Charlevoix county herald., 1919-02-07
CLEAN FOOD SHOPS
Cleanliness end Sanitation In Grocery
Stores Essential to Wholesome
Food Supply.

Food Supply.
The food officials of many States are
giving attention to the sanitary condi
tion Of country and city grocery
stores. according to the officials en-
gagged in the enforcement Of the Fed
eral Food and Drugs Act who recently
have investigated the matter. The
country store is both collecting and
distributing agency Of foods. 1t sells
foods of many kinds TO the farmers
and at the same time buys from them
for shipment to the city butter, eggs,
fruits. vegetables, poultry. and other
products of the farm. II the shelves
and counters are laden with dust, II
cobwebs hang in every nook and cor
ner, il flies, bugs, and vermin inhabit
the place, the food products are GER
tain TO be more or less contaminated
and likely to become dangerous to
health. The reports from various
State officials indicate that many
stores have been found in the past to
be in such a condition.
A clean, light, well-ventilated store
attracts customers, and the progress
i've merchant needs no other incentive
to keep his floor, shelves, and counters
spotlessly clean, which includes
screening from flies and the elimina-
ton of all other insects. Some store
keepers, however, seem to- require
prodding from food-and-health officials
to induce them to maintain that de-
gree of cleanliness which will insure
that the food they handle will be free
from contamination. Some of the
States have very effective sanitary
laws, which require frequent inspec
ton of all establishments where food
stuffs are. put up, manufactured, or
kept for sale. Other States depend up
on the general provisions of pure-food
laws which require that foods shall be
free from contamination. A few of
the States lack either a law that will
reach the unclean-store nuisance or
means for enforcing the law.
State food and health officials have
used various means to control effec-
lively the sanitary condition of places
where foodstuffs are sold. One of the
most effective means that has been
employed is that of securing the CO
operation of women's clubs and civic
organizations. When a delegation of
women customers calls upon a mer-
chant and suggests that he clean up,
he is c-mpelled to put his store in
good condition and to keep it so. When
the grocerymen in a town find that a
large portion Of the housekeepers are
buying only from the cleanest stores,
there arises a wholesome form of com
petition. A food inspector can, under
even the best conditions, inspect a
store but few times during the year,
because of the number he has to visit
The customers come every day, how
ever, and when they act as unofficial
sanitary inspectors the merchant with
/. the unclean store can not escape de-
lection and punishment in loss Of
trade.
Competition in cleanliness has been
secured in one State by means of
colored placards which the inspector
gives the merchants who keep their
stores in a sanitary condition. A store
in excellent condition gets large
white 'acard, one in fine condition
gets a blue placard. and one in good
condition gets a red card; the store
that falls below the latter grading
gets no card. The proprietors are per-
mitted to keep the placards posted in
a conspicuous place as long as the
store in kept in the condition repre-
scented. There is keen competition
among the merchants to get and keep
the best placards. The buying public
knows what the different colcred pla.
cards signify and are particularly par
tial to the white placard stores. Other
States have adopted a score-card sys
tenn similar to that used in grading
diaries. The inspector scores each
store wherJ foodstuffs are sold accord
ing to certain points indicated lin an
inspection card. The scores are made
public through the local press or by
means of bulletins or circulars.
The sanitary condition Of stores is
subject to State or local control. The
Federal Food and Drugs Act has no
jurisdiction over such matters, except
as to foods and drugs sold in the Dis
trict of Columbia, the Territories, and
insular possessions, which are under
the direct control of the Federal Gov
eminent. However, il food becomes
contaminated in an insanitary store
or in any other manner and is after
wards shipped into interstate COM
merce, the PARTY responsible for the
shipment may be prosecuted under
the Federal law, and the contaminated