VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 119 



This statement gives a list of the principal foods and separate 

 classifications of those adulterants which are injurious and of those 

 which are merely commercial frauds. The adulterants which the De- 

 partment of Agriculture has classified as deleterious are mainly preserv- 

 atives and coloring matters. 



The use of preservatives in food has rapidly increased in recent years, 

 and has excited general interest and discussion. To use a common 

 phrase, they are used to "make food keep." They destroy ferments and 

 stop decay. They are a product of chemical skill. The most common 

 preservatives are boracic acid, formaldehyd, salicylic acid and saccharin. 

 These appear in the market under many fanciful names. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture report upon the food laws of European countries 

 says the sale of foods containing preservatives is prohibited in Austria, 

 France, Hungary and Roumania. Beverages containing preservatives 

 are prohibited in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. Salicylic acid in 

 food is prohibited even in Buenos Ayres. Holland does not permit this 

 acid in beer, and Spain forbids it in wine. Generally European countries 

 legislate against the use of antiseptics in food. Many American States 

 have followed their lead. The hearings before Senator Mason's com- 

 mittee and before the Interstate Commerce Committee of the last 

 House of Representatives were largely devoted to the question of 

 preservatives in food. Authorities in both this country and Europe 

 differ as to the effect of these preservatives upon health. Dr. A. B. 

 Prescott, Dean of the School of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 

 says their use should be prohibited or labels should be required when 

 used. Dr. Wiley concurs in this opinion. Professor A. S. Mitchell of 

 Wisconsin regards them as dangerous to the public health. Numberless 

 authorities can be cited in support of this position. It seems reasonably 

 clear to the average man that a chemical agent which will destroy the 

 ferments of decay will also tend to destroy the digestive ferments and so 

 retard the digestive processes. There are also medicinal effects of which 

 the medical profession, as a rule, does not approve. This is certainly 

 true, that antiseptics are a Godsend to the thriftless and the unclean. 

 The milkman who in a dirty barn milks a dirty cow with dirty hands 

 into a dirty pail can put a few drops of formaldehyd into his milk and 

 make it keep longer than that of his competitor who is scrupulously 

 clean in all the details of his business. The men who handle meat 

 products can restore discolored and tainted meat through the saving 

 grace of antiseptics. The oyster, torn from its ocean bed by the rude 

 hand of man tries to get even by going off flavor and is quickly brought 

 around to purity and sweetness by heroic doses of boracic acid. Chemi- 

 cals in candy, chemicals in fruits, chemicals in meats, chemicals in 

 vegetables, chemicals in butter, cream and milk. 



If antiseptics are a good thing, the American stomach ought to be 

 well preserved. As a matter of fact, it ought to be lined with asbestos 

 and ornamented like a drug store. 



There is not a food product made that requires preservatives, with 



