Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-01-01

The Washington correspondent of the
New York Journal of Commerce saws
! there Is reason for fear that a period of
reaction may have set in which will
BRING about a more serious situation in
| regard to food adulteration than that
! which existed before Congress un.
| der"Jk the task of mending matters
| Dy law. This apprehension, he states,
| Is based upon the fact, SuhStantiated by
a number of pieces of evidence, that
| some interests seem to believe the lenity
OF the Government toward various pre-
seryatlyes is equivalent 20 Il recognition
| or liberation of them. There is an evil
dent hope on the part of manufacturers
that this position will prove to lie semi
| permanent.
! The most conspicuous illustration of
| what Is feared, he goes on, is seen in the
case of sulphur used in molasses, fruits
and foods. California fruit people are
convinced that they have gained genu-
! inc victory over those whom they tern,
pure food faddSts." They believe that
| business in California will not be inter
fered with They say that they are abso.
| mtely safe for this years crop, and
| probably for next years, and that it is
| highly questionable whether there will
| be any serious limitation of their use of
| sulphur even after that period. Advices
| from the south also show that the per
/ centage of sulphur used in molaSses of
| this years output is greater than it has
| ever been before and this condition is
| expressly assigned by some of the larger
| producers to the immunity which they
| have gained under recent decisions OF
/ the department of agriculture
In regard to benzoate of soda and 9th
| err personalities the same conditions pre-
| vail. There is good ground the cor
respondent asserts. for belief that The
| percentage of benzoate of soda employed
| in certain goods has increased beyond
| the permitted limit of one-tenth of | Der
| cent, this having always been consid
| cred by the producers far too low. 1t
| is also asserted that in some instances
| producers who formerly stated the one,
/ tenth of l per cent on the label now
omit entirely any reference to preserva.
tives. They are apparently relying on
| the incompleted state of the regulations
and decisions of the department with
| reference to henzoate of soda TO secure
them immunity.
| The whole trouble seems to have
originated in reluctance of the admins
! tratiOn to enforce the pure food laws
after they were passed. President Roose
/ welt was waited upon by manufacturers
who complained that the enforcement
SrN3uld injure their business, and hy
! executive mandate the machinery Of thu
I III " was iliNtle 70 SIdiu SUN. Z |DllStltt
alton Of the grave results may lead to .
! loud demand for relief which the new all
ministratiun will heed
In local administration of pure foot
! laws there have been some instances u
! lenity that is pcrilous to the community
! The best rule is to rigidly enforce tn,
! statutes keeping poisons out of foods
/ As soon as there appears disposition {,
! let food be poisoned to certain exten
ON the preteXt Of preserving it, the Who'll,
! advantage of the pure food statutes fo
the protection of public health is threat
! ened.
\ dealer arrested and taken before
| city judge for putting formaldehyde int,
milk should be subject to revocation O
/ his license to do business. A small fin,
IN such cases is a farce Let healti
officials physicians ana the public gen
orally be alert upon this subject Tht
/ commercialism of the nge shows itself il
/ no more baneful aspect than that whicl
! in the first place made pure food laws
necessary and now Is making them ;
/ farce.