The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-11-06
NO wHIsKEY DROPS IN CANDIES
New York, Oct. 30, 1908.

To the Ocala Banner:
officials of the department of health
of this city. and also those officials OF
the United States department of agri-
culture who are charged with the en-
.forcement of the pure food law, have
been conducting a thorough examina-
ton into the charges recently made
by officials of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union, to the effect that
"whiskey drops" in the form of chloe
olate and other candies filled with al
coholic liquors, have been openly on
sale here at place patronized by wo-
men and children.
The charge in question was first
brought to the attention of the W. c.
T. l., by Mrs. Helen J. Andruss,
president of the New York county
branch Of the organization. Mrs. An
druss, it seems, had been told by an
acquaintance that such candies had
been purchased by some young girls
at a well known New York confectiOn-
cry shop. Then, without further in
! vestigatiOn, the charge was spread
/! broadcast. Naturally. the agriculau-
raj department and health officials
were intensely interested because the
pure food law specifically prohibits
the sale of confectionery if. among
other things, it contains any vinOus,
malt or spirituOus liquor or compound
or narcotic drug" and serious penal
ties are imposed for violations of this
provision. which is found in section
of the food and drugs act of June
| 80, 1906. The sanitary code of the
local board OF health contains, word
for word, the same provision, in sec
ton 6S. subdivision g"
Inspectors of both the federal and
city departments have been untiring
in their activities in searching for VIC
lations of these provisions for many
months. and the sale of alcOholic-flled
candies, it was believed. had been alb
/ solutely stamped out. However. they
took to the trail once more and as
certained that the "whiskey drops"
! against which complaint was made
! did contain some sort of a liquid fill
ing, which, when analysed, showed
slightly less than One-third of one
/ per cent. of alcohol. According TO the
officials, while this was a technical Vi
/ citation of the law, and hence a case
! for reprimand. it was clearly not an
/ intentional case of selling improper
/ candies. as the percentage of alcohol
was almost infinitesimal and the fill
/ ing absolutely harmless to consumers.
Bayard c. Fuller, supervising in
spector of foods of the local depart
ment of health, and Russell RaynOr,
chief sanitary inspector of the same
| department. both declare as a result
| of their investigations that at the
present time there is absolutely no
sale of any such candies as those
| complained against, and they further
more declare that if any alcoholic
candies were manufactured or offered
} for sale. the manufacturers and sell
/ ers would be arrested Immediately
and subjected to severe penalties.
Time was. up TO the enactment Of
/ the pure food law. that some very eX-
pensive candies were manufactured
containing cognac, burgundy, claret,
white wines and whiskey. These
! largely were used for dinners as q
| combination of liqueur and confec-
ton. The idea was imported from
! Europe. where candies of this charac-
! ter have a decided vogue Immediate
/ " on the enactment of the pure food
law. however. according TO department
officials and confectioners, the manu-
/ facture OF candies of this sort came
! absolutely TO a standstill. and no man
ufacturer would risk the penalties in
/ volved.
Except in the case of filled candies,
which are no longer made, it is abso-
lutely impossible for any confectiOn-
/ cry to contain alcohol, as the boiling
! process used in the manufacture alb
solutely eliminates by evaporation any
/ trace of alcohol that might form a
constituent part of the ingredients
/ used.