Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-06-02
RIPE OLIVES AGAIN ARE IN FAVOR WITH
 US. GOVERNMENT
War on BOtulinus Bacillus Has Been Successful
 One

Washington, June 1.--Ripe olives have been restored to favor. 1t is again safe to eat them, according to government experts. The appetizing delicacy which, by reason of few in stances of imperfect packing, was brought into temporary disfavor all over the United States, has been of- ficjally restored to it's place at the tatle and epicures may breath sigh of satisfaction. Incidntally, the ba cillus botulinus, that tiny organism responsible for the ripe olives unde- served loss of popularity, has been utterly routed and destroyed, and, henceforth, must seek other fields.
 Secretary Meredith of the depart mnt of agriculture in making pub lie the result of thorough inves- tigation by government chemists of cases of poisoning due to the eating of ripe olives, said the trouble was not due to the containers in which they were packed but to isolated cas- es of inadequate sterilization. The chemists found, he said, that it was possible to sterilize completely both glass jars and tin cans. To elimin- ate all possible future trouble, he said, the packers have adopted the recommendation that tn olives be subjected to not less than 24O degrees of heat to prevent the possibility of danger to the consum- CT. This increased sterilization, it is said is no way effects the flavor of edibility of the relish.
 Owing to prejudice. due to the nubljcity given cases of poisoning from eating ripe olives, according to the packers, the ripe olive packing industry has been practically de- stroyed. the demand having fallen off 95 per cent. So widespread was this prejudice that the consumption of green olives was similarly reduced although no fatalities were traced to the use of them It is believed that the action of the department of agrl- cultur in discovering that the cause of poisoning was not due to either tin cans or glass jars, and in uniting the packers in a cooperative move ment to standardize their product by absolutely safe methods of sterlllz- ation, will restore the olive industry to it's, Nformer position in American trade.
 "The Bureau of Chemistry of the department of agriculture" says Sec retary Meredith, "authorizes the statement that it has met with a gratifying degree of cooperation on the part of packers of ripe olives in improving methods to such an extent that danger from botullnus poisoning in future packs will be el- minated. Five groups of deaths traced to poison produced by the or ganization known as Bacillus botulin- us have occurred in New York city, Detroit. Mich, Canton, O., Memphis, Tenn, and Kalispell, Mont. All of these cases were due to the consump- tion of ripe olives No facilities have been traced to green olives.
 No Precautions.
 every extensive investigations have been made by scientists from the bureau of chemistry with the CO., operation of the packers and the packers have also employed special ists to study the causes of botulinus poisoning and the precautions which should be employed to prevent furth- CT difficulty The experts agree that tn trouble is not inherent in the tyne of container used. Whether the olives be packed in glass jars or in tin cans they may be rendered abso- lutely safe if proper precautions are taken to prevent the infection with bacteria during handling and if the packages when filled are sterilized at a sufficient temperature and for sufficient period of time. It is en- tirely practicable says the specialists, to sterilize both glass containers and tin cans at temperature high enough to insure absolute sterlllza- tion.
 "Unfortunately some packs of ripe olives put up in glass as well as some in tin during past seasons were not prepared with all the precautions now known to be essential and were not sterilized at sufficiently high temperature and some of these goods in glass were responsible for the fla talities. It is probable that of all the ripe olives on the market but an extremely small number actually con tained bacillus botulinus. Of more than 2,OOO individual packages col lected and examined in the bureau of chemistry but eight were found to contain bacillus botulinus, and sev- en of these were from the output of one manufacturer and from one batch of his output. In addition to these eight, the bureau has examined samples of some of the olives re- sponsible for the fatalities and has also found bacillus botulinus in these st tecimens.
 No Danger Now.
 "Since there is a possibility of dan ger from any ripe olive which has been insufficiently sterilized the bu- reau of chemistry has suggested to the industry that all ripe olives in class or in tin wherever located be carefully inspected and that any which show the slightest degree of decomposition be destroyed. It has further suggested that all ripe olives which have not been processed at a sufficiently high temperature be re- turned to the packers for immediate reprocessing at sufficient temper ature to insure complete sterilization
 "With few exceptions the olive packers have most heartily fallen in with all suggestions made in the in terest of the public safety and by mutual agreement entered into by practically all of the packers they are ao,,, +,E;rr StanS tO withdraw from