Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-10-08
Pure Food Inspectors Instructed
to Take No More Excuses
From Dealers
"oLD GOODS" CRY A HlNDRANcE
Food Law Has Generally Had Good
Effect-Has Been Too Much Evasion
by Plea That Impure Stocks Were
Carried Over - Eight Prosecutions
During Last Week.
spe .lal to r,mes-Repup1,can.

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prosecutions of dealers and manufac-
turers for violations of the pure food
law last week resulted in fines. From
this time on the state food and dairy
, commissioner Is to act on the suppo-
sition that violations of the law are
done knowingly and will lay the mat
Ter before the courts
When the pure food law was en-
acted the dealers and manufacturers
wanted a year to get rid of the old
stocks that they had on hand. The
law was enacted by the Thirty first
general assembly, in 1906, and the law
took effect July 1, 1906. The year ex-
pired July 1. 1907. but dealers are still
excusing themselves for selling old
stock. Every time a state food in
goods that do not comply with the
state food law the excuse is made that
1t is "old goods" and he throws in the
hint that of course the inspector will
not make any holler about "old
goods
H. r. Wright, state food and dairy
commissioner, is disposed now to be-
gin to "holler" about old goods. He
has instructed his inspectors to make
no promises as to what will be done
but after an inspector goes to a store
and finds some "old goods" that do
not comply with the law he is in
structed to merely call the attention
of the dealer to the fact and then re-
turn again in couple of days. II
the "old goods" are still being sold he
is instructed to prosecute.
The "old goods cry is the greatest
hindrance to the enforcement of the
pure food law. Every manufacturer
in the country claims it as an excuse.
Recently some labels that did not COM
ply with the pure food law were dis
covered. The manufacturer made the
explanation that they were from q
stock that he had on hand, that there
were only very few, Just very
few" and that they would soon be got
ten rid of. This was some months
ago and those labels are still beine;
used. The department has been len.
lent for three months since the year
provided by the Legislature has ex-
pired and proposes now to tighten
down.
After year and three months of the
state pure food law the impure foods
and foods preserved with injurious
ingredients. have, however, been
worked out to a remarkable extent and
when a citizen goes to a grocery store
to buy something to eat. he can be
reasonably sure that he is getting what
he pays for without the necessity cf
going and having 1t analyzed by a
chemist to make sure. But within
the next few months the situation
will become still better. The work of
the department thus far has been
pretty much campaign of education
to get the dealers informed on what
they could sell. Now it is to be
campaign Of education to teach the
public what it don't have to buy
According to the state dairy COM
missioner the ways in which the pure
food law is chiefly violated and the
public humbugged is in dying and
favoring with coal tar products; pre-
serving with injurious ingredients and
adulterating with some cheaper sub
stance. There are many different metf-
DDS of adulteration. Coloring, flavor
ing and preserving are much the same
The coloring and f1avoring are chiefly
with coal tar products. Coal tar prod
ucts come from the refining Of crude
oil and are most always injurious to
consume. But their use makes the
most delicate tints and fiavors imagin-
able where everything else fails. That
is the reason they are used SO extern
sively. The law prohibits them be-
cause they are injurious.
There are several different kinds and
methods of preserving but almost al
ways the substance is injurious Any
thing that will kill bacteria when it
attacks food will also kill people who
attack the food if they take enough
of it. What is poisonous for lower
forms of animal life is poisonous for
simple preservatiyes like salt. One of
the prosecutions by the department
last week was for selling Hamburger |
steak that had preservative mixed in
it. The steak laid out on a butchers |
table for several days and yet kept |
red and bright as tho it had just been |
made An investigation disclosed the |
fact that it had a strong preservative |
that was poisonous and while very
few persons would have been killed by !
eating the steak, yet the stuff was in |
furious. Had the steak been exposed |
the preservative it would have |
turned black and no one would have !
eaten it. With the preservative it kept I
red but was no more fit to eat than |
tho the preservative had not been
placed in it.
During last week there We're prose-
,uted for violations of the law:
John Rahnstocl1 of Armstrong, for
selling Hamburger steak containing
Fined $35 and costs.
Goodrich Bros. Ida Grove, for selling !!