The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-09


 The necessity for pure food is evil dent, and Is based upon two premises which are well established.
 First as respecting the digestibility and wholesomeness of food products, the addition of artificial substances and subtraction or natural substances which change the relationship of food to digestion, or which alter the char acter of food and its relation to meta bolic processes. The addition of for eign bodies entailsr upon the secretory organs an additional task.
 The greater number of people who break down before old age break down by reason of the failure of some se- cretory organ, especially. the kidneys. and thus to place additional burdens on organs already overworked is un- sanitary and objectionable.
 The second premise for the demand for pure food Is an ethical one. It means honesty and freedom from de- ception of the purchaser or user. The consumer ought not to consent to being deceived.
 On these two premises the whole question of pure food rests. It cannot be disputed that the raw materials produced in our country are as good as those produced anywhere on the globe. and that the manufactured goods are of an equally high quality It may, indeed. be stated that our man. ufactured food products are superior to those produced anywhere in the world.
 etables and fruits. The most of these are absolutely pure. They are judi ciously selected from the best mate rials. carefully prepared and sterilized. While this Is true of the great ma jorjty of our foods, there are some fnes stances in which this Is not the case. For instance, a few manufacturers use saecharine and coal tar products. which have none of the properties of sugar, excepting sweetness, as an artihcial sweetener. This deceives the consum- CT, who thinks from the sweetness of the product he Is eating sugar, while, as a matter of fact, he Is using an in- digestible, if not harmful. coal tar product. But the question of harm fitness Is yet to be decided.
 Again, 1t has been stated. but I do not know with how much truth. that in the preparation of sweet corn there is added for some reason or another additional quan titles of corn starch to that which nature has provided. This would be equivalent to an actual adul- teration.
 The chief trouble with our canned products is the carelessness exercised in the selection of the tin of which the packages are made. In this respect I must confess we are behind some of the European countries. There Is no control. so far as know, of the amount of lead which may be present in the tin used for coating the iron. We have found in thIs laboratory as high as IS per cent of lead in cans where there should not be present moe than l per cent.
 sN,t fu also not as high as 1t ought to be. The solder often contains as much as 50 per cent of lead, but the technique. as may call 1t, of the manufacturer should be such as to absolutely exclude any particle from entering the can. and as a matter of fact a considerable proportion of 1t often drips Into the can.
 All of this matter. as well as the poisonous salts of zinc should be care- fully excluded so that no danger may arise from these sources.
 would say that the general charac- ter of our canned vegetables Is very high and above suspicion. Some of tl.e European countries control this point by law, requiring the use of tin which contains no more than l per cent of lead.
 It would not be advantageous to re- quire the use of tin containing no lead because of the great expense. The use of preservatives In all canned foods has almost entirely ceased. Very few manufacturers use any preserva- tives in staple goods. but most of them still use such matter in such prepara- tions as catsup. It Is claimed that the use of preservatives in such cases Is necessary, and that it is not objec- tionable because there are such limited quantities employed.
 Practically the ony preservative used in catsup at the present time Is benzote of soda, a substance that most manufacturers regard as harmless Even in butter the use of coloring mat ter Is rapidly diminishing by reason of the education of the public taste. Our people are learning that deep yellow color is by no means synonymous with the genuine article. Yet some prefer the artificial and prepared article to the genuine article.
 In most of the high grade hotels and restaurants colored butter is now almost a thing of the past.
 The brilliant red and green tints that formerly were employed by our food manufacturers in their canned fruit and vegetables have been voluntarily aban- doned in many cases and restricted by law in others.
 believe that at the present time the great majority of the best manu- lecturers of the United States have ceased the use of artificial colors en- tirely. In this respect l think we are much ahead of our European friends, who still insist upon using deleterious substances such as the sulphate of cop per. l am also sure that we are at this time far ahead of our foreign friends in the use of artificial coloring where we still use 1t, although l must admit that artificial preparations are almost unknown on the other side. It may be said with satisfaction that the general tendency along the whole line of food products is toward pure product.
 The pure food product Is one which in its composition corresponds exactly to the quality indicated by that name a product to which no artificial sup stance has bsen added or from which no native substance has been substracted. except that which Is legitimately done by the manufacturer. as for instance the separation of bran from -four. This general improvement has been due, in my judgment, to the general discussion of these problems, by the aid of journals of hygiene and medicine and by the Consumers League and other similar bodies. Manufacturers. as a rule, have been quick to appre- ciate the change In public sentiment. to realize it's wisdom and to accept It's demands
 think as a result of all these in vestigations and discussions, the Amerl- can public can confidently look forward fNwf h AN