Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-25
ADULTERATION
OF FOOD WILL
BE ABOLISHED
R00SEVELT'S BOARD TO BE
SUSTAINED
ASSOCIATION OF FOOD AND DAIRY
BODIES coNVENEs
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson De-
olares in Favor Of 5enzoate of
Soda and Claims Preserv-
atiVe Is Harmless
tBy Associated Press. I

[By Associated Press.l
n ENVER, Aug, 24.-That within a
short time the adulteration of
- food will cease altogether in this
country, and that the Remsen referee
board, appointed at the instance of
President Roosevelt, to investigate the
use of benzoate Of soda as a preserVa-
tive, will be sustained by his depart
ment. was asserted by Secretary Of
Agriculture James Wilson at the OPEN
ing of the annual convention of the
Association of State and National Food
and Dairy Departments today.
Secretary Wilson's remarks followed
bitter attack made on him by j. ..
Emery of Madison, Wis, president OF
the association.
Pointing his finger at the secretary,
Mr. Emery disputed the report of the
referee board that benzoate had been
found not harmful and then accused
the secretary of having urged Presi-
dent Roosevelt, in the latter part of
his administration, TO block reinVesti-
cation of the subject.
Mr.. Emery contended the drug, as
it comes to the consumer through
soda water syrups, canned vegetables
and other foods certainly had not been
found harmless.
Let me say" declared Secretary
Wilson, jumping to his feet, that if
We had money enough down there in
Washington to employ DR.. Ira REM
sen and the other four chemists on his
board, we should try to get them into
the department of agriculture. l have
told the president we want the biggest
men in the country in the department,
or the department will cease to grow
and when it ceases to grow l don't
want anything more to do with it
That the meat markets are flooded
with sausages prepared by the addi-
ton of cereals that contain large guam
titles of water and that the public is
made to pay for water instead of
meat. was a charge which James
Foust, food commissioner of Pennsyl-
vania, asked the convention to investi-
gate.
A resolution was introduced calling
on President Taft to oppose the reduc-
tion of the tax on oleomargerine by
the next congress. The resolution which
was offered by Mr.. Foust, at the re-
quest of the Pure Butter Protective as
sociation of Pennsylvania, declares that
Secretary of the Treasury MacNeaghs 5
attitude in favoring the decreased tax
is "inimical' to the pure butter inter-
ests of the country.
Food Experts Attend
Food experts from every section of
the country, including Secretary OF
Agriculture James Wilson, chief chem
list H. w. Wiley and representatives OF
the United States dairy commission
and the bureau of animal industry were
present at the opening of the conVen-
ton. Before the convention adjourns
next Friday it is expected a definite
plan for more drastic enforcement OF
pure food regulations throughout the
country will have been drafted.
In his annual address Presldent
Emery took hard rap at benzoate OF
soda as a food preserVative, and Yigor-
ouslv opposed the finding OF the
referee board appointed during Presl-
dents RooseVelt's administration that
the preservatiVe was not harmful. he
pointed to Secretary Wilson as having
recommended to the president the ma
ing of the board be not reinVestigated'
although a committee OF tne assoclac
ton appealed for a reconsideration or
the report. That benzoate is harmful
in whatever form it is used, whether IN
soda water or in pickles, was the en-
phatic conclusion of the speaker.
Disapproves of Federal Laws
Recommending a breaking away from
IeuHIdl
ing the necessities of the individual
states. Mr.. Emery urged a wide breach
between the state commissioners and
Secretary Wilson. He favored the sub
mission to each state legislature the
question of model pure food law as
proposed by DR.. Z. r. Ladd, state food
commissioner of North Dakota
No sooner had these views been eX-
pressed than a dozen other speakers
tHat bTaa king 1WdV from
the federal laws would result In a
chaotic multiplicity of state laws all
out of harmony with one another
1.-THE housewife would be unable to
determine from the variety of labels
lust what she was buying declared
one speaker.
1t was determined the whole subject
should be threshed out and reported on
bv a special committee. On this COM
mittee are DR.. Ladd, DR.. NJ. A. Scovell,
Lexington, KY; James Foust of Har-
risburg, Pa. DR.. w. D. BigeloW,
bureau of chemistry, Washington, d.
c.: a. c. Bird, Lansing, Mich; X. a.
Pearson, Albany, N. Y, and r. M. Al
len, Lexington, Ky.
More than 100 addresses are to be
made before the convention closes. DR..
Wiley is to discuss "Bleached Flour"
Remsen Board to Talk
Thursday the members of the Remsen
referee board are to speak, followed by
food chemists who are opposed to ben
zoate.
1t is expected the benzoate of soda
question will come up again Wednes-
dav morning, when four members Of
the referee board are to speak by invi-
tation.
The speakers will be DR.. Remsen, DR..
Russell H. Chittenden Of New Haven,
Conn; DR.. John H. Long of Evanston,
H.. and DR. Christian II. Herter OF
New York city.
A committee of eleven, composed Of
agricultural college professors and
state food experts, is then to submit a
report embOdying the results of an in
vestigation by the referee board.
Before the convention adjourns Fri
day an agreement is expected to be
reached between the two factions, one
of which faVors the adoption of the
federal law by the states, and the other
the framing of state laws Independent
of the federal laws.
Secretary Wilson is here to defend
the proposition to adopt the federal
law.
DR.. e. f. Ladd, food commissioner
of North Dakota, has prepared a
"modeP' state law scheme, which he
hopes to have submitted to the legisla-
ture of each state.
DEPARTMENT HOLDS WINE