Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1909-06-16
ROTTEN FOOD SERVED
IN MANY CHARITY
INSTITUTIONS
DR.. Wiley Tells Conference of
Conditions His Agents
Exposed BY
Tests.
POLICE BLAMED
FOR CAUSING cRIhE
Society Woman OF Chicago Dis
Cusses Methods Employed BY
Officers In Dealing
With Boys And
Girls.

per prepared by DR.. H. w. Wiley, OF
the United states department of ag-s
riculture, and read before the Ma
tional Conference of Charities ami
Correction, here this morning, he
charged that the use of imitation
jams and jellies, of low grade flours.
of meats which do not command good
prices, of imitation syrups and flaw
oring extracts, of oleomargine. etc.
in public charitable institutions had
been expensive and continuous.
I'm so far as the matter of nutri-
ton is concerned" said DR.. Wiley.
lit appears to me that the question
is an open one. In other words, il
does not appear that there In any OBJ
legation resting upon the public au-
thorities to purchase the highest
grades of the articles used in institu-
tions of the kind mentioned But
there is another aspect of the ques-
tion which is of grave importance.
and that is, that the inmates of such
institutions should not lbei required
and expected to eat filthy, decompos-
ed or putrid foods of any descrip-
tion. or those which have been de
preciated in character by any meth
cd of manufacture; nor to eat foods
to which substances of doubtful
wholesomeness nave been added.
'In recent investigation By the
department of agriculture, made for
the purpose of ascertaining the char
acter of food supplied the inmates of
a number of hospitals, asylums for
orphans and the insane, almshouses,
schools for the blind. deaf and dumb.
soldiers homes. work houses and
tf
eral thing the fare at these institu-
tions is of the p'ainest kind consist
ent with necessary food value. and
the supplies are generally purchased
by the governing bodies on contract.
and with a decided leaning toward
economy.
Food Unfit tO Eat.
CAS- a part of our investigation "a
number of samples of foods were Sc
lected for technical examination.
Some of these ware found TO be very
deficient in character as for ilustra-
tion-of the total number Of coffee
samples analysed. seventeen per cent
were found to be of good quality and
true to name; the remaining eighty
three per cent, all contained vary
ing proportion of immature and dead
to twenty-nine per cent. and some OF
the samples contained other impuri-
ties such as stems and mineral mat
ter. 1t is something more than a CO.
incidence thet all Of the impure sam
pies had been glazed. We can only ar
sumo that this process had been re-
sorted to in order to conceal inferior
ity. one sample of tea was 9dulter-
ated with 20 per cent of pea hulls
and contained some starcly matter
in addition. one sample of maple
syrup contained not more than so
per cent of actual maple syrup. Some
samples of canned corn represented
tC be sugar corn. consisted largely
of hard grains and were decidedly
fiat and inferior in taste. A sample
of canned tomatoes consisted more
OF liquid than solid portion. sam
pie of dried peas contained weevils
and other small insects. One sample
o. gelatin used in a hospital devel-
oped an offensive animal odor on
moistening. The dry substance Was
busted with wheat starch. A sample
OF tea, very low grade, compONei Of
cid leaves and contained l3 pc. cent
o. stems.
In the case Of one institution, We
have knowledge that a contractor
supplied lot of over one thousand
pounds Of coffee which had beeT.
stored near raw hides and was filthy
and utterly UNIT for food. A vigilant
inspection halted this product before
il entered into consumption. Al one
almshouse We found one grade of
coffee supplied to the attendants and
q much lower grade TO the inmates,