The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-11-18
TO BREAK UP THE
 TRAFFIC IN BAD EGGS
cooperation Between Federal and State Authorities Proving Success full in Chicago in the War Against Rots and Spots.


 full in Chicago in the War Against
 Rots ana Spots.
 Washington, Nov. 1S=Fed eraI State and City authorities are now ac-, lively cooperating in Illinois to put an end to the illegal traffic in rotten eggs From evidence already gather ed, there seems to be & definite mar. ket in Chicago for esrots and spots's at $2 case of 80 dozen. In conse- Quence. rots and spots from all over the surrounding country have been coming into Chicago in large num- bers- In the past. the delay neces- sary to secure authorization form Washington to make the seizures un- der the Federal Food 6 Drugs Act has proved serious handicap in breaking up the traffic. With the cooperation of the State authorities, however. this delay is now largely ob- viated. Under the detention section of the State law governing this mat ter, State inspectors are able to hold suspicious shipments for examination and further investigation. The State authorities being on the spot are able to act with great promptness. In this way not only are seizures made possible, but the necessary steps to- ward criminal prosecution are also facilitated. One Of the ffrms In Chi
 
 ready been tried by q state court and found guilty. Shipments of bad eggs are also being reported to the authoE1- ; ties in Chicago by Federal, State and City inspectors in other states. In or der that these eggs may be traced to their ultimate destination
 Although there is a certain demand for inedibIe eggs for technical pur- poses. such as tanning leather. most of the rots and spots that reach Chi cago are first broken and frozen. and then sold to bakers for use 1n cakes and other forms of food. In one 4n- stance at least, a shipment of these eggs was traced to a, firm which a,d- naatted that they had no use for them except in food As a matter of fact Fed eral inspectors have been able to secure sample evidence Of the use Of unfit eggs for this purpose. Before they had the active cooperation of the State authorities, however. 1t was difficult to act with the promptness required to obtain satisfactory results. Now, with the State and Federal au- thorities working together, it is be- neved the traffic can be broken up verp rapidly. Tn this connection it is pointed out that most of the firms using these unfit eggs probably do petition Of others forces them into tne traffic. However, 1t has been amply demonstrated by the Department that [ the frozen and dried egg business is successful and important industry only when based on the use of good GEES. handled under special condi- Another important result of the work in Chicago it is hoped will be to persuade other cities and states of the necessity of assisting the Federal Government in destroying the traffic in bad eggs. That this can be done has already been demonstrated in Trenton, N. J., where II Indictments have been found ont he charge of con- I spiracy in connection with this busi- ness All of the indicted men are l now awaiting trial Such criminal prosecutIoazit is beIived will do far more to put sa.-sad to the traffic than any number of seizures or fines The profit in the business is so great when E conducted on an extensive scale that l the dealer can well afford an occa@ sional fine. His rots and spots cost him so little that when his goods are seazed. the loss is Insignificant, and in many cases he has no reputation al 1 all to suffer from the consequent ex. posture
 In this connection the general in formation which appeared in the Scr vice and Regulatory Announcements Iof the Bureau of Chemistry, Depart nent Of Agr1cI1fure.s 1s5Su ed august 20 l 1914, concerning the denaturing oi food products not intended for food but intended for technical purposes will be of interest to those who dea, l in certain food products which con sist fn whole or in partof decompose6 I material, such, for example. as frozer l or dried eggs shipped in interstate l commerce for technical purposes Il such products are not denatured be. fore shipment seizures will be recom- I mended in all cases of interstate ship. rraerats of such products This course
 will be followed regardless of the la bels under which the products are sold. No action will be taken, how ever in the case of decomposed food products which have been denature6 l in such way as to prevent theil use for fodd purposes
 1 Mrs. A. F. Grohn, or Naco, Ariz.