Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-11-12

of cost of bread due to wholesale de-
livery coste and retailers profits.
This practice, If adopted by the pub
lie, will cut three cents pound from
bread under present prices.
All commercial bakers are to be
put under government control and
regulation by the Presidents procla-
nation. The license system becomes
effective December IL.
Mr.. Hoover has issued long state
ment of his plans and then had a
conference lasting almost an hour
with newspaper correspondents, dur
ing which he answered questions
about his plans He said bakers
would be permitted to retain their
trademarks. They may call it what
they like, so long as they make it ac-
cording to standard" he said, adding
that about nineteen different varieties
of bread in the city of Washington
alone Will disappear. He declared
milling percentages of wheat, now
averaging about 73 or "A per cent of
the whole wheat, may be increased
about 4 per cent.
MIR. Hoover's statement follows:
To Reduce Cost
Based on the extensive investiga-
tions by the representatives of the
Federal Trade Commission, the food
administration and the Department
of Agriculture, we have determined
upon the standardization of the
bakers bread in the country, and the
President will too day issue a procla-
nation to that end.
The bread of the United States
is approximately 40 per cent. baked
In bakeries and 60 per cent. in the
homes. The object of standardiza-
tlon is to reduce the cost of public
baking and distributing bread, to re-
duce the waste OF flour and to limit
the use of sugar and lard in the pro-
portion of bakery bread. BY fixing
the weight of bread ut one-pound
minimum loaf, with one and a half
pound, two and four-pound loaves,
ana with a stabilized price of flour,
the present variables in bread will be
largely eliminated and competition
vii be centralized upon price,
The Administration has no power
TO nix the price. There are grocery
stores in many cities whose whole
business is conducted upon n basis
where the consumer pays cash and
carries the goods home and who con-
Duct their own bakeries. 1t is an
tlclpated that standard one-pound
loaf of baked bread can be put be-
lore the public from these groceries
at about seven cents. The other tyne
oil Srocers doing business upon q
credit and delivery basis must charge
more.
Regulation on Returning Bread
competitive conditions have built
up number of practices in bread
which can be limited to the advant-
age of the industry and the public.
The food administrator and the COM
mercial economy committee of the
Council of National Defense have al
ready requested the bakers of the
country to refuse acceptance of re-
turned bread. and this will now be
made legal regulation The investi-
Sations show that a large proportion
of returned stale bread was actually
destroyed, and that the amount of
flour so lost amounts to upward of
$4,000 barrels per annum, The
regulation that bakers shall not ac-
cept the return of bread will force
the retailers and public to watch
thelr purchases more carefully.
The use of other ingredients than
llour, yeast and salt in a great deal
of the American bread has been
growing steadily for years and exists
to a larger degree than elsewhere,
ana without any intrinsic 'compensa-
ton in either added nutritive value
or palatableness. In order to con-
serve the use of sugar. a maximum
of three pounds of cane or beet sugar
per barrel of flour is fixed by the
food administrator, against an av-
erage consumption of about six
pounds, and it is expected that a saw
ing of about 100,00O,00O pounds of
sugar per annum will result.
A maximum of two pounds of
shortening is imposed against an
average consumption of about six
pounds and the use of vegetable oil
substitutes is required. The saving
in lard should amount to 100, ,OOO. 900
pounds per annum. The milk used
In bread is limited to skinned milk.
as the microscopic amount of but
ter rat which appears in whole-milk
bread gives no adequate compensa-
tion for its use for this purpose.
Generally the Standardization of
the bread should lay the foundations
for the elimination of many wasteful
practices forced upon the bakers and
distributors by the luxurious de-