Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-11
More Safety in Canning
BY Frederic J. Haskin

Washington, u. c., Feb WANDER
ing germs and bacteria need not look for q
home in a canning factory. Gamers al
Ii big canning States have set up their
own inspection service To supplement-
State and local inspection regulations
Bv this voluntary supervision, we are
told. canned foods are 10 be kept up to a
psr excellence standard. This Is an I'M
nortant proiect to a nation that, con-
s,,mes as much canned food as the United
States -
Frank T. Gorrcll. secretary OF the Ma
tional Gamers Association, states that
factories employing the ca9ners mspec-
,;on service are bound To requirements
more strict than any set by State M
s,srction boards. This high standard he
regards as a step in advance Tor the cam
ming industry and an added guarantee to
the consumer. =,
peioubled vigilance ON the part of the
tanners should not be taken to mean that
canned foods have been carelessly pre-
psr,sd or that they have been subject for
complaint. The National Gamers Asso-
riatiou announces that In the past year,
5mNOOO 900 cans of food were used by
this country. and that not one authentic
,:sse of illness was traced to'commerciaily
canned foods.
Ch,t of millions of cans it Is inevitable
that a few should spring leak or other
wise be d fective, but the careful house
wife can tell at glance II the contents oil
= can are unfit for use Besides the APP
pearance and odor of the food, the can
itself is a guide, for it will swell II the con-
tents become spoiled
CLOSE 1NsPECTIoN.
These warning signals, says Mr'
,orreu. ''are as easily recognized as the
:ecav of rotten apple, but to furnish
,xtra safeguards, the National Canners
Association decided to establish volun-
tarv inspection service Ih1s service Is
made use of only by Gamers who desire IT.
'ompanies maintaining the service are
Visited daily. sometimes oftener, by an m
.pactor who follows the course OF the
product through the factory to see that
each step Is performed according 70 the
sanitary regulations and standards OF
luality.
The inspector looks 10 sec II only
lean. sound materials are used, and u the
fish. fruits or vegetables have been
properly washed or trimmed IN prepara-
tion for canning. lie also investigates the
hacking OF the cans. To come up TO the
National Gamers standard, each can
must be as full Of food rs practical, CON
sistent with prorer sealing and processing;
and without injury to the qllahtN ana
appearance Of the product. The water
lrinc or syrup added can bc used only 10
rII cracks and to cover the product
The inspector visits every corner oi
~. nIant, always with the threetold pur-
pos. in mind sanitation OF the cannery'
sanitation of the product and wholesome
1ess Of the product.
This undertaking OF the cannerS u
specially worthy of recognition because
The plants that assume this extra rc~
sDonsibjIitv do so of their own choice
Most of the States, and some cities, have
inspection regulations, but the forces
rrovided to carry out the laws arc neces-
sariy small, and factory IS visited by
State officials only once IN while.
Besides State and local regulations the
canners have TO comply With the pure food
ana drug laws. This law deals entirely
with the product when It IS on the market,
and there is no factory supervision by the
national government as 4 means OF en-
forccment. Thus the Gamers have been
/ II more or less 10 themselves. FIFTY
canning factories in Ohio, for instance, are
l,rder supervision OF one State Official.
Forty of these plants are now also under
irsucctjon of the Gamers with II men IN
charge.
sANITATl ON AT CANNERlES.
The IL States which have established
The sanitary inspection service are the /
~ centers of industrial canning They /,
range from California, the home OF SO /
much OF our canned fruit, 20 Illinois, with |
its corn, and New York with Its varied /
products.
In each of the Il States director Is IN I
charge Of inspection. These fourteen men .
49,.
Harvew Wiley, the food expert, and they
found 10 their surprise that IL Of them
had served under DR.. Wiley when he was
chief of the Bureau of Chemistry IN the
United States Department OF 'Agrlcui-
ture. Nearly all of these II directors are
trained chemists and bacteriologIsts, or
have had long experience IN the canned
food trade. All have previously been en-
gagged in food inspection work.
The canners' self-imposed service was
first planned on q small scale IN 1916, but
If was not extended to Its present size
until 1919 Now the Gamers association
reports that it is steadily growing, and
doubtless III time will include nearly all
OF the big canning plants Of the country.
Results of the inspection project VIII
soon be brought TO the attention OF buyers
of canned goods by use OF special GER
tihcates to be pasted on the tins put out by
plants Inspected and found TO be UP TO
standard. These labels will bear picture
of can and fruits and vegetables, and
the words Prepared under the sanitary
inspection service of the National Can .
aers' Association.
This is the first year that mark of Ia
;peetion will be placed on cans. The Ma
tional Gamers Association says that cans
slcking the label should not be regarded as
aeoessarily inferior, as they may have
zen packed before the use of the GER
iticates began, or they may be put out by
company that does not make use OF the
Inspection service.
al this effort on the part Of the Gamers
make canned goods absolutely safe for
lre public j. very reassurlng. = The recent
ttacks Of botulinus poisoning, traced TO