon and cassia are adulterated with
cracker crumbs and ground cocoanut shells
Pure pepper has to contend in the market
with ground pepper shells, corn meal, buck
wheat middlings, rice flour, cracker crumbs
and charred nut shells.
Exhausted cloves are mixed with fresh
ones and sold
Nut shells, sand and dirt are mixed in all
spice to give 1t weight.
Lard is adulterated with talfow and cot
tonseed oil, which are cheaper. and give con-
sisteney. 4e.t eA
Animal fats are mixed with the milk of
which cheese is made resulting in the
product called "1lled cheese"
Baking powder is adulterated with useless
and even injurious ingredients, but the law
now requires that all ingredients be printed
on the packages in plain English
Whisky and other liquors are adulterated
with all sorts of villainous compounds, such
as wood alcohol. fusel oil and other fiery
fluids
Candy is made of glucose and colored with
mineral and aniline dyes.
Linseed oil is mixed with kerosene and
other mineral oils.
White lead and mixed paints are freely
adulterated with cheap mixtures, and in ad-
dition to the inspection of food and dairy
products. the department has to look after
the purity of these articles.
How the States Money Is Spent.
To enforce laws against all these adul-
terations in the broad state of Minnesota,
the department has for two years past
had at its disposal only $4,000 a year.
The last legislature added $4,000, which
will enable the commissioner to have a lit
tie more work done Besides the commits
sioner, W. w. P. Mcconnell, who now re-
ceives $4,000 salary, the staff includes
George l.. Dingman, assistant commits
osioner, salary $1,5OO; julius Hortvet,
chemist, S1,500; Frank L. Bowler, acting
assistant chemist, 5000; W. w. Wall, sec
retary, $1,000; Mrs. May Grindall, stem
ographer, $500, and seven deputy inspec-
tors at $1,000 each. Sam Haugdahl, B. D.
White, S. T. Scott. A. ]. Grover H. E.
piles. The pay roll of the department thus
foots up to $15, 800. The other expenses
are heavy, especially the travelling ex-
penses OF the seven field men, who cover
the entire territory of the state All sam
pies of food products have to be paid for,
unless the owner is generous. The sup
plies for the chemist are expensive, so 1t
is easy to see where the money goes. Com
ing years win see the necessity of even
more thorough inspection, and the appro-
priation and the force will have to be con-
tinually increased.
Work of the Field Men.
The seven field men have diverse tasks.
They inspect dairy herds and barns and
| creameries. They sample and test the
milk supply of all cities Of over 1,000 test
ing it as it comes in on trains, testing
it in stores and from wagons. Then they
collect samples of every, kind of food prod
uct whose adulteration is prohibited by
law. These samples are sent in to the
chemist, who in his laboratory in the base
ment of the capitol tests each, entering
the result in his book, where the name Of
the brand and the place where it was pur-
chased are also entered.
If test shows adulteration, the dep
uty inspector swears out a warrant for
the offending dealers arrest, and brings
the sample and the chemists report into
court to prove his case. The penalty sell
dom falls on the grocer 1t is nearly al
ways borne by the manufacturer.
Call on the Grocer.
Your deputy inspector is very mild
hammered sort Of man. To see him
strolling up the street with his little
hand satchel, you might take him for a
man introducing a new variety Of stove
polish. He walks into the nearest gro
Gerry store If it is his first visit, he
tells the proprietor that he is a deputy
inspector, and has called to take few
samples Of his goods. Very WELL" says
the man with the sugar scoop, "but L
would like to see your authority" The
all an1f nd lsc-
| plays a small star set in shield shaped
| devica hearing letters proclaiming his