Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-19
FILTH AND FOOD PRODUCTS
BY WILLIAM WOLFF SMITH.

DtuLOdlS VI Spud W bC ietlSl
tured into ketchup the writer recently
visited a number of tomato canning
factories. He found that this waste
material is so utilized and by means
Of the chemical preservative.
At the Denver convention of the
state and national dairy and food de-
partments in August DR.. John H. Long
OF the Northwestern university,
member of the Remsen board, gave
what purported to be the history of
an experiment in making ketchup with
and without benzoate of soda. Some
remarkable facts appearing in this
connection have excited comment DIR.
Long stated that the experiments were
undertaken "at the request of a large
manufacturing firm" and without,
doubt, one using benzoate of soda.
They were conducted along lines
formulated and promulgated by an
agency of the benzoate users, and
it is charged that DR.. Long was
induced to make the experiments
by the the same party who palmed
off fake news item on the Associated
Press in Washington recently. 1t is
probable that the same agency was
responsible for an editorial in Den
yer newspaper several days before the
convention suggesting such an expert
ment as DIR. Long conducted, for since
he reported his statements have been
widely exploited by this agency. AS
DR.. Longs experiments in no way re-
sembed the process of manufacturing
ketchup commercially it is proper to
consider his conclusion that "benzoate
of soda annot conceal inferiority," as
that of an expert appearing in behalf
of the drug
The charge was made on the floor of
the convention that canning factory
garbage" was being utilized in the
manufacture of ketchup, which charge
DR.. Long undertook to refute. Instead
of dealing with actual conditions or
making a personal investigation, how
ever, he reported that he had made
an experiment with a "mass of rotten
tomatoes" furnished by his manufac-
turing friends, to which he added some
rotten peaches, apples and bananas,
collected by himself. Part of this ma
terial he undertook to make into
ketchup, adding the necessary vinegar.
sugar and spices part he preserved
with benzoate of soda and part he al
lowed to continue to rot. He found
the first the more palatable. But as
bcnIoate of soda ketchup is made with
vinegar, sugar and spices and DR.. Ions
did LCt use the condiments with his
beEzoate, it is evident that no basis
for fair comparison was obtained
Consequently his experiments could by
no chance add anything to The scien-
tfic knowledge of the subject or have
any bearing on the practical use of
benzoate of soda in preserving COM
niercial continental foods. Yet they
lave been utilized to mislead the pub
he. -
In direct opposition to DR.. Longs
conclusions are the reports of DR.. A.
w. Biting of the bureau of chemistry
of the department of agriculture, as to
what he found in the ketchup industry
when he investigated it about a year
ago. DR.. Biting reported;
I'm contrast with the strictly high
grade product is the great bulk of the
ketchup found on the market. The
material is not whole ripe tomatoes,
but consists of the waste of the can
ming factory, commonly designated as
trimming stock including the green
moldy, broken, rotten and generally
unusable tomatoes, the skins, cores and
stems from the peeling tables and the
surplus juice from the filling machines
all of which may be allowed to stand
during the day and be run through
the cyclone in the evening. At the end
of the season the frosted and half-ripe
fruit may be used. Part of this mate
rial cannot be considered sound fruit,
as contemplated by the food and drugs
act. The pulp is put up in barrels
preserved and allowed to stand pos
sibly in the sun, until a sufficient
quantity has accumulated for ship
ment. Old ketchup barrels may be
used and be none too clean. AS a re-
suit it is not uncommon to see an inch
or more of pulp in the bottom of a
car at the end of shipment, caused by
tho hIOuipp ont of the barrel heads