CREAM.

Of the eighty-two samples of cream examined this year forty were below the legal requirements of 18 per cent of milk fat. Two samples were found to contain formaldehyde. These samples were collected outside of Chicago. About a year ago you, as food commissioner of this State, called the attention of the mayor of every city in the State of over 5,000 inhabitants to the new law's requirements in regard to milk fat in cream. You urged that city ordinances be enacted that would be the same as the State law with reference to this article. You called attention to the fact that a city could not legalize the sale of cream containing a smaller amount of milk fat than required by the State law (18 per cent), and that ignorance of this fact on the part of the cream dealer who thought that in complying with the city ordinance they were free from the State law, would lead to violation of the State law and subsequent prosecutions. The number of illegal creams collected in one town, together with the facts brought out at the hearings, seem to show that your communication had been disregarded in more than one case. I was informed over the telephone this morning by the Board of Health of the city of Chicago that the city ordinance requires only 15 per cent of milk fat in cream. Immediate investigation of the quality of this product in Chicago is necessary and those selling cream below standard should be at once prosecuted.

CAUTION TO DEALERS.

Dealers who use a separator or the hand skimming method for producing cream should test it with a Babcock machine to be sure that it is standard. The price of such a machine with all the necessary apparatus for testing is described under "Milk" in this report.