The National tribune., 1907-12-05
THE FOOD LAWS.

The mahufactGrers. wholesalers and
retailers of, food products are having
quite as much trouble as the bankers.
Not only are they kept guessing as to
what the Uhited States Agricultural De-
partment and Prof. Wiley may decide.
but the Food Commissioners of every
state also are elements of uncertainty,
and liable at any time to make much
trouble. Fhis makes about so men
whose rulings have to be watched, and
whose mental processes followed.
The United States Agricultural De-
partment has recently decided that
Java coffee can mean only coffee actual
ly raised in the Dutch Island of Java.
This will exclude most of the coffee
that has been sold under that name.
| The coffee trade has been hotly discuss
ing this for some months with two par
ties, one insisting that Java does not
mean the place of growth, but the quail
ity and flavor of coffee Therefore, any
coffee having the taste and goodness Of
Java is entitled to be labeled as such.
The Department has decided that cof-
fee coming from other districts shall be
labeled according to its origin, PA
dang" "Celebes," Dutch East India"
''Sumatra," ETC., in place of having Java
cover all these produced in the islands
of the Indian Archipelago.
This decision is like that in the whis-
ky cases. The other coffees may be
just rs good as Java, may be identical
with it in every particular and COM
position, but if not actually raised in
Java must not be labeled as such. The
difficulty is going to be to prevent the
non-Javan coffee from being recognized
when placed on sale.
DR.. Wiley has also been giving much
attention to Louisiana molasses, and has
decided that a fine grade of sirup can
be turned out without any use of sui
phur. 1t is, however, much darker
than the sulphured molassse, and con-
sequently brings eight cents a gallon
less. 1t is a question, however, of fash
ion. The old-fashioned very dark New
Orleans molasses was formerly believed
to be the best of all sirups, and the
public taste for lighter goods had to be
cultivated. Nothing will be lost, how
ever and much gained by the return
to the oldfashioned molasses.
In struggle he is having with the
glucose manufacturers. our sympathies
are, however. against DR.. Wiley He
has decided that they shall not call
their table form corn sirup," but "glu-
cose." We do not see the reason for
this decision. The product is corn sirup,
and it does not matter that the sirup
is obtained by converting the starch of
the corn into sugar. In the very early
amount of sjrup made from corn stalks,
but that practically ceased so long ago,
as it has been forgotten by any but
the old inhabitants. Corn sirup" is
not misleading; everybody knows that
it is glucose,5 and there seems 10 US no
harm in labelling it such
The Food Commissioners of Illinois.
Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South
Dakota and, Wisconsin have had a con-
ference in which they decided that no
artificial color should be permitted in
extract of vanilla. They will allow the
extract to be sold if it is labeled with
its net weight 'or measure. percentage
of alcohol by volume, and name and
address of manufacturer They will
only allow the artificial essences made
to resemble fruits to be sold if labeled
artificial pineapple, strawberry, rasp-
berry, banana, blackberry. etc, flavor,
and not from artificial coloring
If the words double, triple, ETC., are
used the contents must be twice or three
times as strong as the minimum pre-
scribed.
Alum must not be used in any pre-
pared fruits or vegetables.
Compound jellies, jams or preserves
must show on the label how much glu-