76 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



dei'ful impi'ovemeut over past years iu many respects. ToO' much 

 credit cannot be given tlie manufacturers and retailers of this 

 Commonwealth for the decided stand they have taken against im- 

 pure or injurious foodsLulis, and I am glad to be able in this public 

 way to record the obligations of the Bureau to them. The exceptions 

 have been just numerous enough to prove the rule. Those who still 

 insist upon doing business by crooked methods will never entirely 

 cease from the land, but they are so hemmed in by honest methods 

 that they will find their business increasingly perilous and unprofita- 

 ble. This is a very gratifying situation. 



CANNED VEGETABLES AND FRUITS. 



The work of the agents of the Bureau, as formulated in the 

 reports of the chemists, will be found in the statistical information 

 at the end of this report. Of canned vegetables and fruits, 106 

 samples were taken and analyzed by our chemists. The result was 

 eminently satisfactory and highly complimentary to the canners. 

 Asparagus, beans, baked beans, beets, blackberries, cherries, corn, 

 macaroni, mince meat, mushrooms, peaches, peas, pickles, pine- 

 apple, pumpkin, red raspberries, rhubarb, spinach, strawberries, 

 succotash, tomatoes, were among the articles jmrchased by our 

 agents and carefulW examined by the chemists. As a result five 

 samples out of the 196 were found to have been adulterated by the 

 use of foreign substances, but in every Instance the adulteration 

 had been so minute that it was believed no case could be estab- 

 lished, hence no prosecution was ordered. The articles adulterated 

 were beans, mushrooms and strawberries. When one considers 

 the large use made of the articles above mentioned by all conditions 

 of people, in the hotel, the boarding house, the restaurant, the 

 jjrivate family, one feels that much has been accomplished by way 

 of protecting the public health since the reports of the chemists 

 demonstrate that almost the entire product of canned goods sold in 

 Pennsylvania during the year 1908 was free from adulteration, 

 judging from the samples lifted indiscriminately by our agents and 

 collected in all parts of the State. This highly commendable condi- 

 tion of affairs emphasizes the statement heretofore made that 

 public sentiment and growing knowledge of the effects of adulter- 

 ants and preservatives have not only influenced the purchaser, but 

 have likewise moved the manufacturer to honest efforts to improve 

 the quality of his goods and thus aid in the practical enforcement 

 of proper laws. It is true one cannot say this of all manufacturers 

 of food products; still the improvement has been marked and 

 extremely gratifying. 



BUTTER, CHEESE, CREAM AND MILK. 



It would be difficult to mention four articles of human food that 

 are in more constant demand than butter, cheese, cream and milk. 

 The last is essential to the life of the race in the earlier stages of 

 its existence and everything depends upon its quality. The tre- 

 mendous infant mortality that occurs every year, chiefly during the 

 torrid months ,of July and August, is almost entirely due to the 

 (juality of the milk supply. 'Sometimes it is unfit for use when sold 

 by the dairymnn. In some instances carelessness in the home 

 results in deterioration so that it becomes poison instead of whole- 



