El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-05

ought not TO be employed TOT
human food"
This is the idea on which the gov
eminent is proceeding in its efforts 20
put q stop to the use of objectionable
refuse OF various kinds as a cOntrl b j.
ton to the dietary of the common pe0-
pie Though by no means generally
understood. 1t is a fact that the chief
object of the pure food law is to drive
rotten and filthy products out Of the
market Utilization of wastes is an
important feature of conversation, but
the wastes employed for food purposes
must be clean wastes.
Take, Tor example, a picturesque
form Of enterprise recently invesd-
gated, XIX: the marketing on a large
scale Of Wormy flour. Immense guam
titles OF such flour, stored by New
York town archie VIM
York brokers in Jersey City and other
towns in New Jersey, have been light
cred across the North River, sifted 20
get rid OF the weeTils, resacked, and
disposed of in the ordinary way as a
fresh article. OF course, being in such
a condition as to be unsuitable for
human food, the brokers get It cheap.
To put IL through the process described
costs very little and the profit is large.
When, not long ago. some thousands
of bushels of this kind of flouW were
seized on arriving in New York by
the pure food police, the broker TO
whom the stuff was consigned declared
human food at all, but in the manu-
facture Of paste, to which, Of course
there could be no possible objection
But investigation disclosed the TACT
that this broker was actually main
tanning a paste factory for nothing
else than a cover. his real business
being the marketing Of the material,
minus the worms. for making bread.
Unsnnitary Canning Plants.
Conspicuous among the wastes Of
food factories put on the farket Is
the refuse of tomato canneries-
chiefly derived from numerous small
canneries which put up tomatoes and
nothing else. Such canneries are TO
be found in Maryland, for example, ct
almost every crossroads typical
outfit Of the kind occupying two or
three sheds or Outbuildings, main
tanning its operations for only about
six weeks in the year. and turning out
perhaps 1900 or $500 cases as its to-
tai annual production
The government authorities you'll
put such canneries out of business
for keeps" if possible They are run
wholly without regard for sanitary
methods The tomatoes, fletcher in
wagons by nearby farmers, are hand
led by contract labor-of1en by ltai-
ians or Huns. recruited from the cit
les. These hirelings, many OF thcm
children from five years old up, work
at long tables, on both sides Of which
they stand, and are paid so much per
bucket for the peeled producL-Ihe
peeling being done after the tomatoes
have been dumped into a "scalder" 10
losen their skins
Filth in Tomato Waste.
The process, very rapidly performed
consists in inserting the point Of a
knife in such a way as to remove the
top and core of each tomato. where
upon. the skin comes off IN the other
hand, and the pulp is dropped into a
bucket. Finally the contents Of the
buckets are poured into the hopper Of
a machine which feeds the stuff into
the cans Unfortunately. the tomato
being IS percent water. the incidental
waste is large. and there is great &C
emulation of filthy refuse. COndi-
tions of course. are very uncleanly. ana
the water in the scalder is nothing
fore nor less than a "swill."