The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1905-02-18
ESTEP PROCESS
Is ADULTERATI0N
USERS LIABLE TO HEAVY PEN.
Atty UNDER FEDERAL LAW
state Dairy and Food Commissioner
Quotes from OIeomargtne Law
and Shows How 1t Applies to
Estep's Process.

The following letter from the state
dairy and food commissioner will be
of general interest to dairymen
throughout the county. 1t sheds
some additional light upon "Estep's
Improved Process" of working far
mers.
Seattle, Feb. 13, 1905.
0. Fl. CULVER,
EDITOR OF SAN JUAN ISLANDER.
DEAR SIR
received a copy of your paper
of February 14th and have read the
article referring to ''Estep's I'm
proved Butter and Cheese Maker" )"
Over a year ago took up this mat
ter with the Department of Agricul-
ture and received a letter from
Major Alvord, chief of dairy division,
in which he condemned the use of ''Es-
tep's Improved Butter and Cheese
Maker" claiming that it was VIOLA
tion of an Act of Congress approved
May 9, 1902 and known as the "Oleo-
margarine Law" which assigned to
the Secretary of the Treasury and
the Secretary of Agriculture various
duties concerning those classes or
kinds of butter defined in the law as
"adulterated butter" and process,
or renovated butter" Butter manu-
facturers, by the use of 'Estep's
Butter and Cheese Maker" would
constitute the product "adulterated
butter for two reasons; FIRST, The
law provides that as chemicals are
used the butter manufactured is
classed as adulterated;. SECOND, as
the butter contains more than 16 per
cent of water it is classed as adul-
terated.
Section four of the act defines adulter-
ated butter as "a grade of butter pro-
duced by mixing, reworking, rechurnng
in milk or cream, refining or in any way
producing a uniform, purified, or i'm
proved product from different lots or
parcels of melted or unmelted butter or
butter fat, in which ANY ACID, AL
KALI, CHEMICAL or ANY SUB
STANCE WHATSOEVER is introduced
,,od for tho Y,nrpoco or with tho affact
Of deodoriZing or removing therefrom
rancidity or any butter or butter fat with
which there is mixed any substance for
eign to butter as herein defined, with
intent or effect of cheapening the cost OF
the product; or any butter in the manu-
facture or manipulating of which any
process or material is used with intent or
effect of causing the absorption of abnor-
NAL quantities of water milk, or cream"
Section four also provides that manu-
facturers of adnlterated butter must pay
$500 special tax" and that every person
who carries on the business Of manu-
facturer of adulterated butter without
having paid the special tax as required
by law shall, besides being liable to the
payment of the tax OF 10 cents per pound
be fined not less than s. 200 and not more
than $1,000, and every dealer in adulter-
ated butter without having paid the special
tax shall be fined not less than S5O. and
not more than 500 for each otfense.'
You will notice from these quota
tions that all manufacturers who use
sEstep's Butter and Cheese Maker
would be liable as stated above. l
would thank you if you will publish
this letter in full so that the farmers
in your locality may know the risk
they are taking in violating the fed
Yours Respectfully,
E. A. MCDONALD,
State Food, Dairy and Oil Com