repulsive, nauseating mass of fermented, rotten garbage, consisting of peelings, cuttings and decayed and partly ripe tomatoes, loosely and carelessly handled. It is scooped up with shovels and buckets. from the floors reeking with filth, hurriedly placed in huge open vats, though very often in rush of the season, it is carried out and heaped up on the ground unprotected from dirt and contamination. Here it is frequently infested with maggots, before receiving any care or attention and is finally disposed of by being converted into pulp and placed into old second-hand whiskey and wine. barrels. Now it appears that this mass, filthy and germ-laden, will speedily proceed to excessive fermentation, unless it is afforded in some way adequate protective treatment and your secretary learned that this treatment consists of an addition to it of a quantity of Benzoate of Soda, thereby protecting it from ultimate putridity. ed, so to speak-this term, so often employed in describing artificially preserved foods, being particularly applicable here. In this condition it is finally sold to food manufacturers who make it up into ketchup, soups, etc. which are palmed off on the public as being made from fresh, ripe, sound tomatoes, "prepared with 1-10 of 1 per cent. Benzoate of Soda." Dr. W. A. Bitting, of the United States Department of Agriculture, in a report of his investigations of ketchup making, states that the great bulk of tomato ketchup on the market is made from this material. In other words it is embalm The writer, in the name of health, wishes that each member could peep into one of these establishments and observe the indescribable filth everywhere-of the rotten waste, of the employees, of the implements, barrels and tanks, of the buildings and surroundings—and then could follow a sample of this putrid substance along until it is finally put into a bottle as ketchup. He could then test and appreciate for himself the power of this mighty antiseptic drug to conceal inferior, rotten raw material, for the taste would be fairly good. The observation would be particularly fitting at this time because an eminent professional man undertook to prove recently at the Convention of Food Commissioners at Denver by the relation of a practical experiment made by him, the inability of Benzoate of Soda to do any such thing. This is what he said: "At the request of a large manufacturing firm, there was sent to my laboratory a mass of rotten tomatoes with which to make catsup. I meanwhile had gathered up more rotten tomatoes, apples, a few peaches and some bananas. These were allowed to rot further through four or five days. Out of this about two gallons of catsup were made. Some of it was preserved with vinegar and spices, some with benzoate and some left unmixed. The odor and taste of the last were bad; that with the benzoate showed essentially the same condition, while with the vinegar and spices a fair grade of commercial catsup was secured. A worse lot of raw material could not be imagined, yet the inferiority in the one lot of produce was completely con cealed by the use of vinegar and spices. Benzoate has but little taste and no odor, and therefore it cannot conceal inferiority." The deception contained in this statement is not apparent perhaps, at first glance, but a second's thought reveals the attempt to falsify the situation. Benzoate of Soda, as is generally known, is a tasteless odorless substance and as such, it is impossible to conceive how any thinking person could assume that when it is added to a mass of rotten tomatoes and cooked with them to the consistency of tomato ketchup, it could change or improve the nature and unpleasant flavor of the mess anymore than these could be improved by so much corn starch or other practically tasteless substance. On the other hand, everyone knows guised but this change would not be been understood that Benzoate of Soda zoated food preparations, as they appear on the market, contain condiments in addition to the preservative and the experiment, as conducted, therefore did not meet an actual condition in food manufacture. Anyone interested enough to inspect a cannery as has been described and then to sample the finished product of that cannery, would require no further experimentation to convince him of the mighty power of this drug to cover up unfit raw material-a condition, which though unappreciated by the taste, is easily detected by the stomach. It is however highly encouraging to note the number of prepared food products that are on the market without any of this artificial preservative treatmenta fact that demonstrates that its use is unnecessary whenever sound and wholesome material is employed. And finally, while it is quite possible that some products containing Benzoate of Soda may be made of a fair quality of material, and aside from all question. as to the physical injuriousness of the chemical itself, it seems justifiable to state that the only insurance against the ingestion of such refuse and garbage, lies in the avoidance of those foods containing this preservative, the presence of which under the law, must be stated on food labels. POISON. IN HEADACHE TABLETS DECLARES OHIO STATE CHEMIST. Dayton, Ohio, November. That the headache tablet taken last month by Adam Goetz, and which caused his death, was poisonous, is the report of the chemist of the State dairy and food commissioner. Coroner Swisher has been served with a copy of the analysis, which shows that the pill had too much acetanilide in it, the ingredients not being mixed in the right proportion. FOOD FACTS Associated Clubs of Domestic Science. Winnifred Harper Cooley. The reactionary food manufacturing interests are now clamoring for a return to the time when foods could be preserved with chemicals, without restraint of Food Control Authorities, without even a label stating the fact of the presence of artificial preservatives. But there is another element of manufacturers who declare that drugs are not necessary to preserve food when perfect sanitation prevails; that drugs are for medicinal purposes only, and should not be administered except by competent physicians; that as elements in food they are exceedingly injurious in their effects on the constitution; and that the law should entirely prohibit their use in foods. Based upon the opinion of a special Government Commission, (appointed, it is said, through the insistence of certain manufacturing interests) the authorities at Washington issued a ruling under the National Food Law, permitting the unlimited use of Benzoate of Soda,-although this coal tar drug is generally agreed to be dangerous when taken into the system. Employed in food, where it cannot be detected by the taste or smell, its principal use is claimed by leading Pure Food advocates and many food officials to be to promote the cheap preservation of inferior raw materials and products carelessly prepared amid questionably clean surroundings. There is a well-grounded fear that this ruling is but the beginning of opening the door to permitting the use of all kinds of chemical preservatives in foods. The recent "Food Convention" at Denver was induced to vote sustaining this ruling, which seems to us a backward step-one that will admit of serious evils. We stand for the principle that drugs are not natural foods, and so, should not be administered indiscriminately to innocent people in the guise of food products, simply because they permit cheap preparation and commercial gain to unscrupulous manufacturers. It is our aim to promote legislation and to insist upon a strict interpretation of the Food Law which prohibits "any added poisonous or other added deleterious ingredient which may (not alone 'which does') render the food injurious to health." It is our desire also to bring about better conditions in sanitation in food factories. As matters now stand, benzoate of soda, under the government ruling, may be used indiscriminately in fish, milk, butter, cheese, vegetables, fruits and meat, notwithstanding the fact that the best manufacturers discourage its use and claim that it is a substance not required for successful preservation, if fresh raw material is used, under sanitary conditions. The American Medical Association, representing 30,000 high-class physicians. denounced the use of benzoate of soda in all food products, and passed resolutions to this effect, and also urged very general government inspection of food factories and slaughter-houses. The purchasing power lies with the consumer. She can avoid foods containing chemical preservatives by carefully reading the label. We can recommend the following partial list of food manufacturers, which we will increase as we investigate and discover which ones are complying with the highest standards of pure food manufacture. Every manufacturer on this list is absolutely and unqualifiedly opposed to drugs in foods. For Soups, Broths for Invalids, Pates, Potted Beef, Plum Pudding.-FrancoAmerican Food Co. For Pickles, Preserves, Mince Meat, Ketchup and Food Products generally. -H. J. Heinz Co. For Jams, Jellies, Marmalades, Sliced Bacon, Beef in Glass and Catsup. -Beech-Nut Packing Co. For Mince Meat, Dessicated Milk and Egg, Canned Vegetables; also Egg and Milk Products.-Merrell-Soule Co. For Shredded Codfish, Sliced Smoked Beef, Boneless Herring, Sliced Bacon.-J. W. Beardsley's Sons. For Flavoring Extracts and Natural Fruit Flavors.-Price Flavoring Extract Co. For Soda Fountain Requisites and Fruit Syrups.-J. Hungerford-Smith Co. For Food Delicacies, Catsup, etc. Columbia Conserve Co. For Devilled Ham, etc.-Wm. Underwood Co. For Candies.-Belle Mead Sweets. For Chocolate and Cocoa.-Walter M. Lowney Co. For Breakfast Cereal in Biscuit Form.-Shredded Wheat Co. For Boned Chicken, Potted Ham, Chicken Soup, Tomato Soup, Plum Pudding.-Richardson & Robbins. For Catsup, Salad Dressing, Canned Apples, Pears, Mushrooms, Spinach, etc.-E. C. Hazard & Co. tem. For Coffee.-Chase & Sanborn. For "Soft Drinks," Root Beer, etc.Chas. E. Hires Co. For Mince Meat and Plum Pudding. -Atmore & Son. For Yeast.-The Fleishmann Co. Care of Milk in the Home. (DR. E. C. LEVY, CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER, RICHMOND, VA.) The quality of milk supply of a city has a great deal to do with the health of the people. The Health Department of Richmond is doing everything in its power to make the milk supply of this city all that it should be from a sanitary standpoint, and the dairymen are actively responding to our efforts. Since the first of May, when this work was begun, there has been a very great improvement, though much still remains to be done. But it is not sufficient that the milk should be clean and pure when delivered to you. Unless the proper care is taken in your own home after the milk is received, you will not have good milk in spite of our efforts and the work of the dairymen. It is therefore important that you should carefully follow the instructions given in this circular-not just to-day, but every day, the whole year round. Milk is the most valuable single article of diet known to man, and IT IS THE ONLY PROPER FOOD FOR BABIES UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE, WHEN THEY CANNOT GET THE NOURISHMENT WHICH NATURE INTENDED FOR THEM-THEIR MOTHER'S MILK. But, while good milk is such an excellent food, bad milk is one of the most dangerous foods possible, being responsible for a large part of the bowel troubles of babies and for the death of very many of them. The chief means by which milk is often made dangerous are: (1) dirty methods of keeping and milking the cows, dirty milkers and dirty milk ves sels; (2) failure to cool the milk promptly and keep it cold until used, and (3) keeping the milk too long before it is used. BAD MILK, THEREFORE, SO FAR AS DANGER TO HEALTH IS CONCERNED, IS DIRTY MILK, OR WARM, STALE MILK. We are rapidly getting the dairymen of Richmond to understand these facts, and we can promise you that the milk supply of Richmond will soon be among the best in this country. IN THE HOME, AS ON THE FARM AND IN THE CITY DAIRY, CLEANLINESS AND COLD ARE THE TWO ESSENTIALS IN THE SECURING OF WHOLESOME MILK. All vessels used for milk should be thoroughly cleansed as soon as empty, using first clean cOLD water for rinsing, and then scalding them with hot water containing a small amount of washing soda or borax. Do not use soap for this purpose. After thorough washing the vessels should be rinsed with clean water and then well aired and sunned, in some place where they will be protected from dust. If your milkman delivers his milk in sealed bottles see that he does not leave these in a place where they will be exposed to the heat of the sun before being brought into the house. They should be taken in as soon as possible and stood at once in the refrigerator until used. As soon as you have emptied a bottle wash it out carefully. Do not return to your milkman bottles containing stale milk. If you are getting bottled milk, and if a case of typhoid fever or other Continued on page 28. |