94 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



the jiresence of siili)hites in candied fruits, largely imported pro- 

 ducts wliich had been treated, like many of our western dried fruits, 

 with sulphur gas for bleaching purposes. It is very doubtful wlietlier, 

 at the present time, there is any sulphurous acid introduced into 

 candies by the glucose used in their manufactuie, because of the 

 improvement made in the manufacture of this confectionery in- 

 gredient, whereby the use of sulphites has been practically cut out. 



It ought, possiblj', to be added in this connection, that the con- 

 ditions under which candies are kei)t for sale to children by small 

 retailers have often been found to be very far from cleanly. Under 

 the ]>resent forms of legislation it is, however, very dil'ficult to draw 

 clean cut lines, such as will appear to the court and jury as fairly 

 drawn. Under present conditions, much of the burden of protecting 

 (heir children from the purchase of candies kept under such con 

 ditions, must continue to be borne by tlie parents. 



It is also worth mention that in a number of cases where ^-kmIs 

 purjjorted to be made from, or to contain, licorice, no evidence of the 

 presence of this ingredient could be discovered, but that a somewhat 

 similar flavor was introduced by the use of oil of anise, while the 

 color effect of licorice was imitated by the addition of lamp black, 

 or some other finely divided form of carbon. The formerly quite 

 cimnxm practice of using iron oxide as a substitute for chocolate, to 

 impart a brown color to cheap chocolate fudge, seems to have dis- 

 appeared entirely. 



One undesirable practice, hoAvever, remains quite prominent, 

 namely, the use of shellac and other resinous glazes as coating for 

 certain classes of fudges, caramels, burnt almonds, burnt peanuts 

 and candy easter eggs. Cases brought under the general food law 

 against the vendors of such candies are now in process of judicial 

 determination. 



HONEY AND SYRUPS 



There were examined during the year 188 samples of honey, syrups, 

 molasses, etc. Of these, maple syrups formed quite a large fracti(tn. 

 Their examination revealed very few cases of pronounced adultera- 

 tion. The major portion of the syrups appearing on the market with 

 the name *'maple" upon their labels, are branded and sold as "maple 

 and cane," or "cane and maple syrups." The findings of the chemist 

 who examined the most of these samples. Dr. \Mlliam Frear, of 

 State College, has appeared in the form of a bulletin (No. 224), so 

 that further details concerning the character of the goods examined 

 will be omitted. 



NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS 



Of goods behmging to this class, 288 samples were examined dur- 

 ing the past year. The same period witnessed the termination of 

 83 cases brought for adulteraticm of these preparations. A portion 

 of these cases terminated were begun in 1910, and in 63, that is in 

 about three-foui-ths of these cases, the adulteration consisted in the 

 substitution of saccharin for sugar, although there occurred a num- 

 ber of cases of misbranding, and 5 cases in which the addition of 

 capsicum to ginger ale, without declaration of its presence on the 

 label, was involved. In fairness to the bottling trade, it ought 



