204 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



Our various municipal boards of health are doing a useful work in the 

 sanitarA' inspection of the dairy farms from which their respective 

 cities derive their milk supply. 



Of the sixth t3pe, the use of artilicial colors, acids and Ihuors to 

 conceal the inferiority of low grade jellies consisting iu part of the 

 fruits whose names they bear, may be mentioned as an example; 

 the occasionally observed use of turmeric to impart a yellow color to 

 mustard diluted with starch is of the same nature. Coatings and fac- 

 ings formerly somewhat used to conceal the inferior nature of tea and 

 of raw coffee, are rarely found to-day. 



The deliberate addition of poisons to foods for the purpose of evi- 

 hauciug their commercial value is, happily, of relatively infrequent 

 occurrence. The use of copper salts to preserve the natural green 

 titit of peas and gherkins, and of poisonous coal-tar dyes to color a 

 great variety of food-stutfs, is probably the most common offense 

 of this class. In most cases of this kind, there is rarely a violent 

 Iioisoning; the danger lies chiefly iti the cumulative or continuous ef- 

 fects of the powerful materials. The convenience of the maker or 

 vendor is not a sufificient ground for his use of materials that jeopar- 

 dize in any way the health and lives of the public. 



The use of certain powerful antiseptics now widely employed, even 

 ill staple foods, as preservatives, is an abuse belonging to this type 

 of adulteratives. The use in food of any such antiseptic can be con- 

 sidered as permissible only when the article ca« not be preserved 

 for a reasonable length of time by the best modern methods of prepa- 

 ration and handling; and should, even in such case, be closely cow- 

 trolled as to the antiseptic permitted, its quantity and with fair 

 warning of its presence to the buyer. 



From the foregoing illustrations, it is evident that many of the 

 abuses of the past have been reduced, but that much still remains 

 to be done; indeed, that only unceasing vigilance and increasing 

 skill will avail in this combat with the cupidity and cunning of those 

 who prey upon their fellows, or are too weak to avoid an evil ex- 

 ample in the stress of competition. 



Much too, remains to be done in the painstaking and extensive 

 study of the sanitary effects of the numerous chemical substances 

 of reccut origin that are seeking entrance into our lists of food ma- 

 terials. The united skill and experience of the physician, physiolo- 

 gist and chemist must be applied to this study and it is much to be 

 hoped that existing American experience in this field may, in some 

 way, be brought together and that Congress may make adequate 

 financial provision for the work of this kind with which it has al 

 ready charged the Secretary of Agriculture. 



