Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1908-02-22
For the Past Three Years. Carefully Collected from Official
Reports and Press kilograms Furnish Pure Food
Data for the Campaign of 1908.

about the doings Of the corporations
that furnish 1t with food. They are
dealing in the kind Of ''public utili.
ties" that mean life or death. In OBJ
tanning this knowledge. the public ex-
poets to be enlightened from the re-
ports Of state Pure Food Commission
ers aud the columns Of the presA
This year Is the presidential year.
and on every stump the packers and
their records will be held up to the
public eye and given to the public ear.
The failure Of the government In Its
attack on the Beef Trust because the
packers turned states evidence on
themselves and were granted an I'm.
munity bath In consequence. has not
been forgotten by the people. and the
great rise In the price Of meat has
tested the patience Of the voters to the
limit.
The withdrawal Of the City Of Chi.
cago inspectors from the big packing
houses. presumably to oblige the pack
ers. has added fuel to the fire, and
next year will see the country ablaxe
upon the subject.
The pure food department Of Illinois,
like the health department Of Chicago.
has rested supine, while other states.
like Michigan. North Dakota. Pennsyl.
vania and Kentucky have taken great
pains to protect their citizens.
And the packers appreciate the ef.
forts Of these states to protect the
health Of the men, women and children
residing In them BY promising not to
send adulterated food into these com.
monwealths.
We have not heard Of their saying
anything about sending UNIT food into
the states where the authorities are
not 30 honest.
According to all accounts, much DO.
racic acid and supplies, a. well rs
many dyes. are used by packers. and It
IL against these representatives. that
many states having honest officials
have taken action.
The records Of the North Dakota
and Kentucky Pure Food departments
show what has been done In this direc.
tion In past years.
We do not know whether boric acid
and supplies are used by the big Chi.
cago packers now or not. 40 city In.
epectors have been withdrawn from
the large houses.
Showing the effect Of borlc acid and
OF the borates, the following 10 repro
duced from pages II and u, Of Part
2, OF the Fifteenth Annual Report OF
II. r. Ladd, food commissioners Of North
Dakota:
s the use OF borax and
boric acid interferes with the ab.
sOrption Of food and causes the excre-
tion OF an abnOrmally large amount Of
nitrogen. He believes It II demon.
strated that large doses Of beric acid
reduces the body weight and that the
excretlon OF these substances from the
body Is 70 slow that their accumulation
in the body 10 probable. Borax and
bOrIc acid cause diuresis, which may
produce damage Of the kidneys; they
may cause skin disturbances; they
may produce diarrhGa they interfere
with the abnormal absorption Of food |;
and they may produce vomiting. The
conclusion 10 that the use Of boric
compounds In food should be forbid.
den"
On page ~ Of the same part Of the
same report. the North Dakota food
commissioner has this to say about the
use Of sodium supplies In meats:
"Our own studies With slusages and
hamburger steak indicate that from
O.2O to O.3O per cent Of supplies are
employed In these meats. A. to the
harmfulness Of these products recent
article by DR.. Harrington, OF Harv.
ard Medical College, entitled Sodium
suiphite; q Dangerous Food Preserve
tive gives the results OF bis investi.
cations and from this We quote the
following:
"It Is classed az q food preserva.
tive, but Its antiseptic properties are
comparatively feeble 1t Ii used more
especially on account OF Ito effect on
the appearance Of the food to which 1t
IL added. its preservative influence be-
Ing decidedly minor consideration. II
c0nfers upon minced meat Chopped
meat) an abnormally brilliant red COL
or, which conveys to the purchaser the
idea OF freshness. Persisting AZ 1t
does, meat which 10 In reality we'll nd.
vanced In decomposition 10 readily dis
posed OF as perfectly fresh, for although
the number Of bactera per grain may
run as high as 500 millions, 1t may
give OF no marked odOr. 1t may fairly
be said that on account Of Its masking
decomposition, 1t Is an undesirable
admixture,'
Certainly, then, with these facts be-
fore us. we do not believe that the PEG.
pie OF North Dakota wish to allow the
indiscrimlnate use Of these drugs and
chemicals In their food products"
The following standards are laid
down for food control work, In the
same report, page ID:
Preserved meats: Ham, bacon,
dried beef and cured meats should
be preserved b. smoke, desiccation,
salt and sterilization only.
sausages: Sausages are finely diva.
"A or hashed meats mixed with gDices