The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-05
selection of food.

Many pure food bills have been in
troduced and some passed by State
legislatures; many have been offered
to Congress but all thus far seem OBJ
jectiOnable.
1t has seemed difficult for politicians
to formulate a satisfactory bill that
would protect the common people and
yet avoid harm to honest makers and
prevent endless trouble to retailers.
No government commission or officer
has the right to fix food standards"
to define what the people shall and
shall not eat, Tor what agrees with
one may not agree with another and
such act would deprive the common
citizen of his personal liberty. The
Postum Cereal Co, Ltd, perhaps the
largest makers of prepared foods in the
world. have naturally a close knowI-
edge of the needs of the people and
the details of the business of the pur-
veyors, (the retail grocer) and, guided
by this experience have prepared a bill
for submission 10 Congress which is in
tended to accomplish the desired ends,
and inasmuch as a citizen of the United
States has a right to food protection
even when he enters another State it is
deemed proper that the government
take control of this matter and provide
a national law to govern all the states.
A copy of this bill is herewith repro
duced:
Sec 1 governs the maker whether
the food is put up in small package
sealed, or in barrels, boxes or other
wise.
Sec. 2 governs the retailer who may
open a barrel and sell the food in small
quantities. When he puts the goods
into a paper bag he must also enclose
a printed copy of the statement of the
maker which was affixed to the origi-
nal package and inasmUch as the re-
taller cannot undertake to guarantee
the statement of ingredients he must
publish the statement of the makers
and add his own name and address as
a guarantee of his selling the food as
It is represented to him which relieves
the retailer of responsibility of the
truth of the statement and throws II
upon the maker, where it properly be-
longs.
The remaining sections explain
themselves.
The Postum Cereal Co., Ltd, for ex-
ample, have from the beginning of its
existence printed on the outside of each
and every package of Postum and
iIrape-Nuts food truthful and exact
statement of what the contents were
made Of in order that the consumer
might know precisely what he or she
was eating. A person desiring TO buy
for instance, strictly pure fruit jelly
and willing to pay the price has a right
to expect not only an equivalent for
the cost but a further right to a GER
tainty as to what he eats. Or he may
be willing to buy at less cost a jelly
made part of fruit juices, sugar and a
portion of glucose. But he must be
supplied with truthful information II
the ingredients and be permitted to
use his personal liberty to select his
own food accurately.
The people have allowed the slow
murder of infants and adults, by tricky
makers of food, drink and drugs to go
on about long enough. Duty to one
self, family and nation demands that
every man and woman join in an or
ganized movement to clear our people
from this blight. You may not be able
TO go personally to Washington to Inn
press your Congressman, but you can,
in a most effective way tell him by
letter how you desire him to represent
you.