The San Francisco call., 1906-07-07
CHICAGO PACKING
PLANTS CLEAN.
Merchants Committee
Is Satisfied With Re-
suit of It's Enquiry
Products of the Yards
Said to Be a Proper
and Wholesome Food

CHICAGO, July 6.-The report of the
joint committee of the Chicago Com
mercial Association and Illinois Mer
chants Association appointed to inves-
tigate the packing industries of Chi
cago, together with the report of the
made public today. The committee
says:
That a board of experts of the char
acter employed with professional ideals
and guided and influenced by an "es-
thetic sense" which embodies some
Of luxury" should find the product
wholesome" the yards gene orally
clean,' and the inspections efficient"
seems. to your committee TO cover the
AS a result of this investigation we
ourselves have no hesitancy In stating
Sha5 s6e sna at 6eo she 1s
that the companies have been improY-
ing the conditions and products from
year to year; that improvements are
constantly being made and will be
made, and we believe that the condi-
tions and surroundings at the plants
carefully protect the quality of the
product
The experts who accompanied the
committee were: DR.. w. A. Evans.
professor of pathology. University OF
Illinois; DR.. Maximilian Herzog. late
pathologist Bureau of Science. Manila,
P. /; DR.. NJ. 1. Provenal, pathologist to
the Phipps Institute. Philadelphia;
Professor A. T. Peters, V. S.. Univer-
sity of Nebraska, and Professor NJ. H.
Reynolds, " s., University of Mime
sota-all eminent specialists. Their in
vestigation occupied two weeks, during
which they made as thorough a study
of the conditions in the stockyards and
packing houses as they could possibly
make within that time.
They say that part of most of the
plants are up to date, yet In each in
indifferently good and in most of them
some things that they cannot approve
of. Continuing, the report says;
The committee can cite no better
evidence of the truth Of this statement
than the very improvements that are
under way everywhere. The better
ments relate in some places to minor
things, and in others they mean a COM
plete rebuilding of old plants. Gener-
ally speaking the more recently built
adverse criticism has had It's origin In
conditions at old buildings which have
been added to and adapted to expand
comes to analyze this criticism they
find that part OF Ii is based upon prin-
ciples that are known, and part Of 1t
mand that food products shall be pro-
duced In places conforming toicertain
somewhat vague ideals. The esthstic
sense embodies something of necessity
and something more of luxury; in re-
gard to the latter there may be good
deal of misinformation.
Nowhere is there greater vagueness
and less definite information than In
regard to the preservatives. Even SCI
entists differ on this subject. Your
committee has investigated by inquiry,
by search and by analysis to determine
where preservatives were used.
The report then gives the preserva-
tives used. but does not discuss the
question of the harmfulness OF the
preservatives employed on the one
hand. nor the supposedly increased
dangers resulting from the use OF un-
preserved products or products differ
emily preserved on the other. 1t espe-
cially commends these questions for
further scientific inquiry.
The Investigations OF the regulations
of the United States and the city OF
Chicago for the inspection of meats.
the committee say. was conducted by
Drs. Hektoen, Herzog and Evans. rep
resenting the Chicago Medical Society,
who had the especial counsel OF Drs.
Ravenel, Peters and Reynolds.