94 Seventeenth Annual Report of tite 



of discussing food questions. Manufacturers and dealers have 

 also asked for conferences and have been given an opportunity 

 to be heard collectively and individually. The department is in 

 daily correspondence with manufacturers and dealers, princi- 

 pally passing upon labels submitted and answering questions in 

 response to notifications of violations sent out. Much difficulty 

 is experienced in answering some of the questions and giving 

 opinions upon labels, because in many cases it has not, as yet, 

 been fully determined what substances are harmful and what are 

 not. The best authorities at the present time are divided in their 

 opinions as to the effect of some commodities upon the human 

 system. 



We deemed it advisable to continue our experiment of last 

 year, devoting more time to educating dealers through repeated 

 investigations; sending out circular letters and copies of the law; 

 informing them personally as to the requirements under the law; 

 warning them against violations, etc. This work has been done 

 especially with reference to vinegar, as the Legislature of 1909 

 amended some of the provisions of the vinegar law. It has also 

 been done in reference to selling substitutes or imitations of lard 

 for lard and lard compound. The manufacturers of these imita- 

 tions have been labeling their products for sale on the markets 

 of this state for the past two years in order to conform to the 

 provisions of the law. We have been unable to find a single tub 

 or container the past year not marked plainly to show the char- 

 acter and constituents. These tubs when purchased by the retail 

 dealer are placed in coolers or some out-of-the-way place where 

 no marks can be seen by the consumer. The department con- 

 strues the law to mean that imitations of ibis character should be 

 either displayed somewhere in the store, to show the consumer 

 by label, brand or tag, the character and constituents of the arti- 

 cle, or the package delivered to the purchaser should be properly 

 labeled. 



Some of the wholesale dealers and manufacturers have co- 

 operated with the department in enforcing the law, the billowing 

 notice being sent out by a local wholesale house: 



