The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-01-23
HOLDS FOOD Law
Is 4 DEAD LETTER
expert Declares Government
Has Nullified Act.
ACCUSES SECRETARY WILSON
Permitting Use of BenzOate of Soda
as PreservatIye Practically De-
strOyS Legislation that Took Sew
enteen Years TO Enact-Other Poi
sons Appear on Bill of Fare.

President Roosevelts Remsen COM
mission, which permitted the use OF ben
zoate Of soda as food preservatiye, did
q work that IS as alien TO scientific truth
as 1t is abhorrent to common sense.
"Suiphate Of copper. aniline dyes, alum,
starch, sand, and stones have again re-
sumed their pristine place upon the cit-
zen's daily bill Of fare.
The pure food legislation that repre-
sented a victory gained only after seven
teen years Of hard fighting. Is now a
dead letter, and a goodly portion OF the
blame lies at the door Of Secretary OF
Agriculture Wilson"
These are declarations made by Samuel
Hopkins Adams, publicist and expert IN
food adulteration, in the February Hamp-
tons Magazine. The report is the result
Of a long investigation for that maya
zine
Experiences OF Poison squad.
Going boldly into detail concerning the
recorded symptoms Of the governments
poison squad" Mr.. Adams plainly tells
how those men who consented 10 eat
benzoate Of soda suffered, during the
period Of experimentation, from a variety
OF logically resulting maladies: collie.
cramps, intestinal irritation, nausea,
vomiting headache, diarrahea. constipa-
ton kidney troubles. irregularity OF the
heart action, wide variations Of temper
allure, depression. loss Of appetite. and
lassitude.
Mr.. Adams refers in the course ot his
article 70 the little bright green peas
which help out the price OF lamb az
expensive restaurants He shows that
most OF these canned peas come from
France, and that sulphate Of copper IS
used in their manufacture. and he de-
clares that. because Of Mr.. RoOseveIts
personal friendship for the French Am
bassador. n Jusserand, these doctored
peas were granted executive immunity"
Scores Secretary Wilson.
As for Secretary Wilson, the article
states that the Secretary dominated the
convention OF the National Association OF
State Food and Dairy Departments. held
last August in Denver, and that, due to
his influence. q president was elected who
shows no interest in curling the use Of
benzoate Of soda in preserving food stuffs.
To quote M. Adams further:
The market teens with honey that IS
mainly glucose; jellies, jams, and fruit
products adulterated with starch and
agar-agar. coloTed with aniline dyes
local tar, and preserved with phosphoric,
sulphurous. or benzoic acid; coaI-tar-
colored favoring extracts. innocent Of
any faint Of the fruit whose name is upon
the label: catchups that are tinted and
doctored out Of all sembIanCe 70 what
decent catchup should be; pickles and
| relishes dosed with alum and benzoic
acid: blackberry brandies and port wine
/ improved" with glucose. coal-ta- dyes
and sodium benzoate; baking powder for
tilted with alum: candy. greened, rouged.
or yellowed with aniiine, and pepper
pleaslngly variegated with ground olive
pits. c0coanut shells. starch and sand
and stones.
Congress should Act.
There still remains Congress. The men
who fought the good aght for the enacted
bill may not be content 20 sit quiet and
see its destruction. They VIII have a
! concrete issue before them. the country's
/ homes flooded with the very drugged and
1 falsifed foods which the statute was
meant to prohibit; q reform board created
out OF nothing and irresponsible 10 any
| properly established authority, still scien-
tifcally potent 10 bless or ban; Harvey
/ ". Wiley, the man who throughout his
term OF Office has stood ImmOvable for
4 the principle Of the law, bound and
| sIenced by the overriding majority in
the Board Of Food and Drug Control: the
common right forgotten, and the law in
/ contempt.
| Here Is a status 10 stir any citizen,
/ though his stomach be that OF an ostrich,
or though he md his food in nuts and his
drink In the dew; for it is the law that
/ is being poisoned, and in its corruption
/ every citizen is corrupted"