PURE FOOD LEGISLATION 57 



continue without profit. The profit is uncertain, often impossible, 

 until the laws of the state and of the nation command that every 

 article of commerce shall be sold under its own name and upon its 

 individual merits. 



In the enforcement of the state laws, in the committee hearings con- 

 cerning the proposed national law, the dominant questions have been, 

 and, in the event of the passage of the national law, will be, artificial 

 colors, antiseptics, standards and labeling. And at the present time 

 the adulteration and misbranding of drugs and liquors occupy a promi- 

 nent place in the pure food issue. 



Artificial Colors 



In a pinch of aniline dye there is all of the color which a cherry- 

 tree can produce in one season. The cherry juice or the cherry jelly 

 is refreshing and invigorating, while the aniline dye, whether harmful 

 or harmless, is without food value, lifeless and dead. 



Genuine color and flavor are the truest representations of quality 

 and purity, and the artificial color or flavor is per se a deception. Even 

 in confections when the product purports to be flavored with lemon, 

 vanilla, cinnamon, etc., and is not, the artificial color or flavor works 

 a fraud. With the aid of color every article of food has been in ap- 

 pearance successfully imitated. With artificial color to depend upon, 

 there is little need for selecting the best suited feeds and treating and 

 culturing cream in such a manner as to produce a delicious butter with 

 sufficient natural color. Little attention need be paid to the growing of 

 fruit and vegetables uniform in color and quality, or to the treatment 

 of the wholesale lot so that it will be uniform when it leaves the process 

 of preservation, since no care in production or preservation can produce 

 a color which can compete with that added by the aniline dye. 



The manufacturers claim, and it can not be disputed, that the use 

 of a harmless color to restore the appearance of a product of otherwise 

 good qualities is not concealing inferiority, but makes the material, 

 which is standard in all other qualities, pleasing to the eye. But 

 where can the line be drawn? Once throw the gate open and the imi- 

 tator enters with his saccharin and glucose, starch and waste products 

 from the fruit factories and artificial acids to color compounds for the 

 market which are often worthless and sometimes harmful. 



Color should no longer be a subject of class discrimination. The 

 dairy interests defend its use to improve the quality of cheese and 

 butter; the packers, to change the appearance of their oleomargarine; 

 the vinegar factories to help them make cider vinegar without apples; 

 the French, to protect their industry in coppered peas; and all the 

 imitators as their modus operandi in deceiving the public. In each 

 and every instance it either deceives as to the quality of the product 

 or aids in the sale of that which has no value, or assists the sale of 



