Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-30
NO INTEREST IN
PURE FOOD LAW
LOCAL PRODUCERS ARE NOT
AFFECTED
Los Angeles Manufacturers Make No
AduIterated Goods for Inter-
state Commerce or Home
Consumption

tlonal pure food and drug law passed
by the last session of congress will be-
come effective.
If no greater interest is taken in the
country in general in the law than is
being displayed in Los Angeles the en-
actment promises to become a dead
letter even before 1t goes into effect.
Possibly the lack of interest taken In
the law in Los Angeles Is due to the
fact that nearly all the foodstuffs con-
sumed here are manufactured in Los
Angeles, and therefore are known to
be pure, but, however that may be,
1t was discovered by a round of the
United states officials and leading
grocers that the fact that such law
would go into effect on the first day of
the new year practically had been for
gotten.
At only one place in Los Angeles
could a copy of the pure food law be
found and, strangely enough, that was
in the office of the immigration COM
missioner, who will have absolutely
nothing to do with the enforcement
of the law.
No one could be found who would
venture a statement as to whether any
effort would be made to enforce the
law, or whether such law will have
any effect upon the manufacture of
adulterated goods.
One fact was established through
inquiry regarding the law, and that is
that California canned goods have an
excellent reputation for purity through
out the civilized world, and that peo-
pie who desire adulterated goods must
send out Of the state If they want to
be certain of getting what they ask
for.
Has No Local Significance
The principal reason for the appar-
ent lack of interest in the new law is
the fact that inasmuch as it is a ma
tional law, it affects only goods in
tended for interstate commerce or for
eign trade, and therefore has nothing
to do with goods manufactured for
home consumption.
In cases where adulterated, dele
terious or misbranded goods are found
in transit from one state to another
they can be seized by United States
authorities and confscated and the
manufacturers thereof fined and i'm
prisoned, or both.
The law also provides for the seizure
of such goods where they have been
shipped into one state from another
and still remain in the original pack
ages.
The expectation of adulterated, dele
terious or misbranded goods is pro-
hibited except in cases where such mis-
branding or adulteration is not con-
trary to the law of the country to
which they are being shipped.
An effort is made to protect persons
addicted to the candy habit by pro-
bibiting interstate trade in confections
containing terra alba, barytes, tale,
chrome yellow or other mineral sub
stances or poisonous color or flavor,
or other ingredients deeterious or det-
rimental to health, or any vinous,
malt or spirituous liquor or compound
or narcotic drug.
In like manner effort is made to COM
pei the manufacture only of pure drugs
and in the case of drugs the United
States Pharmacopoeia and National
Formulary are accepted as the STAN
dard.
No tainted or diseased meat can be
shipped from one state to another and
there must be no misbranding in an
effort to deceive purchasers as to the
nature of the goods, and the weight
and measure must be correctly stated.
Public Wants Bright Things
"The buying public, in great meas
ure, is responsible for almost universal
high coloring of many goods. For in
stance, nc one except a confectioner
would think of buying bottle of white
vanilla extract. 1t first must be adul-
terated with burnt brown sugar to give
1t the well known amber color before
the ordinary housewife will believe
that it is vanilla extract. OF course
the burnt brown sugar is perfectly
wholesome and cannot really be called
an adulterant, but it's use would be un-
necessary if the consumers could only
become educated to the fact that alb
solutely pure vanilla extract is per-
fectly white" said a prominent grocer
yesterday.
''Take canned berries of various
kinds and how many people will buy
fhoOn VUhoT1 ha fr,Yi ie =
bright red? Except the loganberry and
perhaps one or two other kinds, ber-
ries turn brown when cooked, and in
order to sell canned goods we must
mix them with the juice of the roselle
berry, which gives the goods that ap-
pearance so pleasing to the eye, but
which does not add a particle to the
flavor.
People would think they were be-
ing swindled If we should attempt to
sell them absolutely pure lemon ex-
tract, because in its pure state the ex-
tract of the lemon is colorless. AS a
result we must add small quantity
or curcuma, an inert drug, or one that
has absolutely no effect upon the
human body in order to give the ex-
tract the necessary yellow tinge-neces-
sary so far as the sale is concerned
but which neither adds nor detracts
from the wholesomeness of the ex-
tract.
Consumers Becoming Educated
There is some hope of people be-
coming educated on the question OF
unnecessary coloring of food products
because the demand for uncolored to-
mato catsup is increasing. The uncol-
ored article can only be described as a
dirty brown. l cannot say that the
coloring substance used in coloring to-
mato catsup bright red is not in
furious.
Il believe that the national pure
food law viii result in great deal of
good. know that many of the biz
manufacturers of canned goods and
proprietary articles and drugs will
comply with the law, but those whose
regulations have been made by plac-
ing upon the market the cheapest kind
OF stuff viii endeavOr to eVade the law
as much as possible, because of the
enormous profit in the business of
making IN worst description of adul-
tefatQd anG gDurioua eYoods,