80 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OiJ". Doc. 



will be tlif miwittiii<> collection and sale of some eggs that are iinfil. 

 Due care has, however, been taken that prosecutions should be insti- 

 tuted only in such cases as exhibit a large ])rop()rtion of spoiled eggs 

 in the consignment examined. 



I'RUIT AND VEGETABLE I'RODUCTS, CANNED FRUITS AND VEGE- 

 TABLES 



Two hundred and fifteen samples of canned fruits and vegetables 

 and 7 of canned soups have been examined during 1910 without the 

 discovery of any violations of the law. Upon this remarkable show- 

 ing the packers of canned goods are to be congratulated, both for 

 their spirit of faithful observance of the law's re(iuirements and for 

 their recognition of the business wisdom of so doing. 



CATSUPS, ETC 



Of catsups, chowchow, oils and salad dressings 129 samples were 

 examined and 19 prosecutions successfully terminated for violations 

 of the law. The prosecutions were limited to tonmto catsups, and the 

 chief ground for prosecution Avas the excessive use of benzoate of 

 soda. There was but one case in which an article sold as olive oil was 

 found to contain cotton seed oil. This formerly prevalent form of 

 adulteration has been almost entirely suppressed. 



It may be added in this connection that there were, of the prosecu- 

 tions terminated during the year, 123 cases in which adulteration of 

 pickles was claimed, in most cases owing to the evidence of the ])res- 

 ence of alum. The precise determination of the aluminium compound 

 used in hardening pickles is a matter of very great difficulty. In the 

 food act of May 13, 1909, the addition of alum is i)rohibited. In the 

 case of the Commonwealth vs. Meyer Gross, tried in Dauphin county, 

 the construction of this word as used in the act was presented for 

 judicial determination and the arguments for its broad and narrow 

 constructions were ably presented by both sides to the controversy. 

 In his decision. Judge Allison O. Smith, specially presiding, handed 

 down an opinion to the effect that the word alum, as used in the act 

 of May 13, 1909, means only potash alum and not the sodium alum- 

 inium compound designated in the wholesale trade as ''S. A. S.", 

 which is commonly used in what are called "alum baking powders," 

 nor other closely related aluminium sulphate salts often known, 

 whether in scientific or technical writings, as "alum". 



In view of the evidence and decision just referred to, the special 

 counsel for the Commonwealth, Hon. Lyman D. Gilbert, A. H. Wood- 

 ward, Esq., and Hon. E. E. Beidleman, have advised the Commissioner 

 that it cannot be successfully contended that the substance "S. A. S." 

 is alum in the statutory meaning of that w^ord. In view of the analy- 

 tical difficulties of determining, upon examination of the product, the 

 precise nature of the compound in which the alumina and sulphuric 



