The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-30

N Standard. That this should Do or. glelvd ls tho contention ot all labor organizations, OF ala consumer groups, and og practically every alert female organization from Eleanor Roosevelt and tho Amer. lean Association Of University Wom~ on to the Ladies Auxiliary Of tho Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Por- ters,
 ft ls the contention ug all Vhese people that grade labelling should bc applied Co al og tho food products canned in lD43 Co make price con- trvl effective. Otherwise, what's to prevent . cannef, . wholesaler or retailer from up-Rradlng the lnger- for qualities to sell them At the hlgh- CT grade pTices2 Some evidence has been presented by tho labor Oreans lzatlons that black market opera tors and . heel trlnec og unscrupr ulous dealers have been cheating ln this manner, go there Is an appar. cnt need for protection Of the com suining public, Tho Army buys all Its canned goods under rigid grad ing, 50 why not protect the buying public too2
 PRICE CONTROL AND
 GRADE bADEl.S
 Ex.Prlcc Boss Leon Henderson handed down an order last Dcccsn- bcr. just before the citrus fruit canning scason began, making grade labelling mandatory On all citrus juices. In February FicndrrsonS successor, ex-ScnatOr PTrntiys M, Brown, also held that grade labelling was necessary and in tho last Few weeks grade. .labellng orders have been Issued for four other canned fUods--tOmatous, peas, corn and snap beans But recently MT. Brown has indicated these orders may not be enforced and for thts back.tFack- lng he ls being banned uHneUatully hy al gradc-labcliag advocates.
 Turn now 0 tho other slde of the wrapper to sec what are tho ObJec- tions to grade labelling as an adjunct to price control. Take . Spccilic ex- ample corn coming into Washington, D. c.
 Ordinarily, Washington grocegy stores get their canned corn from seven or more canning aEvas-- Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maine, New York, Indiana and Min- nesota. Under price control, the price Is determined by CanneES costs plus reasonable mark-up plus trans. portation. Assuming even that all canncrS costs and all maFkaWS wyFc the same, which they're not, Ulsc varying transportation costs would mean that Grade A corn coming from these areas might be priced at I8, l7, ls, 10 or 90 cents, while Grade B corn from these same areas would sell for la, i5, I8, IV CT lB cents. Thus there would be yonae Grade N corn selling Tor as much as CT more than yoIne Grade A. corn. From the retailers point of view, tho B corn just wouldn't scil as long as there was any A corn un the shelves and it might just add to tho confntsion. IMPRINT PROBLEMS
 A second point of protest from the canuers is based on the fear Oi difficulty in finding enough Federal inspectors to grade the pack as it goes through their plants. Inc can- ming Industry already faces a man. power shortage for this seasun's work.
 Third, the canncrs say tt wsn be difficult if not impossible for t3em to imprint grade specifications Wn their labels, most Ug which have al- ready been printed tor this year. Many of the labels arc varnisa1ce and will take onig an aluminium lnk. which as dIEEicult to get. Stamping them A0unds eaxg. tiR yua consider how many hundreds Of millions 0t cans there are to hnndse.
 What wUfg1es tho canners muk1 of al, however. ss the provision that al grade labellng must be ia acuUId- ance with the standards suE up Ezn- der the federal Food. Drug and Con- metlc Act. This enc is tough una ln- polved. So involved. in fact, that lt HiIl have Co be considered HeparateG la the next issue.