THE ETHICS OF FOOD 537 



with food is not deleterious or poisonous and is not injurious to 

 health, no objection will be raised under the Food and Drug 

 Act to the use in food of benzoate of soda, provided that each 

 container or package of such food is plainly labelled to show the 

 presence and amount of benzoate of soda." 



The question of the harmfulness of sulphites was answered 

 in the affirmative by the investigations of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry. Appeal from this decision has been made and 

 the question is now before the Board of Consulting Scientific 

 Experts. 



This Board also has before it for consideration the question 

 of the use of saccharin and of sulphate of copper. Pending 

 the decision of the Referee Board of Consulting Scientific 

 Experts, all these bodies are permitted to be placed in food 

 products in the United States. 



The question of using alum has been considered and the 

 recommendation has been made that it be referred also to the 

 Board of Consulting Scientific Experts. This Board is composed 

 of Dr. Ira Remsen, President of Johns Hopkins University, Prof. 

 Russell H. Chittenden, Director of the Sheffield Scientific School 

 of Yale University, C. A. Herter, Professor of Pharmacology and 

 Therapeutics, Columbia University, New York City, J. H. Long, 

 Professor of Chemistry, Medical College of the North-western 

 University of Chicago and Alonzo E. Taylor, Professor of 

 Bacteriology, University of California. This Board has made 

 investigations which have been published on the subject of 

 benzoate of soda, reaching the conclusion that it was not 

 injurious to health and did not lower or injuriously affect the 

 quality of the food product to which it was added. 



The summary of the condition, therefore, is this : Benzoate 

 of soda is legalised in the United States. Sulphurous acid and 

 sulphites, saccharin and sulphate of copper are permitted pend- 

 ing a report of the Referee Board. Alum is permitted for the 

 present. Boron compounds, salicylic acid and formaldehyde 

 are forbidden. 



It appears from a study of the data of some cases of the 

 use of antiseptics of this kind in foods that other than strictly 

 hygienic considerations have been potent in determining con- 

 clusions, as for instance the toleration of boron compounds in 

 England and of copper sulphate in France. This, of course, is 

 a most unfortunate matter ; if science is to be appealed to to 



