At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Referee Board of Scientific Experts has conducted an investigation as to the effect on health of the use of saccharin. The investigation has been concluded, and the Referee Board reports that the continued used of saccharin for a long time in quantities over three-tenths of a gram per day is liable to impair digestion; and that the addition of saccharin as a substitute for cane sugar or other forms of sugar reduces the food value of the sweetened product and hence lowers its quality. Saccharin has been used as a substitute for sugar in over thirty classes of foods in which sugar is commonly recognized as a normal and valuable ingredient. If the use of saccharin be continued it is evident that amounts of saccharin may readily be consumed which will, through continued use, produce digestive disturbances. In every food in which saccharin is used, some other sweetening agent known to be harmless to health can be substituted, and there is not even a pretense that saccharin is a necessity in the manufacture of food products. Under the law of Illinois, articles of food are adulterated if they contain added poisonous or other added deleterious ingredients which may render them injurious to health. Articles of food are also adulterated within the meaning of the Act, if substances have been mixed and packed with the foods so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect their quality or strength. The findings of the Referee Board show that saccharin in food is such an added poisonous or other added deleterious ingredient as is contemplated by the Act, and also that the substitution of saccharin for sugar in foods reduces and lowers their quality. The State Food Commissioner, therefore, will regard as adulterated foods containing saccharin which are manufactured after this date or which being now on the market are offered for sale on and after July 1, 1911, and will institute proceedings against those manufacturing or selling the same. This department has already seized hundreds of barrels of vinegar purporting to be cider vinegar which was in reality a mixture of boiled cider and distilled vinegar. This fraud upon the consumer originated with the mixers of boiled cider and distilled vinegar, and has been made possible by the coöperation of retail dealers and by their lack of business sagacity. Some of those who have been mixing boiled cider with distilled vinegar have been doing so with the idea that there was no chemical difference between the mixture of boiled cider and distilled vinegar and cider vinegar itself. The chemical analysis of cider, however, is different from that of cider vinegar apart from the difference in the acidity of the two, and the substitution can be detected in the laboratory. This department will proceed against such goods wherever found to bring about their destruction and will prosecute those handling the same. The manufacturer of this class of goods furnishes an article which has the color of cider vinegar but which is not a cider vinegar, and any such mixture of substances resulting in a vinegar product of the color of cider vinegar is expressly prohibited by section 11 of the Illinois State Food Law no matter how labeled. The only object in mixing these substances in this way is to produce enormous revenue to the manufacturer and to defraud the public. In many cases it has been found that such mixtures and sugar vinegar, corn sugar vinegar and colored distilled vinegar, though billed to the retailer as such, have been offered for sale and sold as cider vinegar. In other cases the goods have been billed to the retailer as cider vinegar and the barrels have been branded to show the true name of the article, and the retailer paid no attention to this branding but sold the goods as they were billed to him-as cider vinegar. In all such cases that have come to the attention of this department, the price paid for the vinegar was enough below the price of pure cider vinegar, as quoted by reputable houses, to awaken the suspicion of the dealer as to the purity of the product he was receiving. Every sensible dealer will at least read the branding on the barrels he receives, to see whether they are the goods as ordered, and he will not expect to receive pure cider vinegar below the regular market price. Lack of care in these particulars lays the retailer open to prosecution under the law. Vinegar is frequently bottled by the retailer or placed in jugs and sold to the householder. These packages are sometimes delivered over the counter and sometimes delivered at the home in response to telephone orders. In either case the retailer becomes the packer and, under the law, all of the vinegar thus sold must be labeled. The requirements of section 11, that the article shall be branded as therein provided, apply to him and failure to label these bottles or jugs with the true name of the article as therein provided makes him liable to prosecution under the law. Very frequently the customer calls for cider vinegar and is given vinegar which is not and was not lepresented to the retailer as being cider vinegar. This is frequently placed in a container furnished by the customer, and failure to inform the purchaser of the true name of the article under such circumstances is a violation of section 9, First. Fraud in the sale of vinegar in this State has assumed such proportions that the most drastic action possible must be taken by this commission in order to protect the rights of the consumer, and all parties interested are hereby warned that the provisions of the law must be fully complied with or prosecution will follow. The following section shows the requirements of the law with reference to the sale of vinegar in this State: "Section 11. All vinegar made by fermentation and oxidation without the intervention of distillation, shall be branded with the name of the fruit.or substance from which the same is made. All vinegar made wholly or in part from distilled liquor shall be branded 'distilled vinegar' and shall not be colored in imitation of cider vinegar. All vinegar shall be made wholly from the fruit or grain from which it purports to be or is represented to be made, and shall contain no foreign substance, and shall contain not less than 4 per cent, by weight, of absolute acetic acid. Any vinegar made or manufactured contrary to the provisions of this section shall be deemed to be adulterated within the meaning of this Act. Any vinegar which is not branded as herein provided shall be deemed to be misbranded within the meaning of this Act." A. H. JONES, State Food Commissioner. INSTRUCTIONS TO INSPECTORS AND OTHERS SUBMITTING SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS. This department cannot analyze food samples for the benefit of manufacturers and dealers. Section 33 of the law is clearly intended to prohibit such analysis. Consumers who believe they have been defrauded or who have received goods containing injurious substances may submit samples for analysis. In general no report on the analysis will be given to the consumer submitting the samples but, where possible, official samples will be procured by the department from the vendor of such articles and he be dealt with as prescribed by law. In all cases where consumers desire to submit samples they should send as nearly as possible the amount specified and furnish the data as to dealer, etc., as stated below, and required of inspectors. All samples must be sent prepaid. INFORMATION REQUIRED. In sending in samples for analysis, the following information in regard to each sample should, if possible, be given: Date of purchase. Name of article. Firm purchased of. Address of firm. Name of manufacturer or jobber as it appears on the package. Address of manufacturer. Brand. Price paid. Remarks. "Remarks" should include any representation by the dealer as to the quality or character of the goods and any special reasons for desiring analysis. (These reasons should be as full and precise as possible.) Inspectors should state the kind of vinegar, etc., on the seal. When the name of the manufacturer or jobber does not appear on the label of the original unbroken package, but is obtained orally from the dealer, or from a broken package, the fact should be clearly shown as manufacturer or jobber "Said to be," "on broken package," etc., as the case may be. AMOUNTS NECESSARY. To be able to make a complete analysis, the following quantity of each article is necessary: Alcoholic beverages, not less than one quart. |