The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-08-11
By DAVID RAMSEY

What You Eat
IN A profit economy the makers
of food products. never hesitate
to jeopardize or kill a dozen people
to gather in a few extra pennies.
More than two decades ago the
people Of the United States were
shocked by the news that they we're
eating diseased, spoiled, verminous
and adulterated food Food laws
were passed designed to remedy the
evil. But the Interpretation and
administration Of these laws have
completely nullified the content of
the statutes as far as the we'll
being of the people is concerned.
Today the pure food and drug laws
serve almost solely as a means by
which one INSCRIPTIONS manufac-
turer can make trouble for and
hence hamper the market-exploit-
ing activities Of another. The
worker is probably confronted by
worse conditions in the matter of
food and other products for family
and personal use than those which
the muckrakers exposed.
Arthur KalIet, co-author of @100,-
900 Guinea Pigs" and an expert
on foods and drugs, recently has
written terrific indictment of the
malpractices of the food manufac-
turers in The Annals of the Amer
lean Academy of Political and
Social Science. According to Kali
let, State inspection of meat is al
most unbelievably bad. Many car
cases so obviously diseased that
they are not likely to be passed by
even the most lenient Federal in
spector are held within the safe
bounds of ra-state commerce"
About a third of the meat sold is
never inspected at all. Putrid meats
are treated with chemicals to
restore their color and odor Ac-
cording to the Massachusetts De-
partment of Health, Is out of 26
samples of hamburg steak examined
during the second quarter Of 1888
contained sulphur dioxide. Obvi-
ously government inspection of
meat is but mask that deceives
the consumer.
Though milk is easily contami-
mated at every stage from milking
to delivery, Kallet reports that "at
no stage is reasonable sanitation
maintained in most areas" The
milk control boards are in the
hands Of the dairy trust and their
only interest is to raise prices.
Apparently little or no effort is
made to assure freedom from dis
ease (even tuberculosis or syph-
ilis) in mixers and other attend
ants. Sanitary conditions are very
bad: filthy floors, unclean contain
ers, and so on. The Board of |
Health of Indiana typical milk |
state inspected AIS diaries in
October, 1892. Only ten diaries
could be rated good not one
could be put in the excellent"
column. One hundred and thirty !
six diaries were rated only fair"
1876 as poor" and So actually bad"
None OF the diaries were shut down,
nor were they penalized.
THE report of the Massachusetts, |
1 Department of Health for 1880 |
indicated that nearly a million per-
sons in the state were getting milk
from potentially tubercular herds;
and according to recent reports
from the New York State Agricul-
tural Commissioner Charles H.
Baldwin, probably 250,OOO of New
York's cattle, most Of them in the
dairy districts, were tubercular.-
AS a final word on milk condi-
tions, it should be noted that de- |
spite the big price difference be-
tween grades A and B, it is known |
that with some companies-includ |
ing one of the largest-both grades |
come from the same diaries and |
the same watts.
Kallet points out that thousands |
Of people go to their graves each
year because of diseases traced to
contaminated meat and milk That |
the number is greater is due to the
resistance Of the human organism
and not to the meat packers and
dairy interests.