The Washington times., 1915-02-23
Health Authorities Get Busy
Protesting Against Use Of
Corn Starch.
CALL CONDITIONS NOW BAD
Would Not Object, However, to
Use Of Whole Grain-Say It
Would Be Beneficial.
BY JUDSON c. WELLIvER.

There is going to be real fight
against the bill to permit the adultera-
tion Of wheat four by the use Of corn.
The health authorities are getting
busy. protesting that the use Of 20 per
cent of corn In -four used as wheat
product, even though It be labeled plain
~ to show what II contained, would
make wheat -four a worse food than ie
is even now; and, IL you will take the
word Of the experts for 1t, wheat -four
Is bad enough already. They say that
the wheat -four Of commerce Is plenty
bad enough already. denaturized to tho
last degree in order that it's whiteness
may be insured.
Bossy In the dairy gets a good share
OF the most valu lble nutrlmsnt out Of
t"e wheat. She doesn't mind it's COM
plexion; so the miller grinds out about
fifteen pounds OF the best food con-
stituents from every sixty-pound bushel
q ..our, and 1t Is fed to her. The re-
mainder Is not nearly so useful for
human food AZ 1t would be II 1t had not
been thus separated.
Parts Taken Out.
Opponents of the mixed flour proposal
declare that three-fourths of the min
eral salts and phosphorus contained in
the grain Of wheat are aiken out by
the modern methods of grin.ing. To re-
place them with corn starch would
make the flour even less desirable than
II Is now, and that. II we are to give
trust 10 the people who describe pres
ent-day bread as the ''stan Of death.
az somebody has called 1t. would make
II good deal worse than II Is now.
1t appears, according to the authori-
ties who are girdltng Up for a big fight
against ithHr cheaper ng and debas-
ing the wheat product, that about sew
cnteen years ago the practice Of mixing
corn starch with wheat -four was pretty
extensively carried on by the Glucose
Manufacturing Company. Corn as a
hol. cannot be ground fine enough to
look and fell like flour: but corn
starch mixing was done on consider
able scale
Tteas the pure ( cd legislation:
one act to prevent making cheese from
substituted for the butter fat that had
gone away in the cream; the other the
mixed -four act to prevent mixture
OF other cereals with wheat -four. These
measures were put In TIE guise OF in
ternal revenue acts, bee ,use that was
the obvious way T. ext Id the Govern
ment power, to the subj cts: but 1t Is
vigorously denied. by people who had
to do with passing them. that they were
primarily revenue acts for Spanish
war purposes.
Especially is there antagonism to mix
ing 20 per cent of corna'"r"N ~ Y
VIII At. on tn, g'ound that It would no,
chea en- bread. Rather. the food special
lists say. it would keep tn" i'.'.: ~,
ing az much as ever for bread. while
getting a much poorer article. 1t is
pointed out that the requirement for Ia
bclinR the package to show the charac-
ter OF the mixture would not help. be.
cause most people never see the barrel
The bread appears on the table without
mixed flour label. and the person
who eats 1t isn't informed what he is
getting.
Would Need Inspectors.
Further objection to mixing Is that II
would require inspectors at all the mills
to sec that the proportions were proper.
This would repeat the experience of
meat inspection with the Government
paying for the inspectors. As 1t 10
calculated there are about 1000 flour
mills in the country the number Of in
spectors would be a real expense to the
Government. or to the industry.
But all this Is not the worst of the
assault on the starch-hour proposition.
1t is declared that II the phosphates
and gluten be taken out Of the wheat
and 20 per cent of corn starch substi-
tuted the result will be -four of bad
nutritive quality calculated. especially
In children. to induce ricketts,. bad teeth
mal-development of the bony struc-
lures OF the body. and even beri bert
Flour in short. Is described as just
as bad as it ought to be allowed to get
On the other hand, the opponents OF