The Washington times., 1922-08-20

THE departments in various States
that look out for the purity of foods
- and the main bureau at Washington
as well, are now carrying on campaigns
against various food adulterations and
substitutions which having had their
source in war economies have been con-
tinued since the war ended because of the
greater profit involved in them.
During the war, Germany, particularly,
found itself deprived of many of the ele-
ments of balanced diet The German
chemists set their ingenuity at work to
discover substitutes for what were lack
ing. In the same way the United States
and other countries found it necessary to
deprive their citizens at home of certain
substances in order adequately to feed
their armies at the front.
Of course these substitutes and imita-
tions had nothing like the real food value
of what they initiated, and in many cases
had no food value at all. The result of
the use of some of them has begun to
show itself in under-nourished children
and even adults, and in greater suscep-
tibility of both to certain diseases caused
by the lowering of resistance which in
variably follows under-nourishment.
One of these substitute" foods around
which perhaps the strongest controversy
is now going on is what is known as
"filled" or "oiled" milk--that is milk
from which all butter fat and some water
have been removed and cocoanut oil SUBJ
stituted. The sale of "filled" or "oiled"
milk has increased from 1000 pounds
in 1916 to S4,000,0OO pounds in 1920,
that is $50 times in five years.
The "oiled" milk tastes just the same,
looks just the same and smells just the
same as ordinary milk, when water is
added to 1t, but when it gets into your
stomach your digestive machinery finds
that it is not the same at all. The
imitation has passed the first three lines
of our guards-our eyes, our nose and
our taste--but what they pass on to the
digestive machinery is certainly not milk
When an innocent little baby and an
uniformed mother try to support life
. with this imitation milk, the little one
cannot possibly develop as it should, say
those who oppose the substitute. Eleven
States have already passed prohibitive or
restrictive measures upon the substitute,
eight have similar legislation pending, and
there is bill before the Senate to bar Its
shipment from Interstate and foreign
commerce. This bill, called the Voight
Bill, has already been passed by the House
by a non-political vote of 256 to 40.
This "oiled' milk must not be. con-
fused at all with good evaporated milk.
The latter is made from pure whole milk,
with part of the water removed. The
butter fat and everything else of food
value is still there. And butter fat con-
tains the substances that make babies
grow.
But oiled milk is made from SKINNED
milk, in the first place. The butter fat
has been removed.
One of the leaders in the fight against
"oiled' milk is Miss Laura A. Cauble, a
nutrition expert, and head Of the Nutri-
ton Bureau of the Dairymen's League
Cooperative Association. She says:
"There are many brands of pure,
wholesome evaporated milk. But cocoa
nut fat costs only about ten cents pound
much less that butter fat. Therefore,
while it costs about .04 a pound to make
pure evaporated milk, pound of oiled
milk costs only oil. If the oiled milk
manufacturer has bought whole milk, he
sells the butter fat, substitutes cocoanut
oil and pockets the difference. For