76 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



claiming that without the addition of gelatin, gum tragacanth or agar-agar, it 

 will not retain its homogeneity or "stand-up," without causing the marginal 

 icing that occurs when it is kept in storage. On the other hand, it is import- 

 ant to know that when ice cream is kept beyond a limited time, the uncooked 

 milk and other ingredients, even if kept under refrigeration, will commence 

 to decompose, and possibly form toxic products. Then it may become a 

 serious menace to health. 



Any practice involving the prolonged storage of such a perishable product 

 cannot be healthful or safe. To place the product before the consumer at the 

 earliest practicable moment following its manufacture is the only safe and 

 satisfactory plan that we can advocate. 



Fair warning is given that the manufacturers of ice cream must elevate their 

 standard, and also pay more attention to sanitary matters. Leading manu- 

 facturers may soon be willing to sell their ice cream under a guarantee as 

 regards butter-fat contents. This plan would undoubtedly attract the discern- 

 ing trade who want the best obtainable and who do not question the price. In 

 other words, the price of the ice cream could very readily be gauged by the 

 butter-fat contents; that is, fix a definite price for cream containing twelve, 

 fourteen, eighteen or twenty per cent, butter fat, according to its richness and 

 quality. 



In the examinations made into ice cream, few samples were found to contain 

 chemical preservatives, such as formaldehyde, boric acid and saccharin. The 

 use of gelatin in small amounts and certain gums and starches was attested 

 by chemical analysis, but in general, the conditions were pronounced as being 

 better than those that existed several years ago, when good, pure and rich 

 ice cream was far less common than to-day. 



The "hokey-pokey" vendors have also changed some of their formulas, 

 although their product is too frequently a compound of milk, sugar, uncertain 

 flavor, questionable dyes and still more doubtful cleanliness. The ice cream 

 question will need further consideration when the Legislature meets, and the 

 best representatives of the trade will co-operate in framing proper laws to 

 regulate its manufacture and sale. 



A CRUSADE FOR PURE OLIVE OIL. 



Olive oil has become a very important article of food in Pennsylvania, and 

 in some sections it is almost as popular in the daily dietary as in the countries 

 of Southern Europe. While principally employed in making the various forms 

 of salads, there are also many hundreds of people who consume it regularly 

 toe medicinal purposes. 



The fact was brought to the attention of the Dairy and Food Bureau that 

 the ordinary purchaser of salad or table oil presumed that he was receiving 

 olive oil, and that the terms "Olive Oil" and "Salad Oil" were synonymous 

 with most purchasers and consumers. The cheapness of cottonseed oil and its 

 similarity in appearance to olive oil presented a wide opportunity for deception 

 and fraud, and as a result, the officials made a thorough investigation. It 

 was soon discovered that cottonseed oil was not only placed on sale in the 

 bottles which resembled the peculiar form adopted by the largest producers 

 and importers of the genuine olive oil, but it was also proven that the best 

 brands were closely imitated by external appearances by the simulations of 

 labeling, etc., of imported and high priced oils. The cottonseed oil was also 

 sold in tin cans of various sizes, bearing laudatory foreign markings, alleging 

 purity and high quality, with many fictitious names of producers, but almost 

 invariably selling at about the same prices as the genuine article. 



As these chemical examinations continued, the number of prosecutions for 

 the sale of fictitious or adulterated olive oils increased. In the cities of Phil- 

 adelphia and Pittsburg, the Italian grocers were especially conspicuous vio- 

 lators of the pure food laws for selling bogus olive oil, while some of the larger 

 stores were also mulcted in fines and costs. 



The investigation has completely changed the olive oil business, and to-day, 

 cottonseed, table and other substitutes for olive oil are to be found in the mar- 

 kets of Pennsylvania, but they are properly branded and sold for what they are. 

 On the other hand, there has been created an increased demand for the pure 

 product of the olive, and it is no longer impossible to obtain olive oil that is 

 genuine, pure and worthy of the name and at a proper price. Many physicians 

 have commended this phase of the past year's work of the Dairy and Food 

 Bureau most highly, since their patients required the highest grade olive oil, 

 and heretofore experienced difficulty in obtaining the desired article. 



FOREIGN OLIVE OIL PRODUCERS DECLARE FOR PURITY. 



The Dairy and Food Division of Pennsylvania has been informed that as 

 a result of the numerous prosecutions brought in this Commonwealth during 

 the past several years for the sale of adulterated and spurious brands of 

 so-called "pure olive oil," and because of the more drastic laws of the Fed- 

 eral government, the Spanish olive oil producers, at a general meeting held at 

 Madrid, Spain, decided to suppress the mixing of other oils, such as cotton- 



