The Washington herald., 1908-08-04
Bv FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Every American who eats food has a
vital interest in the gathering to-day at
AIackinac Island, Mich, Of the associa-
ton OF Federal and State officers who are
engaged IN enforcing the pure food laws
OF the land This organization OF State
and National Food and Dairy Depart
meuts was organized twelve years ago
IN Detroit. and has held a meeting annu-
ally since.
The ultimate object OF the pure food
crusade Is ID abolish trade secrets in the
foodstun business; to assure a purchasing
consumer that he gets from his grocer
exactly what ne pays for The adultsr-
ator and the substitut0r, the user Of poi
sonous preservatIves and coloring mat
tiers. the uacIean packer and the dishon-
est groee-au these trembIe al the very
name Of the association OF food control
officers which meets to-day. The vast
majority OF the food consumers Of the
country have never heard Of this organ
tzztion perhaps. but the swindling manu-
facturer who would endanger the lives
OF millions 10 increase the profits OF his
plant knows much about IL
The enforcement Of the pure food laws
Of the States has done much good, but
the Federal law has been even more ef-
fective- Il has been on the statute books
a little more than two years. and plans
for It's enforcement. as well as construc-
tons Of the law itself. have not been
fully worked out In spite OF delays and
drawbacks. however. much has been ac-
compIished- No longer IS il lawful for
an enterprising manufacturer 70 take
quantity Of glucose. color II a beautiful
pink with coaI-tar dyes. stir in some
pumpkin and some timothy seeds, and
send il forth labeled Pure Strawberry
Jam No longer is It lawful for a pack
Iug-house 10 make canned chicken salad
and chicken loaf from waste cuttings OF
veal and pork Nc longer IS 1t lawful
10 express the juice from waste meats
and sell IL for beef extract under q label
which declares that il is the best Of the
beef and most n0urishIng food for in
valds and convalescenrs-
So far has the law in1erfered with
legitimate business" that It IS no longer
proper and legal TO take eggs which have
spent the summer IN cold storage and
ship them IN boxes or crates labeled
SN-CL4E -EE=-- --IH ape SaL
j. a label which must now be used only
on packages Of that rare delIcacy- A drug
manufacture may not bottle a nostrum
and sell It as a sure cure for an incurable
disease. The label must tel what IS IN
the preparation # IL contains dangerous
drugs. and II must not represent that
the medicine viii accomplish the tuPos-
sibIe- The rectifer Of spirits may no
longer manufacture pure old rye whis-
ky by the simple addition Of prune
labels whisky blended whisky. ''
Compounded whisky and Imitation
whisky" proclaim The antecedents OF the
booze"
The unfeelng pure-fcod authorities rally
70 -he slogan. Let the label tell the
truth At Cincinnati and Minneapolis
the authorities have seized uisbranded
-four The package set forth II bold
letters that the -four was made from
Minnesota spring wheat As q matter Of
[act II had been milled from durun
wheat. the variety that grows in semi
arid lands It IS rot asserted that 6uruu
wheat is any less nutritious than Mn
nesota spring wheat But many persons
think the Minnesota variety IS more
palztabIe, and the law saws that when
they pay more money for the spring
wheat -four. they shan get what they
pay for.
At New Orleans the authorities gath
cred IN thirty barrels Of molasses labeled
open kettle mOlaSses" Il was good
moIasses and wholesome. But Il was
not really, truly open kettle" There
fore the seizure Eighty-four bags OF
coffee glazed over with chrome yellow
were seized al Nashville This coating
was put On TO save the coffee from
deterioration and % hold its aroma" ac-
cording 10 the argument IN its favor
AS q matter OF fact the glazing was done
10 cover defects n The berry. that the
merchant might obtain 3 10 cents a
pound more for his coffee. This glazing
Of coffee was very common before the
pure food law days
L is such problems as these. affect
ing the every day life Of every person
in the country. that will be discussed by
the meeting OF the food control officers
al Mackinac- The meetings Of the asso-
ciarion were begun in 1897. the movement
being Initiated BY the STATE food COM
1lissionsrs Of three or four States IN an
effort to secure cooperation for the en-
ScIueut and enforcement Of uniform pure
food laws Thirty States and the Federal
government are represented IN the Organi-
zatIon now. and its annual meetings are
attended by the most eminent food
chemists Of this country ana OF Europe
Medical science has turned from the
search for noscrUms which will cure to
the pursuit Of methods which viii pre-
vent disease Impure food IS tuimical 70
health The pure food movement has the
support Of the great body Of workers
which IS endeavoring 20 apply 70 the
American people the ounce OF preven-
ton" which is worth so much more than
the pound OF cure" The pure food
movement IS also supported by that senti-
ment which demands honesty IN bUsi-
ness for adulteration is fraud. and false
labelling is swindling-
Nearly every State IN the Union nov
has a pure food law on It's statute books,
passed laws dealing with impure and
adulrerated food problems which con-
fronted their several communities These
laws blaze6 the way for the enactment
after a -rrihc struggle Of the Federal
pure food law The business OF the asso-
citation OF food control officers now is 10
secure legislation TO strengthen weak
places in the present laws, 10 extend
them where necessary, TO obtain uni
fOrmity between the laws Os the several
States and the Federal government and
10 secure rigid enforcement
When the Federal pure food act was