Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-03-08
Mistellansous Reading
PURE FOOD LAW PUZZLES.
Questions of Labels That Bother the
Dealers.

Questions OF Labels Ihat 6other the
Dealers.
The pure food law has been in oper-
alton since January l. What has been
accomplished? The public Is not sc
much concerned with the machinery OF
the law and the details Of its opera
ton as with the results. The question
that is being put to wholesale grocers
and dealers in meats and liquors is:
Are the food products and the
meats and drink that are made by the
manufacturers and sold in wholesale
and retail shops any purer than they
were before?"
With this question comes another as
to whether any Of the manufacturer
who put UP impure or adulterated food
and drinks have been driven out OF
business or made to change their meth
ods. To such questions the wholesale
men have only one answer, and that
is one which at first causes some sur
prise.
1t is that there has been very little
change, in fact, almost none, as to the
character Of the goods sold. The
wholesalers are concerned almost en-
tirely with the details as to the en-
forcement of the law.
A surprising amount Of activity In
this respect Is going in all over the
country. This activity at present con-
fines itself almost exclusively to the
proper labelling of the products.
The average person might suppose
that the wholesalers would be most
concerned about getting absolutely
pure products. That is not the case,
for the very simple reason, they say
that the mere passage Of the law has
brought that about.
The pure food law requires that no
deleterious matter shall be put into
foods, and also that the foods shall not
be misbranded. 1t is with the mis-
branding feature Of the law that the
dealers are now mostly concerned.
Labels must be put on packages that
shall declare truthfully what Is In
them. This upsets a whole lot Of trade
traditions. The law is not entirely
clear and the agricultural department
itself Is not specific as to how articles
in detail shall be labelled. Every pro-
duct has to be considered on its own
merits and the dealers are now puz-
zling over the meanings Of words, and
phrases and there is a mighty lot OF
editing going on so that the require
ments Of the law shall be fulfilled.
A simple ILLUSTRATION Of the upsetting
of trade traditions will reveal what
that means. For fifty years or more
for example, one Of the highest grades
Of coffee has been sold to the public
as Java coffee. A certain. grade OF
coffee was classified in the trade In
that way.
Most folks have thought the coffee
was grown in Java and that 1t was
called Java because of that fact. The
truth is that very little Java coffee
ever came from Java.
A large part Of it, indeed most Of IT.
came from Sumatra, an adjoining Is
land. Java is not particularly suited
for coffee growing. 1t does produce
some high grade coffee, and in the
early years the best coffee did come
from that island.
But Sumatra soon produced a bet
ter article and kept on producing 1t In
immense quantities. The fine quality
however, had always been called Java
coffee by the trade and the Sumatra
product was put out as Java coffee
and the trade came to regard this little
deception not only as trifling, but as
absolutely necessary to the successful
conduct of the coffee business.
Under the new law all this must be
changed. No coffee must be labelled
Java coffee unless it comes actually
from Java. That means an upheaval
Of traditions.
There are many products Of food that
have grown up to be labelled as some
thing different from what they really
are, not because Of any intent to de-
ceive, but because the public, in re-
sponse to these trade traditions, has
practically demanded that the labels
should Indicate that the goods were OF
the best kind rather than that they
should he literally accurate. With a
demand that the goods shall be la
belled so that there can be no decep-
ton of any kind as to the contents OF
packages many delicate questions as
to wondering have arisen.
There Is not a manufacturer Of food
products who has not been struggling
for weeks and months with this prob
lem. Every house has pasted its old
labels In books and then has made cor
rections on the margins, twisting the
wording this way and that until the
right description has been secured.
No manufacturer wants to tell any
more than is necessary about his goods
and yet every one has been anxious to
comply with both the letter and the
spirit of the law so as to avoid trouble
with the government. 1t would be a
serious matter, for example, to make
up half million dollars worth Of goods
and then find that they could not be
sold because they were not labelled
properly.
The cost of labels is enormous. One
Of the wholesale houses in the town
has nearly 100000 worth of labels
which are useless Of themselves under
the new law and a great problem has
been how to save the money which
has been spent for them.
The law allows the old labels to be
used until October next. This house
puts out millions of dollars worth OF
goods and a nice calculation is going
on as to the extent use may be made
of the labels on hand. The problem Is
being solved mathematically, along
the lines Of average sales, and the firm
is confident of winning out. Scores OF
other firms are in a similar position
and all are at work getting rid OF
old labels.
There are hundreds Of kinds OF
goods that are not of the quick sale
variety, and this has brought abou,