The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1917-01-25
REMARKABLE RESULTS ACHIEVED
BY THE STATE LAW.
MEANS HEALTH FOR PEOPLE
canned Goods. Drugs, Beverages, and
Even Paint Regulated-labels
Must Tell the Truth
And That Only.
BY w. C. Palmer.


consumer has the right to know what
he buys. The simple way to do this
ia to let the label give the makeup OF
the goods. AS DR.. Ladd puts it: THE
pure food law does not prohibit the
selling Of ground olive stones or cocoa.
nut shells as such, but it does forbid
selling them for pepper or other food
products"
When DR.. Ladd began the pure food
work, he found that most Of the canned
foods were aduIterated, misbranded
and often doped with injurious ingre.
dents, and sold to the consuming pub.
lie as Of high quality. Jams, for in.
stance, were often made from rotten
apples and the then dangerous glu.
cose, sweetened with saccharine, col.
ored with coal tar dye, and preserved
with benzoate of soda to prevent fur.
ther decay. Many other foods were
adulterated and preserved in a similar
manner.
This condition is now improved, but
1t did not come without struggle.
Every law that was passed had to be
fought through the courts. If the food
manufacturers lost in the lower courts
they appealed to the higher courts.
This gives some idea Of how profitable
It must be for manufacturers to adul.
serate food. The adulteration and
preservation of food by chemicals not
only was against the best interests of
the public, but it made it almost i'm
possible for the honest manufacturer
10 do an honest business.
Must Show Net Weight.
Another mode of deception was to
make containers short weight; for in.
stance, what was supposed to be
tour-ounce box of spice usually con.
tanned but 31a ounces Now the con.
tainer must show on the label its net
weight. The law even goes a step
further in regard to lard in requiring
that it shall be sold in even pound con.
tainers. The packers, rather than com.
ply with this law, will not sell lard in
even pound pals in North Dakota,
though they put up lard in even pound
pals for some eastern jobbers
the drug law makes it necessary that
drugs shall be up to standard; if not,
they are regarded as adulterated. False
labelling is prohibited. 1t can not be
an imitation of an article, nor bear a
statement or design which shall de-
ceive or tend to deceive If any drug
contains any of the following, the label
must give it and also give the amount:
ALCOHOL morphine, opium, heroin, al.
pha or beta eucaine, chloroform, can.
nab1s indica, choral hydrate, bromine,
Iodine, acetanilid or croton oil, or any
uerlvatlve or preparation Of any such
substances. Cocaine cannot be sold,
nor can wood alcohol be used 1t was
common practice, for instance, to
sell formaldehyde that was one-half to
tWo-thirds strength, and when pound
was called for it was apt to be short
weight. The result was that when a
farmer would treat his seed grain for
smut or the potatoes for scab, accord
Ing to the formula worked out by Pro-
lessor Bolley, the disease germs were
not killed, as it would not be strong
enough. The department had to en-
force the law requiring standard
strength AS soon as this was done
the farmers secured the desired re-
suits. This resulted in a rapid in.
crease in the use of formaldehyde.
When it was being adulterated the
sale was being decreased. .
Paint Must Be Real.
Paint is another product that can
be readily adulterated. N. D. Expert.
ment Station Bulletin No. ST gave the
analysis of number of paints that
were sold in the state. Many Of these
paints contained but little real paint
material. The purchaser had no way
OF knowing whether the paint was real
paint or not. Some Of the paints were
worse than no paint as far as protect
Ing the wood was concerned, and Oft
entimes the stuff left such a surface
that 1t was almost impossible to re.
paint before It was removed.
A law was passed that requires the
label to state what the paint contains.
The enforcement of this law was also
placed in the Experiment Station, of
which President Worst was then di.
rector. He appointed DR.. Ladd pure
paint commissioner. This law was
fought by the paint men; first, in the
United States district court, and when
they failed there they carried it to
the United States supreme court, and
again President Worst and DR.. Laid
won out for the state. The paint men,
though beaten, were SO much i'm.
pressed with DR.. Ladd's knowledge of
paint and what paint should do that
they raised fund and turned it over
to him to use in making paint in
vestigations. The investigation was
started. A good many pieces Of diff.
ferent woods and with different ex.
posures were put up on the campus.
These were painted with different
kinds of paints and paint mixtures,
and careful observations made and
photographs taken to show how these
paints protected the wood. how dur