The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-05-18
THE PURE FOOD LAW.

Washington correspondent OF the
Examiner points out the danger of al
lowing loopholes in the pure food law,
declaring:
1T Is doubtful If the sweeping char
acter of the decision has been appre-
ciated by even, small portion OF the
public concerned II was originally
proposed to prohibit altogether the use
of benzoate of soda in foods. on the
ground that it was chemical pre-
servatiye, the employment OF which
was deleterious to health. Under
great pressure a modification was Sc
cured allowing the temporary use OF
onc-tenth Of one per cent in foods
where the ,preservative had formerly
been used With the Wilson-Straus-
Cortelyou decision, however. the doors
were thrown wide open and at present
the drug can be mixed with any and
all kinds Of foods and In any amount
TO suit the manufacturer. The latter
is limited only by the amount the
trade VIII stand for, and no one has
yet predicted what that limit will be.
Benzoate of soda is thus recognized
as the only chemical preservative the
use OF which is authorized by the gov
ernment in unlimited quantities. Some
of the foods In which it has been used
and in which 1t will certainly appear
this summer are: Jellies, jams and
preserves, ketchup, chill sauce and
."piclSled lily," peach, apple, plum and
apricot butter. cider and grape juice,
mince-meat and filling for all kinds of
pies. canned soups and bouillons and
articles of similar character. Under
the recent decision, however, other
products can now be preserved by this
particular chemical Among them are
the syrups and fruit compounds sery-
ed at soda-water fountains.
1T is true the regulations provide
that each container snail be plainly
Tabled to show the presence and
amount Of benzoate of soda, but Ii is
unnecessary to say, these will not
show the presence or amount OF ben
zoate of soda. The same Is true of
bulk foods in the grocery stores, such
as butter in the tub, cheese in the
case. milk in the can, etc. In such
cases the consumer will have little
opportunity of knowing whether or not
benzoate of soda is used
Nor are the meat packers over
looking the permission so broadly CIV
en- to use unlimited quantities of this
chemical preservatiye in their meat
products, such as "potted" chicken,
turkey, nam and tongue, canned roast
beef. corned beef OF whole tongue. and
above all in their sausages, Since
they were deprived of boracic acid,
which gave the world the term "em-
balmed beef" they have been at sea.
but benZoate of soda has come to their
rescue. In the cans chemically pre-
served meats must bear the label,
but what will the consumer know
about a string of sausages, green-sau,
sages, or smoked sausage, when pur-
chased from the butchers counter?
Even more than meats and other
foods preserved with the approved ben
zoic acid entitled to bear the prefix
"embalmcd'' for while borax and bor-
acid are comparatively modern discov-
cries. benZoic acid was employed in
embalming some 5000 years ago and
10 its wonderful preserving qualities
we owe the Egyptian mummies. There
was difference, however, in this, that
while the ancients obtained their ben
zoic acid from aromatic gums. mod
ern chemistry has discovered that 1t
can be produced from coal-tar and the
urine of cattle and horses. from which
sources what is known as CONNER
cial" benzoic acid Is now exclusively
obtained