The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-19
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
GNFORMATGQN BUREAU
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN. Director.
Washington, ID. c.
CANNED FOODS ARE SAFE.

and vegeta bles on the pantry shelves
OF American homes today. Those
billion cans are a huge monument TO
patriotism and the speed ana EN-
cheney with which democratic Annerlc1
can rally to meet an emergency They
are a weight of some size on the spirit
of German autocracy and coloSSat
stumbling block in the path OF Ger
many's march to world domlnatlon-
They are the most important collec-
ton \of cans the world has ever seen.
And it is vitallJ important that the
American people should realize that
these cans are cans of good food, safe
to use, safe to eat, and that certain
fantastic tales being circulated CON
corning them are utterly without
foundation.
The home Gamers of America can
ned one billion cans of fruits and
vegetables this year. Next year, II all
goes well and the spirit of the people
remains equal to the tasks or war
they will can one and one-half b1lllon
cans of fruits and vegetables. This is
a war measure, and one of vital inn
portance ANY tale or rumor when
tends to discourage the use OF TINS
years billion cans, or the preserVa-
ton of next years billion cans aid d
half, is of aid and comfort to the
enemy, aItho it may in some instances
be repeated in all good faith Also
such tales and rumors-you nave the
unqualified assurance of expert sclen-
lists to this effect -are quite without
truth
Some of the rumors are so ridicu-
lous that few people will believe them
Some of them have a superficial ap-
pearance of verisimilitude. Here are
a few that have been discovered, in
vestigated and exploded by authori-
ties of the federal government.
No Poison in Rubbers or Jars.
lot 4
the canning season. that part of the
glass jars and rubber rings in use
had been poisoned by German spies
Altho the tale is a wild one, it has
been carefully investigated in no
spirit of levity, and the department of
agriculture finds that there is abso-
lutely nothing in it. Not a single
poisoned rubber has been located.
Not single poisoned jar has been
found.
Exhibit B is a rumor of immense
persistence and vitality, to the effect
that the government is going to seize
home canned products. This tale is
surprisingly widespread, judging by
the number of anxious letters con-
corning it that come to the govern
ment departments, the federal food
adminiStrG ton and various newSpa-
per bureaus in Washington. Whether
the story was started, as most people
mere believe, deliberately to hamper
the canning campaign and render it
less effectlve, or whether it simply
arises from an utter misconception of
the nature and purposes of the food
administration is not important What
IS important, is that the story is not
true. The government is not going
| to seize any home canned foods
A story related to this last is the
report That the government is con-
templating war tax on home canned
FRUITS and vegetables. Careful inves-
| ugatlon here has failed to show the
shghtest basis for this report. Not
only IS the government not planning
TO tax nome canned foods:-it is even
planning to spend a good deal of
money IN encouraging the people to
40 more canning and in teaching
them how. .
another report circulated in some
eeJe1oIls oI the country says that not
only nome canned foods, but also COM
merc1al canned products have in some
! cases been poisoned by German snies-
ana that it would be unsafe to eat any
canned foods this year Such a tale. if
dehoerately invented and set afIoat.
IS no compliment to the intelligence
OF the American people expected to
refrain from eating canned goods in
{ consequence. More probably, if is
| just one OF the war rumors that seem
| to start themselves. At any rate. so
Tar as the authorities here know, there
L
fetal report of any home or factory
canned foods being poisoned in this
manner.
| Cold Method Is Safe.
Perhaps the most annoying report
that has been making its unpatriotic
rounds is the report that fruits and
| vegetables canned by what is known
as the ''one-period cold pack method
| are liable to be unsafe as food The
| co1d-pack method is the one that the
| department of agriculture demonstrate
| ed all over the country. 1t was care
fully selected as the best all-around
| canning method for all the regions
where it was recommended and
taught. 1t is at least as safe as any
! other method of home canning. AL
tho not known by this specific name
it is the method used in all up-to-d date
commercial canneries in the United
States.
For those who may have canned
foods of this sort on their storeroon
shelves, the following absolutely auth
| oritative statement is offered by way
of reinsurance: The co1d-pack pro
cess has been IN use for five years and
| not a single death or serious Illness
has resulted from the consumption o
food saved according to its direction
OF course, a certain amount OF
common sense is needed in the us'
of canned goods, just as it is needed
] in crossing the street or getting OH
railway train. Fruits or vegetabl e.
that show any signs of decay SHOULD
not be canned. Canned fruits o.
vegetables whose looks, or taste, o
odor, when the can is opened Nigh
indicate that they are spoiled, are per
haps best thrown away by the mex
perienced Gamer; although expert
enced housewives often make use o
canned fruits that show mold. for ex
ample, by boiling them over befor
putting them on the table.
The Mysterious Botullsm.
This last process suggests the nam
of ''vacillus botulinus'- germ in
fair way to gain some small reputa
ton In a recent number of a medica
journal there appeared an article o.
"botulism,'' a disease which may b
contracted by eating spoiled came
i food Owing to the nationwide inter
: est in canning, the article on botulisr