El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-18
To Increase Food Supply
Purpose Of Bureau of Chemistry Is
TO Make More and Purer Food;
Canned Eggs Promised.
- w L rcderic ]. HaskiR--

/ States a purer and better 1000 sup
ply, just as the department of agrf-
culture would come short of its oppor-
! tunities if it failed to give them a more
tabundant food supply"
Thus speaks DR.. Carl L Alsberg, who
succeeded DR.. Harvey ". Wiley as the
| chief of the bureau CT chemistry He
| declares that the man who adulterates
| and misbrands foods and drugs deserves
| all the punishment that can be in
| flicted upon him, and that the work
| of ferreting him out and visiting upon
/ him the penalties of the law will con-
| tinue Inundated But at the same time
| he realizes that there are other kinds
| OF food regulation with which the bu-
| reau can concern itself winch VIII DO
vastly more for the public health than
] the mere prohibition of misbranding.
Some Cannot be Reached.
! According to DR.. Alsberg, the worst
| food that can reach the consumer IS
/ that which carries disease producing
germs, and that is usually the kind that
| is handled and eaten raw. Milk, oyS-
| tiers, and some of the vegetables are
the worst offenders, and they are very
frequently-in fact, usually-beyond
the power of the bureau of chemistry.
Food cannot be reached by national
| law under the federal constitution IN
t, til it crosses a state line Then IT gets
I into interstate commerce, and the bu-
/ reau of chemistry can control it As
| a rule, however, the bulk of loose
\ food stuffs is consumed within the
/ states in which 1t is raised, and 1t Is
/ only the little fringe of territory con-
| tiguous to state lines that is affected
J principally by the national food laws
Conference Called for November.
The remainder must be reached in
directly, and the bureau of chemistry
has chosen two methods OF handling
it. One is cooperation with state health
agencies, and the other a nation wide
campaign of aducatiOn. Constructive
I Ill w~mH~.
will take the form of an attempt to
coordinate all these forces and to in
duce them to work in harmonious
way toward a common end To this
end a meeting of all of the food and
drug officials of the country has been
called to assemble in Washington in
November. At this meeting an effort
VIII be made to frame common policy
which all of these agencies can pursue
and under which they can cooperate.
Guarantee Liable Misleading.
In carrying out the campaign of ed
ucation the bureau of chemistry hopes
to place the knowledge it gathers in
the hands of every housewife IN the
country, in such a way that she can
apply it in her everyday life. For
instance, the bureau is determined to
eradicate and destroy the popular i'm
preston that the label Guaranteed
under the Pure Food and Drugs Act"
means that the government guarantees
the food DR.. Alsberg declares that
antOr, and that the label is put there
by the manufacturer, not for the pur-
pose of guaranteeing the product to
the consumer, but for the purpose of
protecting the retailer from loss in
case the article does not come up to
representations
The label Guaranteed under the
Pure Food and Drugs Act" on a pack
age means no more than if a maker of
a hat guaranteed its quality to the re-
taller All sorts of frauds are resorted
70 dar- hot Lob \
it inspires in the buying public is not
justified DR.. AlSberg wants the coun-
try to- know that food or drugs wear
ing that livery may be just as bad and
just as dangerous as those bearing
no label at all OF course this is not
generally the case.
Sometimes the bureau finds the Ia
bel Guaranteed under the Pure Food
and Drugs Act'' in unexpected places.
One purTeyor of a VIGOROUSLY immoral
and criminal preparation put on the
packages the usual guaranty phrase,
and when it was brought to the at
tention of the bureau it was power
less TO stop the making of the prepar-
alton 1t had to go TO the postoffice |
department for means of suppreSsing
ii. by denying the manufacturer the |
use of the mails and furnishing him
Tor sending immoral preparations by /
post
Publicity to be the Weapon.
The principal weapon with which the |
violates the law is prompt and ade- |
quate publicity. The fines that have /
been inflicted in the past have con- 1
SIlIuIe0 no serious deterrent but now. Il
the minute action is taken the wheels |
OF publicity begin to turn. As soon !
as seizure is made the newspapers of /
the vicinity IN which it occurs are no. !
utled' and the day final Judgment is /
rendered, the news is promptly and /
FULLY given out. A list of all the /
1000 and drug journals is supplied with /
q 10 inf form 49, To- -. -
Tort on the part of offenders is to avoid |
the publicity that follows conviction !
Fl1ty thousand news letters are dis
tIlputed among the crop correspondents
ton as to all seizures of insecticides
ana patent medicines.
Canned Eggs Promised
One Of the important needs of the
country is an egg supply that can
store up the surplus OF summer for
use without the deterioration incident
10 ordinary methods of cold storage.
Inc bureau is now demonstrating to
a number OF Gamers how to can eggs
IN way that will allow them 10 reach !
the consumer in perfect condition The /
Ilrst demand is for absolutely fresh
S6ss Each egg is broken into a cup !
Dy ltseII, by a girl dressed in immacu-
!dte Wnlte, whose nails have been man /
icured by professional manicurist,
ana whose hands are treated to an an
ISep1c solution before going into the
e---4--AiS LOOlu- II she happens TO get l
an egg that is off color" she must
carry 1t out and throw it away and
aSaln sterilize the cup and her hands
before she can break another.
Inc same methods are being used in
the sardine industry in Maine. Compe-
tItlon became so keen that the indus
ny seemed to be on its last legs. An
expert was sent TO Eastport to es-
-aDllsh a laboratory, after nearly a
quarter of a million cans of sardines
mad been seized as unfit for food The
Gamers, under the guidance of this I
Expert, will be shown just how 10 can ;
sardines so that they may equal the
imported product
Sometimes Works Hardship.
The enforcement of pure food laws
y the FEDERAL government and by big
lues frequently works hardships on
smaller communities within a state ,
or instance, Cleveland and Pittsburg
greed 10 cooperate in protecting them
selves from bad milk. The result was
nat the dairymen who were market
nS bad milk, knowing that the bureau
u chemistry would get after them II
hey shipped their milk across state
Inc, began to pour it into the smaller
he IA Nyh there