Charlevoix county herald., 1913-10-11
COMMISSIONER HELME
AGAINST INVITATIONS
Says Enough Fruit is Raised in
Michigan to Supply Demand

In his latest bulletin from the state
dairy and food department. Commits.
sioner James Helme declares that
Michigan raises enough fruits so that
there should be no call for glucose
jellies or malt elders in the state. The
commissioners characteristic opinion on
the matter as printed in bulletin No. q,
is as follows:
away back in the last century
when the writer was boy, his favorite
food was jelly cake. Any boy who was
boy in last century can remember the
jelly cake that mother used to make.
There were generally eight or nine
layers of cake not very thick and the
same number of layers of jelly which
were nearly as thick as the cake and
this jelly was real jelly made in the
household from fruit like the currant,
the grape, the apple or the crab apple,
and it had no color in it except that
given to it by nature in her great labor
atory. Naturally jelly cake made from
this kind of jelly became favorite hu-
man food and from the home it natur-
ally gravitated to the bak cry. Here,
of course, commercial proc esses began
to cheaper its cost and in order to
cheaper its cost material was likewise
cheapened. 1t was found that the use
OF pure fruit jelly in commercial baked
goods was expensive and in order to
cut down the expenses and thus in
crease the profit, substitutes were
looked for and is generally the case
the substitutes we're found. There
were placed on the market imitation
jellies which had never seen any fruit.
These jellies were made largely from
glucose and deXtrine. Glucose and
deXtrine are made solely from corn
starch treated with muriatic acid, and
never from any fruit. There was one
defect, however, in the imitation jel-
lies. In their natural condition as they
came from the manufacturer, they
were colorless and so they were not
attractive but the thrifty business man
soon obviated this. Coal tar dyes fur
nish large number of colors and 500 n
they had the glucose jelly colored with
a red coal tar dye, and liberal mix
ture of Timothy seed added, put on the
market as strawberry jelly. Other
fruit colors were likewise initiated and
the cheapness of these jellies drove
the legitimate fruit jelly out of the
market as far as the baked goods were
concerned,
Michigan is the second largest fruit
growing state in the union and the le-
gislature several years ago, in order to
protect its fruit growers, enacted strin-
gent laws which prohibit the coloring
of any glucose jelly in imitation af fruit
jelly. The law has not been as vigor-
ously inforced in the past as it should
have been but it is the intention of his
department to enforce the law in the
future against the coloring of any jelly
that is not fruit jelly. When the con-
sumer goes into bake shop and sees
a jelly roll of nice red jelly, he natural
ly concludes that it is fruit jelly when
there is not bit of fruit used in its
manufacture. In this way the coloring
of glucose jellies becomes fraud upon
the consumer. There is nothing un-
wholesome in glucose jellies but when
colored to initiate fruit jellies they de-
ceive the consumer and cause him to
pay higher price for them han he
otherwise would and this is the reason
that the coloring of imitation jellies is
wrong morally as well as legally. Ba-
kers who use colored imitation jelies
are just as subject to the penalties of
the law as the manufacturers who col
or them.
Last year thousands of bushels of
apples rotted on the ground for want
of market. In many sections the cider
mills refused to buy cider apples be-
cause there was no profitable market
for the cider and yet these mills are
most of them equipped for making a
superior quality of apple jelly from ev-
cry bit of cider that can be manufac-
tured. The reason they do not make it
is because glucose jellies colored to
initiate fruit jellies can be sold cheaper
than apple jellies and for this reason
are largely used by the baking trade.
All inferior apples in Michigan can
readily find market at cider mills were
it not for the unfair compe tition of col
ored glucose jellies and malt vinegar
In order that the Michigan fruit grower
may have legitimate market for his
inferior apples and the Michigan con-
sumer can receive pure fruit iellies
and pure cider vinegar this depart
ment will make special effort in the
future to enforce the laws governing
tha calo of iallipc md vinaoorc thaf are