Evening star., 1925-01-17
STANDARD WEIGHT
FOR BREAD SCORED
Bakers Fight Selling Methods
Now Being Pressed Be-
fore Congress.
BY j. @. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch 10 The Star.
NEW YORK, January 17.-Bread
has been handled with gloves since
$50 b. c., when Anararcos, man
about town in the retinue of Alexan-
der the Great, refused all bread and
pastry not kneaded by slaves with
gloves. But the subject of the stand
ard size of a loaf of bread is now be-
ing handled without gloves by mem-
bers of Congress and master bakers.
The controversy is being waged
fiercely around legislation designed
to compel bakers to produce loaves OF
bread weighing Is ounces.
Representative Brand OF Ohio and
Senator Capper of Kansas are spon-
soring this legislation in the House
and Senate, respectively. They declare
that enormous profits have accrued
from bread making in late years and
that the public should be protected
against short-weight bread. On the
other hand, representatives Of the
bakers declare emphatically that size
and weight have little If anything
to do with the nutrative value of a
loaf of bread or its palatableness and
that regulation of the weight of loaves
would simply add bulk and not sus-
tenance.
Much Cheaper Abroad.
Machinery has been invented do
ing away with most Of the labor of
breadmaking," Brand stated today
Bread materials are mixed by ma
chinery, the dough is heated by ma
chinery, kneaded by machinery.
raised by mechanical devices, baked
by mechanical help and wrapped by
machines. Labor is only used 10
watch machinery work. We are prob
ably making bread at the lowest labor
cost of any country in the world. We
sell bread at to 8 cents a pound, or
what purports to be pound loaf.
When I was in England last July
I found bread selling for 4 Il cents
pound. In France, Italy and Greece I
found bread selling for 3 cents
pound. In Europe the consumer re-
ceived full weight, as all bread is
sold by weight. In the United States
an amount equal to two ounces and
even four is pinched off, and this to-
tai of short weight is costing the
American people $100,000.000 a year"
Mr.. Brand wound up with comment
on the recent merger of bakeries un-
der the name of the Continental Bak-
ing Corporation.
stress Nutritive Value.
The baking interests in reply de-
AZ
ment in bread making did not stress
size or weight of loaf, but nutritive
value. They pointed out that it was
perfectly possible to make bread with
no other materials than hour, water,
yeast and salt The modern loaf
however as produced in America, not
only contains a maximum of nutri-
ment but is prepared and distribu-
ted in a thoroughly sanitary way,
the cost of such preparation and dis
tribution outweighing the cost OF the
raw materials.
George G.. Barber, chairman of the
hoard OF the Continental Corpora
ton, said the bread business can
not longer be considered a. single
unit, but must be definitely correlated
with A number of other businesses
such as milling, sugar, eggs and milk,
paper containers and transportation.
Many Outside Factors.
Our organization, for example, re-
quires annually approximately 5000
900 barrels of -four, 3O,O0o,oo0 pounds
of sugar, 6,500,o00 pounds OF eggs,
6o0,OO0,000 pounds of butter and
about 1000. 900 pounds of shortening.
Other commodities required amount
to nearly s14,00o,o0o a year including
raisins, paper and containers. The
a
monopoly. No business can which
has to meet competition of the house
wives of the country. Give the pub
lie what pleases its taste at a price
which is right and you will have
steadily increasing market for your
product. But fail to please that taste
or try to sell the product at price
not commensurate with value and
you are likely to be deserted by your
patrons who can and will take bread
making back to their own kitchens"
Much Bread Made at Home.
He added that so per cent of the
bread consumed in America is still
made in the home, where nutritive
value, and not weight, was the stand
ard employed, and declared the far
sighted baker would rather increase
his profits by increasing volume of
business than by making a large
profit per loaf. William E. Ward, to
whom breadmaking is not only a
family tradition, but is regarded as
a public service obligation, declares
that each loaf having the germ of
life within it has an individuality
and that the production of bread un-
der A fixed standard of weight means
no added benefit or saving to the
consumer.