Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1910-12-03
BEWARE OF CANNING COMPOUND
CIRCULAR NO. IL.

To Dealers and Consumers:
While we find more or less adultera
ton in foods at the present time, tn,
groceries now on sale in our grocer!
stores are almost free from substance
that are commonly regarded as deleteri
Gus to health. Borax, salicylic acid
sulphides and formaldehyde, so common
a few years ago, are now rarely, if ever
found in foods obtained at grocery
stores.
find it necessary, however, to give Il
the dealers of the State aud the consum
ing public a warning with regard tc
these very substances. refer to the
sale and use of the so-called vegetable
canning compounds, under whatever
name. There are no known safe pre-
servatives for canning vegetables. Veg
etables may be readily canned az
described in Farmers Bulletin No. $50
entitled Canning Vegetables in the
Home" issued by the Department oi
Agriculture. This is valuable bulletin
and may be obtained free by addressing
the Department at Washington, ID. c.
In the factories nothing is added to veg
etables in canning except salt and water
and sometimes little sugar. Special
machinery is employed in order to pro-
duce the proper temperature to kill
all bacteria which cause fermentation
(spoiling).
Sodium benZoate, preseryative
which is commonly held to be harmless
and is allowed in foods in interstate
commerce and in South Dakota, can
only be used in acid foods and will not
preserve such vegetables as peas and
corn.)
These canning compounds, composed
of such forbidden substances as are
mentioned above, are well-known to be
deleterious to health and are prohibited
by law to be used in foods offered for
sale to the public. They are sold under
coined names, which conceal the actual
ingredients they contain, and suggest no
thought of danger lurking within the
innocent appearing packages. No doubt
thousands of housewives are led to put
them into vegetables for the purpose of
preserving them, with the idea that
they are perfectly harmless and safe. A
notable example, and perhaps the most
prevalent and popular, is Mrs. Prices
Canning Compound, Registered under
the Food and Drugs Act of June 30
1906, Serial No. 1851" 1t is composed
principally of borax, with little COM
mon salt. 1t is not only deceptively
labeled as to its virtue but, in my judg-
ment, its sale is fraud, as the simple
substances which compose it may be
purchased much more cheaply at almost
any grocery or drug store.
1 have recently discovered that some
of our most reputable wholesale houses
are handling this substance, and that it
is offered for sale throughout the State,
and the situation demands immediate
attention.
From and after the date of this circu-
lar, all parties found selling, or offering
for sale, contrary to law, Mrs. Prices
Canning Compound, or any other can
ming compound for vegetables, will be
recommended for prosecution without
reserve. All parties having on hand
such canning compounds are advised to
at once return them to the company
from whence obtained, or destroy them :
Do not keep them in your stores. The
fact that you have such canning COM
pounds on your shelves is taken as prima
facie evidence before the law that they
are offered for sale.
ALFRED N. COOK,
Food and Drug Commissioner.
Vermillion, S. D., Nov. 10, 1910.