The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-11-29
Federal Food Agents
Detailed to the State
WILEY WILL AID IN CRUSADE
ON RESINOUS-GLAZED CAN
DIES.

DAhNAp'
Harrisburg, Pa, Nov. 27.-Since
James Foust has been at the head of
the Dairy and Food Bureau of the
Department of Agriculture in Penn
sylvania, he has been confronted by
a number of difficult problems, but
when these matters of administra-
tion lay entirely within the bounds
of the Keystone state, there has been
but little difficulty in adjustment as
local dealers and manufacturers
have always been ready to meet the
authorities in friendly spirit and
assist in correcting any existing evil.
However, there are other forces to
be dealt with in some manufacturers
outside the state, who do not scruple
to foist upon the trade foodstuffs
made from inferior and deleterious
materials that enables them to un-
dersell local men and deceive the
consuming public. Among the most
glaring of these at present are the
cheap grades of candies covered with
varnish and shellac, commonly re-
ferred to as resinous glazes, which
Commissioner Foust pronounces as
unsanitary and in violation of the
general food act approved May 13,
1903, in that confectionery coated
with resinous glaze affects the
quality, strength and purity, also
conceals inferiority and is injurious
to health; and, following his ruling
on the question made some time
ago, he has already entered some fif-
teen suits against offenders selling
this class of goods, and there will be
more to follow.
The Commissioner in speaking of
the matter this morning said that in
some samples his agents had collect
ed, he found that the varnish and
shellac applied to the confections
had rendered them as hard as flint,
and the effect on the stomach of the
child could not help being injurious,
as any layman who uses shellac to
cover wood could easily determine
for himself without the aid of any ex-
pert. The sheIlac is used simply to
cheaper and preserve his product
for the manufacturer, without the
slightest reference to the health of
the consumer or any other consid-
Grafton except that of pure selfish
ness and commercial profit.
But in dealing with the powerful
forces in the commercial world who
would further their own interests at
the expense of the public, every re-
source of the Department will have
to be marshaled for the fight, and
the Commissioner has already ar
ranged with the Federal authorities
to secure their hearty and active CO.
operation. United States District
Attorney John H. Jordon, of the
Western District of Pennsylvania,
will assist in the matter, as will also
q NY
Bureau of Chemistry at Washington.
whose experts will be present at the
trial of the cases to give testimony.
The fonowing is an extract from a
letter received from DR.. Wiley by
Commissioner Foust few days ago:
In so far as the cases have
been put up to me ] have never
yet had presented to me a glaz-
ed sample of confectionery,
which in my opinion did not in
some matter come within the
scope of inhibition of the law.
Either the glaze itself contained
indigestible material which
must of necessity work injury,
especially in the child's stomach,
or it concealed some of kind in
feriority, or it injuriously af-
fected the quality and strength
of the material, or it permitted
unsanitary handling, or per-
mitted the goods to be held for
a long time and sold with the
appearance of freshness
In preparing for the state wide
crusade, Commissioner Foust has
Governor John K. Tener and Attor-
ney General John G. Bell to hold up
his hands, and the state cases will
be prosecuted by Attorneys A. H.
Woodward, of Clearfeld, and Hon.
Lyman D. Gilbert, of Harrisburg. AS
has already been intimated, the
Commissioner is not trying to make
trouble for the honest manufacturer
and dealer in Pennsylvania, but said
this morning that ''he desired that
the retailer should protect himself
in his buying and not be caught with
a large quantity of the goods of the
character indicated, as he would not
be allowed to sell them to the pub
lie, for every county in the state will
be thoroughly canvassed for goods