66 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



articles. This fact is ignored by the temperance reformer and often by the 

 physician. The consumption being greatly in excess of the ability of the 

 brewers and distillers to produce wholesome beverages, notorious adulterations 

 are resorted to. 



"About 50,000,000 barrels of malt liquors represents the yearly output of the 

 United States. Much of this, to m.eet the demand of the trade, is sold when 

 new and imperfectly fermented, and a great deal of sickness is the result. 



"The beer drinker of this country has to run the gauntlet of various pre- 

 servatives, especially formaldehyde; its destructive action on all organs; of 

 artificial bitters, like salicine, strychnia and aloes; of the well-known excito- 

 motor picrotoxin, the active principle of cocculus indicus, which has narcotic 

 or other stimulating properties, and is used to impart both bitterness and 

 headiness; and of grains of paradise or malaguetta peppercorns, which give a 

 hot, strong flavor and excite thirst, so that the more beer the consumer drinks 

 the more he wants. 



"Of every hundred drinks sold in the United States as whiskey to-day, only 

 one is really whiskey, but so clever is the counterfeit that club connoisseurs 

 have failed to detect it. Amylic ether, or the common 'whiskey' of trade, is the 

 ■'death's river' setting in resistless current towards murder, robbery, paresis and 

 the asylum." 



IMPURE DRINKS AND UNFAIR ADVERTISING. 



The published report that fully eighty per cent, of the samples of "soft 

 drinks," including "pop," were found to be adulterated, attracted wide-spread 

 attention. The investigations made in Philadelphia, Pittsburg and other large 

 places fully confirmed this statement. While the laws placed under the direc- 

 tion of the Dairy and Pood Bureau do not include "articles of drink," the in- 

 vestigation had the effect of calling the attention of the public to this insidious 

 evil. Salicylic acid, coal-tar colors, saccharin, and other illegal chemicals and 

 drugs were found in abundance in such samples, but their sale goes on merrily 

 and unrestricted, so far as the law is concerned. 



On the other hand, a noticeable feature of the investigation was the wide 

 publicity that brewers and distillers gave to the unfavorable reports affecting 

 the purity of "soft drinks." They in turn advertised very freely, calling 

 special attention to the purity of the beer found on sale in Pennsylvania, 

 although just a few years ago, the conditions that were found in beer were 

 almost equally as bad as those that are now so common to temperance drinks. 



The Commissioner discountenanced misrepresentation as much as possible, 

 but a few bold and unprincipled firms would persist in their claims of "absolute 

 purity" and the "approval of the State authorities," when in fact, no such 

 certificate of purity was ever issued to any producer of any article of food or 

 drink, excepting through the regular channel of the Monthly Bulletin, issued 

 by the Bureau for the information of the press and public. 



This paragraph is inserted in all fairness to those who were inclined to 

 believe that a special favor liad been extended to competitors, as no discrim- 

 ination is permissible. 



EVILS OF THE COFFEE TRADE. 



The pure food law was intended "to provide against the adulteration of 

 articles of food, and to prevent deception and fraud in the sale thereof." The 

 law, therefore, cannot tolerate the misbranding of coffee, whether sold as the 

 pure, wholsesome berry, or when composed of a mixture of ground coffee, 

 chicory, wheat, rj^e, peas, etc. The latter named composition would cer- 

 tainly not be included within the definition of an "ordinary article of food;" 

 neither has any merchant or dealer a legal right to sell so-called "Java coffee" 

 when it is not a native of that famed coffee producing district. This practice 

 has been very common, indeed, and it is an abuse that was not unknown even 

 in certain first-class business houses. 



The glazing, coloring and other mechanical manipulation of whole coffee, 

 whether during the roasting process or otherwise, is also more or less ques- 

 tionable in a legal aspect, and it is doubtful whether it can be justified. The 

 glazing process is capable of abuse, since such coating must naturally make 

 the coffee look better than it really is, while additional weight is also added. 

 The object of this special treatment, coating, etc., might primarily be in- 

 tended to protect the coffee grain against moisture and depreciation after 

 roasting, nevertheless the practice has reached such a stage that the consumer 

 and the conscientious dealer have been aroused. 



THE SALE OF "COFFEE SUBSTITUTES." 



The sale of cereal products as coffee substitutes, while still commanding a 

 fair volume of trade, has been controlled to the extent that such substitutes 

 are no longer being packed and placed upon the market under their former 

 misleading aliases, but they are now generally sold for what thej' are. A few 

 of the brands were found to contain a little true coffee, but for the most 



