Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-10-27
FOR PURE GOODS.
Dr.. D. S, Woods Tells Of
Conditions in Maine.
After Jan. | Will Insist on
Everything Being Labelled.
Marked Improvement in That Line
Already in Maine.

Orono, Me, Oct 26-After three
years Of efforts to secure purity in the
loods and drugs offered for sale il the
state Of Maine, DR.. Charles d. WOODS.
executive officer in the enforcement of
the Maine pure food and drugs act
VIII on Jan. l take most important
step in the application of the law. He
MIll oblisc dealers to place upon all
packages of goods sold in bulk a label
stating Just what they are COMPOSED
oI, II their contents are not exactly
what they are sold for.
when the law Of 1908 regulating the
sale Of foods was passed." said DR.
woods, 1T was difficult for the retailer
ana, in many cases, for the Wholesaler
10 know The quality of the goods which
ne was handling, as they were fire.
wrongly branded. As the re
iall dealers We're met from time to
TIM" they insisted, and not without
reason. tfat they should not be held
responsible for the quality of goods
winch they bought Supposing them
pure. IN consequence, the first aim of
tlc work Of inspection has been 10 see.
tnat the goods were not in original
packages, miSbranded or adulterated
we started in on vinegar" went
"n DR.. Woods. Three years ago this
SUMMER We investigated the vinegar
Iai" Of Maine. We sent a de,utv
all over the State and he went into
.':'th nlll, :. 4
and quietly asked for two u,!art:; of
cider vinegar. No stress was laid On
the word cider nor was the word
%lllrrcd; he just made a simple re-
quest. The results revealed a de-
plorable state of things in that one
branch of the grocery trade of Maine
TO De sure, there We're no poisonous
matters found in any of the v!nc ga,
purchased, but large percentage Of
lhe VineSarS bought contained much
mineral matter. and it was plainly
evident that by the Skilful go oi
t"lorlng to make it resemble cider vim
eSar, much vinegar derived from acids
was being disposed of to Customers
who supposed they We're getting as ri-
der vinegar just what they called for
ANA paid for.
To show the practical result OF
this work, let me say that last sum-
mrr We again sent a man throughout
the state, who did as was done three
years ago. We found practically no
misbrafding of vinegars in the state
Let make myself plain: Other vim
c%arS may not be, and no doubt fire.
Hucntly are not, unwholsOmc, but the
intent of the law is to see that the
customer gets what he orders; and if
he doesn't get what he orders and
pays for, then he should be entitled
to know what he is getting and this
is where the part regarding misbrand-
Ing applies to such an article as vim
cgar.
n he Improvement of conditions have
been almost nothing, as accomplished
~ legal procedure. but almost entire
ly through the moral influence of the
lay. The national law has been of
enormous help in bringing us to this
N"irt. Maine. with pure food laws all
by herself. would have found it next
to impossible to support a demand
that goods brought into the State and
offered for sale should be branded
clearly as to just what they We're But
operation with the national food and
drug law has accomplished wonders
The Association of National and
stat" Food and Dairy Commissioners
met ut Mackinac Island, Mich, the
first of August 1t was largely attend
"a, almost every state being repre-
scnt"l. and it lasted four days. There
was one meeting given over to the
manufacturers. and | was greatly in
tcr"sted in a significant thing there
brought out, Three Of the leading food
rrckcrs of the country We're represent
cd ly papers, all of whom said that
there IS no nceu to use prcServativeS
or artificial coloring in any food ma
terial now being produced in America
They said that all such are used either
70 cover up infcriority or to pamper
To 4 donraved taste.
There are today several brands of
kctciup wnich contains no preserva-
tive and are free from artificial color
ing. The same is true of preserves,
jams, jellies and allied products. There
are plenty of pickles which have not
been hardened with alum-in fact. ii
o"r will only study the label of the
goods which he uses it is perfectly pos
sihlc for the consumer to purchase ar
ticIes free from injurious or added ma
tcrialS.
"lIoWcvcr, it is necessary that Il person
bo on the watch against these things. for
there is 50 much profit in selling these
materials that unless one is
on the lookout he will find that instead of
pork sausage he is getting sausage with
cereal and water added: that his suppos-
ed devilod ham is labelled devilled meat, |
ham flavor; that his supposed maple
syrup is labelled cane and maple syrup
or possibly cane syrup, maple flavor or
perhaps merely syrup"
'Al that the food law inspectors can
do said Dr.. Woods to the Herald. lis to
see that goods are free from injurious
and are true to name. 1t is
up to the consumer to see what he is
getting when he buys. 1t is certainly his
fauit if, when properly labelled, different
products are given to fill his orders.
Public sentiment has had SO much in
tluence that today there isn't a dealer III
Maine who would dare to stand out and
say he is not in favor of the pure food