Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1913-11-14
LIABLE FOR
CTR T rnr~

| pun ioou department mas been con-
Quoting an investigation into the
condition Of the egg market, with
more particular preference to the
quality of the eggs being sold at
the stores, says the Boise Statesman.
Equipped with one of the finest egg
testers in the United States, operat-
ed by electricity, it has been an easy
matter to pass upon the condition of
the eggs being sold to the housewives
of Boise.
Several of the stores has signs
displayed Strictly Fresh Eggs" but
when Informed by the state food in
spector that such was not the case.
and that in some instances one-third
OF them were stale and in several In
stances bad. they took down the sign
and candled their stock or else re-
turned them to the jobber who had
sold them as fresh. In no instance
was there a prosecution but all such
have been given fair warning so that
they might protect themselves in the
future.
The. egg market bids fair TO become
an interesting feature before the win
ter is over, as the price Of eggs is go
ing to advance several notches, when
a housewife gives the price asked for
fresh eggs she is entitled to receive
what she pays for and thinks she is
getting.
The Idaho pure food law defines
food as adulterated and prohibits its
sale IF it consists in whole or in part
of a diseased. filthy. decomposed. in
fected putrid or rotten animal or
vegetable substance or article" and
Commissioner Wallis holds that this
includes bad eggs. 1t is therefore I'M
lawful for the farmer to sell or offer
for sale bad eggs to merchants; and
it is unlawful for merchants to sell
or offer for sale bad eggs to his pa
irons or jobbers.
Commissioner Wallis says the Ida
no egg, owing to careless methods in
handling, has been selling at a dis
count and that this loss to the state
is considerable and unjustifable The
primary cause of this loss is with the
producer some of whom deliberately
take to the market eggs which they
know are bad because they figure
the merchant is compelled to take
them or loose their trade Another
reason is that some producers are
ignorant as to how to handle and
sell eggs Considerable of the trouble
lies with the small merchant, who
owing to competition, buys any kind
of eggs for fear if he counts out the
bad ones he will loose the farmers
trade to his competitor who will take
anything that has shell around il.
When the merchant keeps his eggs
he must sell them riots out" so the
price for his goods which the farmer
gets for the eggs must be raised ac-
cordingly; the result is that the loss
falls on the farmer
man who deliberately tries to
sell bad eggs which he knows are
not fresh deserves the extreme pen
atty of the law. but the trouble is
that sufficient care is not taken to
determine fully the class of eggs Of
fered to the public 1t does not take
long to candle out a case of eggs |
This is done by means of some good
light inclosed in a box, in which are
two small openings alongside of each |
other to allow the light to pass
through. The room in which this |
is done should be darkened and the !
Gambler holds to the light in each |
hand an egg, large end upturned and |
gives them a quick turn in order to |
view the entire contents as it whirls /
in the shell. An absolutely fresh egg
should be clear and only the dim out
line if the yolk visable There should |
line of the yolk visable. There should |
than that is not absolutely fresh. At |
the large end is a clear space called |
the air cell, which becomes larger as
the egg grows older caused by the
evaporation of the water contents of !
the egg. If dark spot is not noticed |
it is either rot" or developing
germ. A red blood ring is caused by
a dead germ. White streaks in the
shell shows that it is cracked With
such simple means within his reach
for protecting himself, there is no
excuse for the retailer selling stale
and bad eggs at the price charged for
strictly Fresh Eggs"
During the summer months thous-
ands of dozen of eggs have been |
placed in cold storage to unload on .
the market when the price of eggs
goes up. These eggs are sold to the I
dealer with no particular guarantee !
as to their being fresh, but only with
a condition that any bad ones will be
made good. In Justice to the consum-
ing public however these eggs should .
be Tabled and sold for what they are
Storage Eggs" then the farmer pro-
ducing clean eggs and putting them
on the hands of the storekeeper in a
good. fresh condition would realize
more for his product because they
should command a better price.