The Elbert County tribune., 1909-08-26
WHAT TO EAT,
THE QUESTION
PURE FOOD CONVENTION TO
DISCUSS THE REAL STAFF
OF LIFE.
IS BENzOATE POISON;
MODEL FOOD LAWS WILL BE THE
THEME BEFORE THE COM
vENTIoN.

in annual convention as delegates to
the Pure Food Congress are busy
talking with the state commission
ers. Aside from the question OF
whether benzoate OF soda will be REQ
commended by the association for use
in preserving foodstuffs, the question
that will be OF most moment will be
the report OF a committee appointed
by the executive committee of the as
sociation on the model food law.
This is generally regarded as an at
tack upon the national food law, as
built up by the Department Of Agri-
culture, and with the attack upon ben
zoate of soda by some of the largest
preserving companies in America has
divided the association into two fac
tions. On one side are the represen-
tatives Of the Department of Agricul-
ture and the state commissioners who
side with them; on the other are the
manufacturers referred to and state
commissioners who believe that the
states should build up their own pure
food laws and not be governed by de-
cisions Of the Department Of Agricul-
ture unless these happen to agree
with the state laws.
There has been q decided move
ment, which the friends and represen-
tatives of the government say is fos-
terer by certain manufacturers, to
break away from the government rul-
ings. DR.. H. w. Wiley. chief OF the
Bureau of Chemistry. is involved in
this. because the fight against him is
a personal one which has been waged
for twenty-five years, and it turns
upon the benzoate of soda question.
DR.. Wiley says that the American
housewife needs course of instruc-
ton as well as the manufacturers. A
little more use of glass in covering
goods. more sanitary supervision OIL
aration and cooking Of foods would go
as far as pure food law in improving
the healthfulness Of foods If consci-
entiously followed out.
The Remsen board, appointed at the
instance OF President Roosevelt, is on
hand ready to explain its report to
the convention and tell just how far
reaching will be the conclusions they
arrived at after conducting their ex-
periments. lasting three months, in
which they found benzoate of soda to
be safe for the public and the best
preservative known. 1t was this re.
port that Secretary of Agriculture
Wilson based his rulings upon when
he overruled the experiments and
findings of his inferior, DR.. Wiley.
Other questions of less moment will
arise. Ono Is the question of bleach.
ing of flour with nitrogen peroxide,
which DR.. Wiley held to be harmful,
and in which view the Department OF
Agriculture upheld him. Another is
the question Of what real whisky is.
The rectifiers and blenders have had
to defend themselves against the dis
tfllers who wish to deny to them the
right to use the government stamp.
On behalf Of the rectifiers is War
wick M. Hough Of st. Louis, the most
famous attorney on the whisky ques.
ton in America. He represents nine
ty per cent. of the rectifiers and
blenders Of the country, is said to be
the best posted man on the theoreti-
cal side of the question and the most
able talker on the subject before the
American public. His salary is said
to be $4,000 year. But from pres
ent indications the question will not
become of formidable Importance at
the convention.
The main general conclusions
reached by the referee board, under
Prof. Ira Remsen, are:
l. Sodium benzoate in small
doses (under 0.5 gram per day)
mixed with the food. is without dele
terious or poisonous action and is
not injurious to health.
2. Sodium benzoate in large doses
(up to grams per day. mixed with
food has not been found to exert apy
deleterious effect on the genera,
health, nor to act as a poison in the
general acceptation of the term. In
some directions there were slight
notifications in certain physiological
processes, the exact Significance of
which notifications is not known.
3. The admixture of sodium benzo-
ate with food in small or large doses
has not been found to injuriously af.
feet or impair the quality or nutritive
value of such food.
DR.. Wiley's conclusions on the use
OF benzoate Of soda in the preserva-
ton Of table relishes are:
l. Benzoic acid and benzoate Of
soda are highly Objectionable and
produce very serious disturbance of
the metabolic function attended with
injury to digestion and health.
2. These injurious effects are evi-
dent In the medical and clinical data
which show grave disturbances of di.
gestion attended by phenomena which
are clearly indicative Of irritation,