Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-07-02
BAN ON PUTTING
STARCH IN CREAM
State Health Board Also After
Milk Swimmers.

inspectors representing the Indiana
stats board Of health have been directed
by I. L. Miller, state food and drug COM
missioner, to be on the lookout for Ice
cream containing starch.
The examination of samples recently
taken by the department disclosed the
unlawful presence of starch, which has
been traced to a compound used gener-
ally throughout the state, Mr.. Miller
says, and which is sold to manufacturers
as a means OF saving the cost Of Ice
cream ingredients.
Warnings have been issued in the cases
unprecedented, and these will be followed
by prosecutions for subsequent Offenses,
it being the belief of the officials that some
manufacturers have imposed on the Ice
cream men by representing that the COM
pound was not Illegal.
The elimination of the practice OF res
taurant proprietors pouring off the cream
from milk served to patrons is the object
of another special effort on the part OF
the food and drug inspectors.
It is reported that in some of the larger
citieF of the state only skinned milk Is
sold for beverage purposes.
The law stipulates that milk shall con-
tain 34 per cent of butter fat.
A sample taken in Shelbyville contained
.0T per cent.
In some instances inspectors report
that this violation Of the law is due prin-
cipally to the failure of clerks to keep
the milk stirred, while in a majority Of
cases it is a deliberate and carefully ex-
ecuted purpose to provide cream without
paying extra for II.
Bottles taken from the groceries ii
Indianapolis filed with vinegar from the
Grocers' Supply Company showed va
Ration Of eleven ounces in packages ia
beled Il pint fluid ounces"
The difference was accounted for by
the irregular sizes Of the bottles, which
were filed to the top.
This is q violation of the weights and
measures law and notice was served by
the food and drug commissioner that
the sales Of such irregularly sized bot
ties must be discontinued under penalty
OF the law.
The inability to obtain Cheap" bottles
due to prohibition, was given by the
company as the reason for its using va
ried sizes and shape of bottles.
The convictions Of E. d. Valser
Button meat dealer, for selling adul-
terated sausage; A. 3. Hecker, ElwoOd
for operating an unsanitary meat mar
ket, and the LagIe Ice Cream Company
Anderson, for selling illegal ice cream
and the assessment Of fines of $40 and
costs in each case, we're reported to the
food and drug commissioner today by
Inspector John Ale. who appeared in
each case as prosecuting witness for the
state.
Continued investigation of the charac
t-r OF soda water, known as pop" by
inspectors representing the food and drug
division Of the Indiana state board Of
health, indicates an almost universal
adherence to the use of sugar, according
to I. L. Miller, state food and drug
cmmissioner.
while the price OF sugar vas highest
a few weeks ago, some samples Of pop
were taken UP and found to contain
saecharin, an adulterant that is forbid
den In Indiana
For the reason that sugar was hard
to obtain at any price, manufacturer;
OF the aduIterant found the temptation
strong among hottlers, TO use the drug
However, according TO Mr.. Miller, the
more conservative bottlers, encoura ged
by the position taken by the trade pres:
and BY state and federal food enforce
ment officials, have consistently refraincd
from "cheapening" their product by th'
elimination Of the sugar, which alone
gives the beverage a food value.
Quoting the leading trade paper of the
bottlers Mr.. Miller says It is true that
there is no way 20 make 4 soda that
is stimulating and refreshing without
sugar"
It was announced recently that the
federal government had filed charges
against a leading maker Of saccharin
charging that he had used sugar to
aoulterate his product. sugar being less
than 80 cents a pound, while the coal
tar drug was retailing at more than =
pound.