Evening star., 1939-10-22

chocolate eclairs purchased from the
same bakery An investigator from
the administration made study of
the conditions of preparation, and
evidence pointed to the eclairs as
the responsible agency. Next, he
took samples of the eclairs to his
laboratory, where they were exam
ined bacteriologically They were
swarming with bacteria. EXamina-
ton of the various ingredients, such
as -four and eggs. failed to reveal the
presence of bacteria. 1t was con-
cluded that the contamination of
the fills occurred during the mixing
or handling of the product, and that
the poisonous organisms multiplied
by the millions in the warm bakery
storage room, where they were held
without refrigeration No deaths
were recorded and all the victims
recovered within three or four days.
Finding poison is the business of
the Federal food detectives Their
job is to protect the Nation against
those all-too-frequent instances
when contaminated or unclean foods
threaten the health of individuals
or communities If it were not for
their everlasting vigilance you might
unwittingly be eating spoiled fish,
maple sirup containing lead, meat
swarming with worms, tomato cat
sup" made out of dirty apple pulp or
buckwheat cakes filled with bugs.
Seize Fish Shipments.
In the past few months the agents
have seized $50 or more shipments
of frozen red perch fillets, the out
put of some Is manufacturers around
Boston and Gloucester Mass, be-
cause they were infested with para
sites. Red perch IA kind of rock
fish, do not rate as delicacy along
the Eastern seaboard. In times past
If. in dragging for cod and haddock,
fisherman got a netful of perch he
threw them back into the sea.
Sometimes, to be sure, a few of
these fish might be used to decorate
sea food shop, but no one made a
practice of eating them Recently
somebody got the bright idea of
slicing off a fillet from each side of
the fish and. after freezing, shipping
them to the Middle West. There
they quickly became popular at fish
fries, in fish and chop shops and
other sea food centers. .
Suddenly weird situation de-
veloped. Complaints, poured into
the Food and Drug Administration
to the effect that many of the fish
appeared to be hung with medals.
The decorations proved to be para
sites known as copepods, the order
of crustaceons to which shrimp be-
long. Unlike most copepods, how
ever, this type doesn't have a stiff
outer coat, but is rubbery. Part of
its body is buried in the fish, firmly
anchored in the flesh. The rest of
the copepod. curious f1owery pro-
tuberance, hangs outside These
blossoms sometimes get broken of,
but the rest of the parasite is dis
lodged. The surrounding flesh of
the fish decomposes and presents
an unsightly appearance. Fortu-
nately for the stomachs of fastidious
folks, every individual can of this
strange shipment was located by the
food sleuth and destroyed.
Metal in Sauce.
Another peculiar situation was
tracked down in connection with
consignment Of chilli sauce made by
an Eastern manufacturer. Certain
consumers complained that some
hitherto unknown type of metallic
contamination was present in many
cans, while others claimed the prod
uct actually contained steel shavings!
Fantastic as this sounded, it proved
to be the literal truth. Sample COL
lections studied in administration
laboratories demonstrated the pres
ence in five out of a dozen bottles
OF sharp pieces of metal. The ship
ment represented by this sample
was seized. At the same time the
plant was visited to ascertain what
further distribution had been made
and to determine the cause of the
contamination 1t was found that
the manufacturer, to complete the
pack of chilli sauce. had purchased
canned tomatoes. When these were
opened with power opener, faulty
operation resulted in shavings of
metal dropping unnoticed into the
tomatoes that were later used in
patches of chilli sauce. The firm
Immediately withdrew all outstand-
ing stocks from the market.
Science is now taking to the road
IN its fight to protect consumers
against contaminated foods. Early
In the year, in late January or early
February, unique travelling labora-
tory is rolled out of its winter quar-
ters in the subterannean garage of
the Agriculture Department. hitched
to an automobile and sent on its
way toward Florida, with a bac-
teriologist of the Food and Drug
Administration at the wheel. His
Job is to cover the crabmeat plants
that dot the coast all the way from
Florida to the Chesapeake Bay area
He looks for one thing: Bacterial
contamination of the shellf1sh. Fol-
lowing the grabbing season North,
he ceases operations in September,
when the season comes to its close
along the bays and inlets Of Mary
lana ana virginia.
Seeks Spray Residues.
Then back to Washington, where
Q few changes are made to convert
the trailer from a meteorological
laboratory into a chemical labora-
tory. Now a chemist of the Food
and Drug Administration takes over
the wheel and is of to Maryland,
Pennsylvania. New Jersey and other
apple-producing States. For the
next two or three months he devotes
his entire time to checking apple
shipments, looking for dangerous
pus spray residues that might cause
lead poisoning if the apples were
allowed to get to market unin-
spected.
Major assignment of the trailer
Is to keep tabs on crab-meat plants,
seeing that the shellfish comes to
thA consumer clean and llncOn.