Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-06

III SS~OS -
The National Gamers Association. now
holding fits annual convention in Rocnes-
ter, represents a growing industry. Hun
dreds Of delegates are, participating in the
deliberations of the convention. Three
things being considered by the conven-
ton are of deep interest to the consumer
as well as to the manufacturer of canned
foods. The first of these is the problem
OF winning more widespread acceptance
Of canned products in the kitchens Of the
country. In times gone by canned
goods although they enabled the pio-
neers to enjoy some measure of the die
tary comforts Of civilization, received
something of a bad name.
The manufacturers of canned products
assert that the causes which led up to
this somewhat unhappy reputation have
long since been eradlcated, and that to-
day there Is no more wholesome food in
the world than the products of the can
neries of the United States. They point
out that the first people to accept the
spirit, as well as the letter, of the pure
food laws of the United StStes were the
Gamers. They assert from that day for
ward foods put up in tin cans have rep
resented a freedom from adulteration,
substitution and dangerous preservatives
that is excelled by no other class of foods
In the world.
The problem now confronting Gamers is
to convince the American people Of the
truth of this statement.
Guarantee They wish to demon
r,I strate to all food con-
0eiiSs' sumers that the prod
H. mt
up amid surroundings which are more
wholesome than those to be found in the
cleanest American kitchens. In order to
impress this lesson upon the public MANY
Of the more important canneries In
America have standing invitation to
every American citizen to visit their es-
Establishments and see for himself the
sanitary surroundings which characterize
the manufacture of canned products.
In it's effort to carry forward this sort
OF a program the Gamers Association
Ia making a strenuous effort to abolish
the term canned goods as applied TO
the manufac. urers of cannery. They say
that in the first place II Is a mlsnomer.
Paints and yarnlsnes, according to their
conception of the matter, might just
as well be called canned goods They
would subs titute more explicit and de-
scriptive term and call the products of
the cannery canned foods The trade
publications of the canning industry all
use this term with as much persistency
as Theodore Roosevelt uses simIllfied
spelling in his correspondence. 1t is re-
allied that 1t will take many years to
win the people away from the old-time
game is believed to be worth far more
than the candle it involves.
The third item, and in many ways the
most important matter which will come
before the con-
Hope to Overcome vention, Is a re-
nit port of the labors
sanization of Gamers which is working
to overcome the popular belief that dan
ger Of ptomaine poisoning lies in the
containers of canned food. This pub
LEFTY organization is continually on the
lockout for newspaper articles attribute
ing cases Of ptomaine poisoning to can
ned products. AS soon as one of these
articles appears the publicity organiza-
ton makes a thorough investigation of
the circumstances concerning the alleged
case Of ptomaine poisoning. and then
makes a report to the paper which pub
lished the story in the first instance. 1t
il said that more than a hundred cases
Of ptomaine poisoning attributed TO can
ned products have been investigated and
that in not q single one of them has it
been shown that canned foods were re-
sponsible-
When the investigation into a case is
completed the paper publishing the story
10 notified Of the results Of the investi-
cation and Is asked to make a statement
concerning it. The principal result of this
crusade is said to be that newspapers are
/. exercising more care in placing the blame
for ptomaine poisoning, and that the ply