Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-09
By ALFRED WJ;MoCANN

The statement that the United States
government endorses the use of benzoate
of soda in food products is lie.
The statement that the United States
government recommends the use of ben
zoate of soda in food products is lie.
The United States government merely
tolerates benzoate of soda and compels
the food manufacturer who uses 1t to warn
the public against it by declaring its pres
ence on the label.
This official liberation, brought about
by terrific political pressure, compromise,
and subterfuge, developed such bad odor
at the time of its application that its stencil
still smells in the nostrils of decency.
The food manufacturers who resort to
its use are ashamed of it. Under the law
they have to confess its presence in their
products, but they make their confession
in whisper, using the smallest type per"
missible. ~. -
If benzoate Of soda we're virtue which
the writer's of advertising copy could be
proud Of, they would loudly proclaim it
in the boldest type.
Why, then, do they never refer to it in
their advertisements? Why are the de-
signers Of labels instructed to hide the
phrase, Contains one-tenth of per cent
benzoate of soda," along the border as in
conspicuously as possible? y
Have these subterfuges no meaning for
the consumer Has the consumer for
gotten that the government officials who
so vigorously opposed the use of benzoate
Of soda were compelled to resign from office
to make place for a group of soft pedal,
"safe and sane" officials who could be de-
pended upon to stir up no more controversy
on the subject?
Benzoate of soda Is a substitute for
high-grade raw materials; substitute for
clean hands; substitute for clean kettles;
a substitute for clean methods of manu-
featuring.
Low-grade raw materials handled SLOW
enly, shifted, shovelled, poured in bulk,
can be kept from rotting by. the use Of
benzoate or any other embalming agent.
High grade raw materials handled under
clean and wholesome surroundings, free
from infection, with self-respect and decency
on guard, require no germicide or other
chemical preservative to keep them fit.
To the manufacturers who use it ben
zoate, of, soda is commercially important
and they derive great benefit from it.
: = The public derives no benefit from it..
Whylsheuld the public pay for it when at
its best cthe only claim that can be made
in its defense is that it promotes salvage
and resciies from the dump foodstuffs that
would surely go there without the protec-
ton of dope.
When, DR.: Harvey W. Wiley and DR..
; Floyd w. Robinson disobeyed orders from
their, superiors by continuing to prove
through repeated experiments that ben
zoate of soda is real poison when con-
amed with acids, tomatoes, orange juice,
grape juice, cider or any other fruit or
vegetable product containing acids they
had to get out of the service 'for the good
of the service"
Even when benzoate of soda is consumed
In alkaline foods, such alkaline foods are
Invariably consumed with other foods Of
acid nature, whether the benzoate- be in
them or not. 1t is, quite impossible on a
mixed diet to consume non-acid foods.
IF benzoate of soda could be ligitimately
used in dairy products, including milk and
butter, it would solve a problem that has
vexed the scientific world for years.
The government will not permit the use
Of benzoate of soda in, milk. Why2 Let
the food manufacturers who use it in
butter or other table fats churned with
milk answer this question.
Some day these facts, with all the scan
dals which led to them and which have
flowed from them, will be fully exposed,
and the American people will learn that
benzoate of soda is not only bad, but that
1t has bad history.
The, American people will learn that as
this bad history is understood by decent
food manufacturers, they promptly shun
benzoate, which is not food, but a drug;
which has 20 food value, but chemical
value, and that in stunning it they boast
of the fact as they should boast of it.
The surprise is that Americans have
been slow to learn that benzoate is merely
a substitute for sanitation and decency,
and that all the risks attendant upon its
use and all the inferior makeshifts, nom
descripts, and compounds consumed under
its protection, are suffered, not by the man
who makes a profit out of it, but by the
people and their children who eat it.
Benzoate of soda has never been used
except to cover questionable quality or to
prolong unnaturally the life of product
that would quickly rot without it. Hence,
the government warning, Contains one
tenth of per cent benzoate of soda"
Vor you; own sake, before you buy food
of any kind, examine the label carefully.
Look for the fine print, the inoonspicuous
phrase deity concealed along the fringe of
the cheap ornamentation with which the
cheap label is adorned, striving to cover its
sneak-thief humiliation in a squeaky little
hne-print voice.
When you hear that voice make up your
mind that the food it describes could not
stand up by itself, for which reason it must
lean on chemical crutches.
Pure food, properly prepared, doesn't
need benzoate of soda, or any other dope.
When you buy it you buy it on your own
responsibility with your eyes open, though
they may not be open wide enough to catch
glimpse of the tell-tale phrase, Contains
one-tenth of per cent benzoate of soda" "