Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-06-07
FEDERAL OFFICIALS CALLED
UPON TO DEFINE AND ISSUE
RULING THEREON.
PROFESS
TO STAND FOR PURITY.
Hearing Given Makers Of Maearoni and
Kindred Products = United States
Large consumer-Bureau Of Chem
is.ry to Define What Constitutes
Proper ingredients.
Especial correspondence.l


/; Washington, June What are
noodles is one OF the questions that the
! Federal Bureau of Chemistry is now
! purlderirlg, ard concerning which 1t is
! expected TO issue a ruling in due course
! of time Contrary to popular impress
I sion the matter of defining noodles is
not as funny or as trivial as Ii may
seem at first blush. Noodles and their
allied foods, nlacaroni. spaghetti, anu
vermicelli. are important, nutritious
! and cheap foods whose use has been
! recommended by state departments OF
health and by economists desiring to
aid the public in its perennial task OF
! trying TO reduce the cost of living. Yet
practically all the newspaper notice
which the departmental hearing OF
May IL received. has been of jocose
character. hippant and careless of the
really important issues involved.
The hearing took place before the
Joint committee on definitions and
standards, under the Craftsmanship OF
DR. r. l., Emerson. assistant chief OF
the bureau of chemistry. Present were
seyera! officials of the department OF
agriculture and bureau Of chemistry.
as well as representatives of the Amer
lean Speciality manufacturers Associ-
atinn. the National Association OF
Macaroni and Noodle Manufacturers,
and The macaroni section OF the Amer
lean Speciality Manufacturers Associa-
ton These bodies. it was stated, rep
resent 90 per cent of the makers OF
noodles. macaroni, and allied pro-
duets.
Stand For Quality.
The general position taken by these
manufacturers is that of ali progressive
manufacturers today. 1t is that they
, desire sound federal rulings on quail
ity. content. and so on. of food pro-
duets. So as 20 protect that section OF
the trade which is trying to do an
honest business against that section
which is endeavoring 10 sell inferior
products and thereby discredits the en-
tire trade. According to the standards
put forth by the organizations mem
toned above, macaront and noodles are
| to be regarded from four angles:
% The question of artificial col
oring.
| Cd The question of variety OF wheat
from which they are made.
| 80 The question OF moisture con-
| tent
! a. The question Of egg content.
| On the first poin, the argument was
developed that color in these alimentary
foods is never for any other purpose
than TO conceal inferiority. The high
est grades of macarOni, 1t was stated.
are made from the semolira of Durum
wheat that is, the glutinous part of the
grain. and the natural color Of this rich
food stuff is ysllowish or amber. In
ferior grades of these products are
derived from the starchy byproducts
of wheat. which are neither tasteful
! or nutritious and which are therefore,
usually coored in order 10 give them
the appearance OF finer brands. Boiling.
!! it appears, takes out the colorins mat
! ter so that the cooked food is all
! ways white, and the good can not be
! distinguished from the bad.
| Makers Opposed to coIorins.
! The manufacturers are urging the
| bureau OF chemistry TO rule that the
I use of dyes will be regarded as de-
ceit. 1t will be remembered that the
! ruling in the oleomargarine case pro-
! hibited coloring matter for the same
] reason as that put forth by the c1acar-
oni people.
| On the other points the manufactur-
ers were equally positive. They argued
!
! wheat that might be used TO make
! maca roni. declaring that such liEni-
J fafion would he as unjust as a ruling
/ that cocoa should be made only from
particular variety of beans. Some
| factories. it seems, employ Durum
wheat, sorae spring wheat. and some
n blend of both. AS to moisture con-
| tent, it was urged that the maximum
content be fixed at 1874 per cent, which
j is the maximum for The egg
question, bringing UP as it did, the
! definition of noodles, was a matter Of
less positive opinion.
! The government is asked to fix the
I minimum quantity Of eggs in egg
noodles or macaroni. Some manufac-
/ turers claim that the standard should
I be two eggs to pound, and some
claim that an egg and a half to a pound
is enough. All agreed. however. that
| in. any event, the whole egg should be
used. and manufacturers who mix in
only the yolk which is the least cost
ly part, should be frowned down as
fraudulent1y endeavoring to secure an
egg color without the nutritious al
| bumen content In the course OF the
| hearing 1t was freely alleged that there
are on the market and consequently In
| tuS hIlSlSII AIdLJ pOuhuS VI Seo
i noodles that are not egg noodles al ali.
but wafer noodles" masquerading as
the real thing.
U. s. Consumption Enormous.
4 It is not ordinarily realized, perhaps.
that the United States is an enormous
consumer Of macaroni and similar
foodstuffs. Our imports classified as
macaroni, for the year 1914 from all
countries, amounted to 125.4s3.413
pounds, substantial gain over 1911.
when the amount totalled 114,os6.110
pounds. The greater bulk of these
shipments came from Italy and France.
Our own macaroni exports, largely to
Italy, Cuba and Mexico, amounted, in
1914, to only 51,132 pounds.
Undoubtedly the great war in Europe
will have a stimulating effect upon the
macaroni, noodle and alphabet indus
try. Imports in these necessities OF life
have been largely shut off by reason
Of the difficulty of securing transpor-
tafion as well as by reason OF the gen.
eral bottling up of the nations involved
in the. struggle. This, apparently. is
the time OF all times for the American
Macaroni and Noodle Trust to get
together with the government, secure
immunity from being broken on the
.