Evening star., 1902-03-11
FOOD ADUETERAT|0N
Considered by House Com
mittee on Commerce.
FIVE BILLS PENDING
VIEWS OF DIR. FREER OF PHILA-
DEIPHIA.
Advocates the Hepburn Measure-En-
forcement by Bureau Of
Agriculture.

taken up for the first time this session by
the House committee on commerce today.
About thirty gentlemen, representing the
various phases of the question, were pres
ent at the hearing.
Five bills on the subject were before the
committee, one introduced by Chairman
Hepburn Of the committee, for preventing
the adulteration, misbranding and imitation
of foods beverages, candies, drugs and con-
diments in the District of Columbia and the
territories and for regulating interstate
traffic therein.
Mr.. Corless of Michigan and Mr.. Mann of
Illinois have also both introduced bills to
establish food bureaus in the Department
of Agriculture and to prevent the trans
portation of deleterious foods and drinks.
1t was announced by Mr.. Hepburn, when
the committee was called to order at II 20
o'clock, that the hearings would be con-
tinued from day to day until the subject
was exhausted In view of the large dele
cation present Mr.. Hepburn urged brevity.
DR.. Freer Heard.
The discussion was opered by DR.. Will
lam Freer of Philadelphia. chairman of the
executive committee of the national pure
food and drug congress. DR.. Freer advo-
Gated the Hepburn bill, and he made this
announcement. Mr.. Hepburn interjected
that the bill, although introduced by him,
was prepared by the late Mr.. Brosius.
DR.. Freer declared that the purpose of
this bill might be considered as having
dual purpose, first to prevent the manufac-
ture of impure food products. and second
to prevent their transportation and sale.
The proposed legislation. he said, was
along the line of the laws Of Great Britain
on the same subject.
Chairman Hepburn asked the doctor if
he had anything showing the extent to
which foods were adulterated.
Extent of Adulteration.
He replied that the best exhibit he could
present would be the report of the Massa-
chusetts state board of health covering a
period of eighteen years, showed that of
the samples of milk examined 3S per cent
were adulterated, of food samples 1871 per
cent were adulterated, while the samples
of drugs showed adulteration to the extent
OF 81 per cent.
DIR. Freer said that his own examination
showed average adu1teIation of from 5
to 15 per cent, and that he had estimated
the amount of food products In this coun-
try which could be adulterated between
one and a half and two billion dollars in
value.
In Pennsylvania, Dr. Freer said, many
oysters were dosed with preservatives and
meat products were oEerWeighted with
connection.
DR.. Freer said that some adulterations
were not injurious to health, and in such
cases the bill simply provided that the
product SO adulterated should be branded
accordingly.
Mr.. Corless and other members of the
committee indicated by questions that this
was requiring the government to go far
ther than was wise.
In answer DR.. Freer said the bill was so
drawn that the manufacturer and not the
vender of the goods would be held liable
in this connection.
Mr.. Hepburn asked If publicity alone
would not be sufficient in this connection
without enacting a penalty The reply
was made that it was too easy to change
the name of goods or the brand under
which goods We're sold to make publicity a
guarantee against adulteratiOn. DR.. Freer
was not In favor of requiring trade secrets
in the composition of food or drink pro-
ducts to be revealed.
Mr.. Cooms Of California questioned the
doctor as to how the proposed legislation
could be enforced
The answer was that it would be enforced
through the Department Of Agriculture, and
would apply to the states only SO far as it
could be done through the interstate COM
merce regulations.
Work Of the Department.
When asked if the Agricultural Depart
ment had the apparatus and was prepared
to make the proper analyses the doctor re-
piled:
"The Agricultural Department has done
more to detect food aduIterations than
any laboratory in the country. It now has
the apparatus necessary"
The question as to the advisability Of au-
thorizing the Department of Agriculture to
fix standards was one on which many ques-
tions We're asked by members Of the COM
mittee. me regulation proposed In the bill
in this regard Is that commission shall be
created for the establishment Of standards
in the department. The standards estab-
lished in this way, however, are not neces-
sarily to be accepted In the courts.
DR.. Freer had not concluded when the
committee took recess until tomorrow.