The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-04
The Public Health
By Fredric J. Haskin.
mMEmmmmmHmWmHmnmMm MmmMmMmRM
M---Pure Food Congress

Ed5zlh " & &A 8l5 e2H e8A v hezl lH &sh
 Every American who eats food has d vital interest in the gathering today at Mackinae Island, Michigan, or tne association of Federal ana state om- cers who are engaged in enforcing the pure food laws of the lana. rms orranfzation of State and National rood ana Dairy Departments was or ranized twelve years ago in Detroit and has held a meeting annually since.
 crusaaa is to abolish trade secrets in Inc food-stuff business; to assure a nurchas sine consumer that he gets from his grocer exactly what he pays for. The adulterator and the substitutor, the user of poisonous preservatives and coloring matters, the unciean hacker and the dishonest grocer-ail these trennble at the very name of the Association of food control officers which meets today. The vast majority of the food consumers of the country has never heard of this organization. perhaps, but the swindling manufac- furer yvho would endanger the lives of millions to increase the profits of his plant knows much about 1t.
 The enforcement of the pure food laws of the States has done mucn good, but the Federal law has been even more effective. It has been on the statute books little more than 4vvo years, and plans for its enforce raent, as well as constructions of the law itself. have not been fully worked out. In spite of delays ana drawbacks, however, much has been accotnnlished. No longer is It laWIua for ar1 enterprising manufacturer 70 take a quantity of glucose, color " . beautifui pink with coal tar dyes. stir in some pumpkin and some timotny seeds and send 1t forth labelled Pure Strawberry Jam" No longer IS IL iaW fui for packing house to make canneo ehioix en salad and chicken loaf From waste cuttings of veal and pork. NO longer ia it lawful to express the juice yroYn waste meats and sell 1t for peer avtraet under a label which deciares that If is the best of the beef ana a rnoat nourishfng food for tnVallos anu
 so far has the law interfered with .na navstIToate business" that 1t is no longer proper and legal to take eggs which have spent the summer m Soie storage and ship them in ooxes or crates labelled strictly tresh eSs
 s'Pure Maple Syrup" is lanel wnlon sa ,,,ust now be used only on packages af that rare delicacy. A drug 'manu Ss.t,,rAr may not bottle nostrum ano sa1, tt ss sure cure for an tncurapie stsasse The label must tell what Is sn tha preparation. if 1t contains oan ...a,,s Ary1s and 1t must not repre- s.t +hst the medicine will accom- sS.s, thn inapossfble. The rectitier or sS..s-;ts may no longer manufacture Pure old Rye whiskey" oy tne sitn~ nIe addition of prune juice ana ss.s wa.si I'd grain alcohol. The !aosls u.,..A Ss,,e s.blended wl1isley," "compouho aS..,, ksy .x,s. ma limitation whiskey' pro- rniss tha antecedents of the booze.
 1ns unseelinR pure food authorities
 u. &r tba slogan Let the Label feA sha Truth." At Cincinnati ana Minne
 s,,s tha authorities have siezed ms Sssraad flour, The package set rorIn sn SsId letters that the flour was saAa from Minnesota spring wneat. 'As \ matter of fact 1t had been AllaeV From durum wheat, the variety tlae . grows in senni-arid lands. it IS not Ss. ssrtsd that durum wheat IS any less ss,.rIt,ous than Minnesota spring -ghesf But many persons think the NTtnneaota variety is more palataoie snd inc laws say that when they pay roora money for the spring wheat HUT ,hey shall get what they pay TOT.
 A. New orleans the authorities satn- srsS in thirty barrels of molasses Ia helled "open kettle molasses' n Was .s good mclasses and wholesome, put !. ,, was not really, truly, open ketue. therefore the seizure. Eignty-loul uL hsoa of coffee glazed over with chrome s,aiIovr were seized at Nashville. rms soattna. was put on ito save the conee from deterioration and to hold us arorna" according to the argument m lee Savor. As a matter of ract the olazinR was done to cover defects m fhe berry that the merchant might ahtain three to five cents a pound more Tor his coffee. This glazing Of cof- fee was very common before the pure food law days.
 It is such problems as these' ar fActine the every day life of every nerson in the country. that will be dtucussed by the meeting of the food control officers at Mackinac. The meet ings of the association were begun in 1s97. the movement being initiated oy the state food commissioners of three or four States in an effort to secure co.operation for the enactment and enforcement of uniform pure food laws Thirty States and the Federal govern nent are represented in the organiza- tion now, and it's annual meetings are attended by the most eminent food chemists of this country and of Eu- rope. ..
 Medical science has turned from the search for nostrurrts which will cure 10 the pursuit of methods which VIII nrAvant disease Impure food is tnt- naicai to health. The Pure Food move ment has the support of the great oody of workers which is endeavoring to snply to the American people the ounce of prevention which is worth so much more than the pound of sS,ra The Pure Food movement is also supported by that sentiment which denands honesty in business, for Enumeration is fraud and false labelling is swind1ing.
 Nearly every state in the Union now has a pure food law on It's statute books. The legislatures of many states have passed laws dealing with impure and adulterated food problems which confronted their several communities. These laws blazed the way Tor the