, 1903-02-09

Following is the full text of bulletin
No. -, just issued by Prof. Slosson of
the Wyoming agricultural experiment
station. and dated February 7, 1903:
The question of food adulteration is
of special Importance in Wyoming, for
we have to depend on other states for a
large part of our food supply. Much
of the food for miners, herders and
ranchmen must be preserved i'll some
way 1ersaonvenience of storage and
transpoA1 aud most of our towns
have extesisfSe suburbs oftin cans. The
prevailing use of foods in packages and
cans, while it prevents personal close
supervision for purity and cleanliness:
which is>easy where t~f1e%Aa7Ekets .are
supplied from the immediate neighbor-
hood, will at the same time make the gen
eral supervision and control of food prod
ucts easier than elsewhere.
The prices paid in Wyoming for foods
are high, and most employers pride them
selves on sending out the best foods in
the market to their herders or gangs OF
working men. Unfortunately the results
do not often match their good intentions,
for it is assumed that the highest priced,
most extravagently advertised and bright
est colored food products are the best,
and this is by no means the case. Some
of the firms which are most vociferous
in talking of pure foods" and in warn
ing against limitations" are really re-
sponsible for the worst goods on the
market. We all enjoy reading the at
tractively written and handsomely illus
trated advertisements which load down
the magazines, and we have a right to,
for we pay for them when we buy the
wares. A manufacturer sometimes sends
out part of his product at a high price
under a name which by expensive adver-
Using has become a household word, and
puts the same quality of food on the mar
ket without his trademark for sale at a
much cheaper rate. The price of food
products affords almost no indication oil
their purity or real value.
The most expensive foods are most ex,
tensively adulterated. Almost all the jel,
lies on the market put up in glass tum.
blers are fraudulent, being composed Of
glucose, starch paste, and perhaps a lit
tie of the fruit, coiored with coal tar dye
and preserved with s~alicylic acid, this
mixture being sold at 80 to so cents a
pound. These are not poisonous, prob
ably, in the amount that would be eaten,
but since they are sold for pure fruit
jellies, they run the genuine article out
of the market. Preserves and jams are
nearly as bad. Vinegar is very rarely
cider vinegar, but is manufactured from
the product of the distillation of wood
/ and is usually below strength. 1t is
almost impossible to get a sample OF
ground spice of any kind which is pure.
| Cocoanut shells, flour and such stuff
| make UP the bulk of these, and at the
| price of say 70 cents a pound. this is a
| pIOiltdOlc way Oh ulSposHiS " NV ua''
of the -four bins. Whiskey and brandy
even when procured from reputable drug
stores or distilleries, often contain wood
alcohol, which is extremely poisonous, in
place of the ordinary alcohol. which i:
bad enough in itself. There have beer
several deaths in the state from the sub
stitution of wood alcohol for grain alco
hol. Fresh oysters and other perishabl'
materials are often preserved with for
maldehyde, which, in any considerable
quantity, is a violent poison. Beer fire.
q%uently contains salicylic acid as a pre-
sentative, and the same preservative j
added to many canned goods, especial
to corn. Salicylic acid is a remedy 70
rheumatism, but all the people in tn
state do not have rheumatism, and, there
fore, should not be continuously dose
without their knowledge.
Pepper is sometimes more than ha
peas. Butter is often preseryedp WI
borax and boric acid. The dried ( eva