University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-10-03
PERSONAL INTEGRITY
!. BETTER THAN Labels
:.
Absolutely Pure' on Food
Products Means Nothing,
: Says DR.. Cutler. j
QUALITY MATE OF PURITY
Something Higher Than Law
Is Required ito Bring =
= Reform.
QUALITY MATE OF PURITY

I'm the matter of food selection, the
|element of personal integrity back Of
the manufacturers name is worth
more than all the absolutely pure
and guaranteed pure brands than can
be printed" said DR.. w. P. Cutler,
state food and drug commissioner, to-
day.
"The words absolutely pure on a
food label signify of themselves abso-
lutely nothing. A piece of beef
stripped from the leg of an OK. or a
piece of tough soup meat, is just as
pure as the juciest and tenderest por-
ter house steak, and can be labeled
absolutely pure within the meaning
of the pure food and drugs act.
Quality is the true mate of purity,
and without quality, purity is merely
a mask, yet the word quality repre-
sents such vague, such a shadowy,
such a flexible idea, that it requires
something higher than a pure food
law to harness it and put it under con-
troll.
Most people, when they see label
on a can reading absolutely pure at
once interpret the label to stand for
quality, whereas it probably means
nothing of the sort.
ITO illustrate: Down in Southern
Missouri, there is a firm manufactur
ing tomato catsup. Now, in canning
tomatoes, all the skins and also fruit
that is overripe or spoiled, unfit to can,
is thrown into barrels, and later con-
verified into catsup. This catsup is
sent out under brand as Standard for
instance. and Absolutely Pure Well,
it is pure, in one sense, that is, it is not
adulterated, but you can readily see
that this catsup is unfit for food. The
Government, however, is to take a
hand in this particular catsup case.
absolutely Pure" Means Nothing.
Here is a good example of purity,
which speaker on pure food used re-
Gently in New York, and 1 am going
to quote it right now; as it is so sim
pie an illustrations:
can egg three days old is pure
egg; an egg five days old is a pure
egg; an egg seven and half days
old is pure egg; an egg three weeks
old is a pure egg. If you want the
egg to grow any older it will still be
pure, and though there be time when
it reaches that stage wherein it is no
longer fit for food, it does not reach
that stage suddenly. and who is there
who will say that on such-and-such
day or hour, that egg became no long
Ter absolutely pure?"
"'Such an egg, as it approaches the
last stages of senile debility, may still
bear the label absolutely pure" but
such label, under such circumstances
would simply mean that the egg was
an egg, not lump of coal. With re-
gard to the quality of the egg, the
label absolutely pure" would mean
nothing
take coffee. for instance: There
are various grades Of Java. bad. and
good and in-between; there are various
grades of Mocha, bad and good and
in-between. A poor Java and poor
Mocha, while costing much less, will be
Just as pure as the highest grade Java
and the highest grade Mocha. Wher-
lever we turn we are confronted with
that stern element of personal integ-
'rity, to which I referred in the begin
ming.
Personal integrity is the only safe
guard of quality, as distinguished from
purity, because a pure food law can
not attempt to prevent manipulation
or jugglery. But on the other hand,
personal integrity, if not supported by
the consumer, will starve to death.
/ u0lllt VI tuC lOOu poShCl ID VI 4oi
greater value in determining at a
glance the worthiness of food prod
|uct than any label of absolutely pur-
ity' with which the product may be
decorated.
MANY manufacturers in Missouri
realize this fact fully, and their names
stand for quality. There are altogether
too many, however, who will hoodwink
the people in every way possible that
will bring them a dollar. -..-....
Must Pay For Quality.
Zone of the surest guarantees Of
'quality is the price. II you want quail
ity, you must pay for it The fact
that food product is cheap is open
conviction of impurity to greater or
less extent.
"The responsibility for the appear
ance on the market of much of the
adulterated and low quality foods may