The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-11-01
SHORT WEIGHT EVIL
Mr.. Slater Issues Bulletin
Covering the Subject.
TIPS ARE GIVEN THE PEOPLE
Several Concerns Are Charged With
Sending Out a Quantity of Stuff
That Is Adulterated.

Dairy and Food Commissioner Slater
has issued the following bulletin:
Undoubtedly inc greatest fraud now
being perpetrated. in the sale of food
stuffS in thi, state. as well aS in near
" every other state in the Union. Is
the short weight and short measure
fraud. The laws of the. state prohibit
misbranding of food products and
when Il .container. is labeled giving the
net weight the statement must be
true. The law requires statement OF
the net weight on Il few products. but
does not require such Il statement OH
Il great number of staple articles.
The manufactures or packer simply
does not label the package he puts up
on the market and the purchaser buys
it thinkin. he is getting "A pound. five
pounds, Il quart or gallon, as the
case may be. The practice is quite
general and is the rule in the case
of many products and not the eX-
ceptiOn. ..
The manufacturer of the packages
ma kes them short weight or short
mea sure according to the orders of the
packer. who is to fill them with his
products.
One very noticeable short weight
fraud is the practice of selling but
ter in Jars The common half gal
lon butter jar is known by the trade
as five pound jar but when it
is filled level full with butter it will
generally hold less than five pounds of
butter. 1t is not difficult to find
five pound jars" of butter on the
market containing only four and one
half pounds of butter. The customer
who buys one of these jars of but
ter for $3.50 thinks he is getting
butter at 80 cents per pound while
in fact he is paying just 40 cents per
pound.
This department is powerless to
compel statement of the net weight
on all food packages, as there is no
law requiring such labelling. but I'M
til such a law is enacted there is no
relief in sight except that the indi-
vidual purchaser can protect himself
by weighing the goods he buys and
insisting on receiving what he pays
for.
Producers of and dealers i'll eggs
are again warned against selling or
offering for sale eggs, which are not
fresh and wholesome. Inspectors of
this department are instituting prose
cutions against yiolators of the law
in every section of the state and the
lowest fine that can be assessed by
any court is $50 and costs.
Among the analyses reported from
the laboratory recently are the follow
ing:
Lab. lS40- Extract of Almond. "Pur-
itan." manufactured by Wright Clark
son Mercantile company, Duluth.
Illegal. labeled3,2 ounces, exact meas
uTe IA ouiiceH.
Lab. 1OS Imitation Fruit Jelly. man
ufactred by Berry Mayburn Co.,
Chicago Illegal, marked l3 pounds,
exact net weight lOH, pounds.
Lab. ll93-Ground cinnamon, manu-
featured by J. p. Dieter company. Chi
cago. Illegal. labeled "a pound, exact
net weight 2.S ounces.
Lab T76--Black pepper, manufac-
tured by DR.. Ward Medicine company,
Winona. Illegal, labeled three ounces,
exact net weight 2E ounces.
Lab, El65-White pepper, manufac-
tured by H. b. Strait & Co., st. Paul.
Illegal, sample is adulterated with
ground cocoanut shells and contains Il
considerable amount of starchy mat
ter.
Lab S4-Boied Linseed Oil. manu-
featured by American Linseed Oil COM
pany. Omaha. Neb. Illegal, adulterated
with mineral oil.
| Lab. 90-Boiled- Linseed Oil. manu-
featured by the Central Linseed Oil
company, Omaha. Neb. Illegal, adul-
terated with mineral oil.