The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-05-25

enacted in Massachusetts. Since that
time other States have enacted and
enforced food laws, until at the pres
ent time twenty-five States are seri-
ously attempting to regulate the char
aeter and quality of the foods sold in
their markets. In three additional
States laws relating to the purity of
dairy products are enforced, and In
several others beginning has been
made
Food Regulation Abroad.
Food legislation has received much
attention abroad and the more adj
vanced foreign countries have effective
food laws and enforce them rigidly.
Inc subject of the purity of foods is
more widely studied in the United
States now than at any previous time.
The people as whole are better in
formed on the subject than ever before,
and there Is q constantly increasing
demand for definite information. In
response to a very large number of
inquiries regarding the matter the bull
letin Of the Bureau of Chemistry has
been prepared as a popular statement
regarding the nature and extent of
food adulteration, and includes simple
tests by which the housekeeper or re-
tail dealer may determine some of
the more prevalent forms of adultera-
ton practiced.
The demand for information on this
subject is now very general, and, as
is often the case when public interest
is deeply aroused, there is an unfor-
tunate tendency toward exaggeration
which frequently amounts to sensa-
tionalism. Such an attitude is of
course to be deplored. and unless 1t Is
checked must sooner or later react
unfavorably. 1t is not unusual to
speak of some of our typical foods as
poisoned, and of the manufacturers as
prisoners. Such characteriZations are
frequently exaggerations to the point
of untruth. Deleterious substances
are in many cases added to foods. At
the same time the word poison" has
very strong and distinct significance
and should not be applied to any one
of the substances ordinarily added to
foods, except in the sense that they are
harmful The word "poisoner" signi-
fies q person who intentionally and de-
liberately administers an article in
tended to result fatally, or at least
very disastrously to health.
The Juggling of Words.
During recent years thore has been
a tendency to confuse the minds of
many by an incorrect use of certain
words frequently used In the discussion
of foods. 1t is the policy of some man
ufacturers to limit the word ''adulter-
ated' to foods to which have been
added substances OF lower value than
the foods themselves with the inten-
ton Of increasing the weight or vol
ume This limitation is certainly not
justified by the English language nor
by the facts, and such b restriction of
the term is entirely unwarrantcd The
word "adulterated" properly describes
q food to which any noncondimental
foreign substance, not properly con-
stituting a portion of the food, has
been added. The fact that the added
substance may be at times of greater
commercial value than the food itself
has no bearing on the question. Con-
versely, the word 'pure% is properly
applicable to foods that are unmixed
with any foreign substance. 1t may
be wholesome or unwholesome, but
this property is not indicated b. the
word pure" or "adulterated." This
definition is not. of course. complete
The claim Is made by some manu-