The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1920-06-09
OLIVES ARE RESTORED
TO POPULAR FAVOR
Trouble Entirely aRemedied by Action
of Packers, Says Department of
Agriculture.

Washington, May 31.-Ripe olives
have been restored to favor. 1t is again
safe to eat them, according to gov
ernment experts. The appetzing de-
llcacy which, by reason of a few in
stances of imperfect packing, was
brought into temporary disfavor all
over the United States, has been Of
ficially restored to it's place at the
table and epicures may breathe sign
OF satisfaction. Incidentally the bacil-
lus Dotulinus, that tiny organism re-
sponslble for the ripe olives unde-
served loss of popularity has been ut
terly routed and destroyed and, hence
forth, must seek other fields.
Secretary Meredith, of the Depart
ment of Agriculture in making public
the result of thorough investigation
by government chemists of cases of
poisoning due to the eating of ripe
olives, said the trouble was not due to
the container in which thew were
packed but to isolated cases Of made
quate sterilization. The chemists
founu, he said that it was possible to
sterilize completely both glass jars and
tin cans. To eliminate all possible fu-
ture trouble, he said the packers have
adopted the departments recommenda
ton that the olives be subjected to not
less than 240 degrees of heat to pre-
vent the possibility Of danger to the
consumer. This increased sterilization
1t is said in no ways affects the flavor
or edibility of the relish.
Owing to prejudice, due to the pub
llcity given case of poisoning from eat
ing ripe olives, according to the pack
ers, the ripe olive packing industry
has been practically destroyed the de-
mand having fallen off 95 per cent. So
widespread was this prejudice that the
consumption of green olives was sim
alarly reduced although no fatalities
were traced to the use of them. 1t is
believed that the action of the De-
partment of Agriculture in discovering
that the cause Of poisoning was not
due to either tin cans or glass jars
| and in uniting the packers in CO.
operative movement to standardize
their products by absolutely safe
methods Of sterilization will restore
the olive industry to it's former posi-
tion in American trade.
"The Bureau of Chemistry of the De
partment of Agriculture" says Secre
tary Meredith, authorizes the state
ment that it has met with a gratify-
ing degree of cooperation on the part
OF packers Of ripe olives in improv-
ing methods to such an extent that
danger from botulinus poisoning in
future packs will be eliminated. Five
groups of deaths traced to poison pro
duced by the organism known as
bacillus botulinus have occurred in
New York city. Detroit, Mich, Canton
o., Memphis. Tenn, and Kalispcll,
Mont. All Of these cases were due to
the consumption of ripe olives. No
fatalities lave been traced to green
olives.
VERY extensive Investigations have
been made by scientists from the Bu
| reau of Chemistry with the coopera-
tion of the packers and the packers
have also employed specialists to study
the causes Of botulinus poisoning and
the precautions which should be en-
| ployed to prevent further difficulty.
The experts agree that the trouble is
not inherent in the type Of containcr
| used. Whether the olives be packed
in glass jars o. il, tin cans they may
be rendered absolutely safe if proper
precautions are taken to prevent the
infection with bacteria during handl-
ing and if the packages when filled
are steriliZed at sufficient Temporal
ture and for a sufficient period Of time.
1t is entirely practicable, say the
Snccialists, to stcriizc both containers
of glass and tin cans at temperature
high enough to insure absolute stcr-
ilizatiOn.