Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-02-05
of Some Samples Of
Goods Sold in Des Moines
and What They Show
THE PRICE CUTS NO FIGURE
Lard Costing IS Cents Pound Made
Of the Same Material as That Sold
for cents-Both Kinds Made Of
cottonseed Oil and sterine Some
Methods Of Preserving Sausage.
[By Ora Williams.l
Special TO Times Republican

SpectaI to Times -RepOn1lCan
Des Moines. Feb. 5.-Five samples Of
a material sold in the market for lard
was purchased at the best groceries IN
Des Moines and elsewhere In the state
and all five samples were sent to the
state chemist. The prices of the lard
per pound was IN. SA, 10, liz and
15 cents. The state chemists analysts
samples were the same substance.
namely cottonseed oil and sterine.
There was practically no difference
whatever in the material in the stuff
and the cost of manufacture In each
instance was the same and yet the
prices ranged from two pounds for ID
cents to Is cents pound, just double.
There was only one sample that had
any lard in it whatever. That was the
sample at 11Ila cents pound and that
had been adulterated with quantity
of beef tallow. In other words the
highest priced lard bought was not
lard at all and was exactly the same
material that was sold for the cheapest
lard. the difference in price extending
no farther than the label on the out
side of the can in which 1t was coti-
tanned. This analysis is in the office
OF the state dairy commissioner and is
open to the inspection of the public.
go
There is other information in the Of
flee Of the dairy commissioner that
might interest the public, the public
that has been buying pure this and
pure that and getting the same mater
ial as the cheap only paying higher
price. The analysis of the state chem
ist leads to the discovery that there is
practically no sausage on the market
in Des Moines nor any of the large
cities of the state that is not adulter-
ated. The dairy commissioners office
has butchers trade papers showing
advertisements for adulterants for
sausage and Hamburger meats. One
of these advertisements advertises
Meatine, which, it is claimed, "soaks
up water like sponge and is great
profit maker" The advertisement
claims that 1t binds the sausage to-
gether and makes it look good. The
state chemist was furnished four sam
pies of sausage and one of Hamburger
steak purchased from Des Moines'
best butcher shops and from one or
two other cities. Each sample shows
that there has been used a preserva-
tive made of sulphites and borac acid
and one sample of oysters secured IN
this city contained formaldehyde.
Tho use of preservatives is very
common and almost universal even in
the butcher shops in the small cities
and towns of the state as shown by the
state chemists work. There is one
particular preservative that is used to
a great extent and is known as Freeze
'em. The state chemist has analyzed
1t and found that it is made OF sulphite
and borax. The sulphite keeps the
fresh color in the meat and the borax
preserves 1t from decaying. The di-
rections on the outside of the bottle
say that it will keep sausage two weeks.
The only trouble is that doctors
say it will kill man If he eats enough
of it, and that even if he is not killed
the action of the preservative is very
injurious. It preserves the sausage by
killing the bacteria and all animal life
that attacks the meat and will have the
same effect on the stomach. These are
some of the reasons why there is just
now strong effort being made to get a
pure food law thru the legislature. The
bill will likely be brought out of the
committees of both the senate and
house this week and there is every in
dication that the bill will be passed.