Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-11-28
Waste
BY CLEANLINESS
Necessity Of Maintaining Pre-.
War Standards Of Sanitation
Are Pointed Out.
SCARCITY or HELP BLAMED
Most Essential Factor in Health Of
Nation Need Not Be Neglected Un.
der War Conditions-country
Store Rothersome.

Many grocery stores have fallen
away from pre-war standards of clean
illness, say officials Of the bureau Of
chemistry, United States department
Of agriculture, In charge of the en-.
forcement Of the Federal Food and
Drugs Act. State and city inspectors
attribute this partly to scarcity Of help
and to less efficient help.
Cleanliness in handling food is even
more important in times Of war than
In times of peace, say the specialists,
In order that the maximum efficiency
of our army of fighters abroad and our
army of workers at home may be main
tanned. Clean stores not only promote
health, but prevent waste Of food.
That they can be kept clean under pre-
vailing conditions is shown BY the fact
that some Of the best stores are main
tanned In standards Of cleanliness
which insure that the food they handle
will not be contaminated. This Is evil
dence that this most essential factor
Ill ttlC HCullu u lIC Ntich hNSo Acs w
| neglected under wal conditions.
The small country grocery is one Of
the most difficult problems Of the food
inspector. The country store Is both
q collecting and distributing agency OF
foods. 1t buys from the farmer such
products as eggs, poultry, nuts, fruits,
grains and vegetables and sells to him
everything in the food line not pro-
duced in the community. 1t handles
food both coming and going. If the
store IL dirty, with dust OF the shelves
and cobwebs In the corners, with In
sects and vermin under the counters
and In the bins, and with flies every
where, the food both for the country
and for the city Is sure to become on
taminated. When the country as q
whole Is considered, the loss Of food
through spoilage from contamination
In unclean stores is enormous. The
most important consideration, how
ever, in the opinion Of federal, state
and city food officials, Is the danger to
the health Of the people who consume
the food. A dirty, insanitary store OF
food shop ia q most potent factor II
the spread Of disease.
Composition In Cleanliness.
Where there Is keen competition
cleanliness Ii more likely to prevail
A clean, well.lighted store attracts Gus
toners. The cost Of scrupulous clean
illness 10 more than overbalanced b!
the gain in the prevention Of spoilage
and by its custom-drawing value.
Novel methods have been adopted b,
state and city officials to bring abou
competition In cleanliness. One stat
has reported excellent results from ~
thorizIng the food inspectors to issu
colored placardo to the stores at tn
time Of inspection indicating the dt
gree Of cleanliness found. A stor
which II found to be In excellent cor
dition in cleanliness and sanitation
given q white card; one In good cond
tion 10 given q blue card, and one thu
70 satisfactory 10 Given Q red card.
store that falls below q satisfactor
rating 10 not given . card. This ~
TEN resulted IN much coinpetltio
among the merchants to get the higl
sst possible rating In sanitation. III
housewives soon learned what the PHI
cards signinsd and did their buyin
accordingly.