82 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



by the purchase of homo mauufacUired cider vinegar. It may cost 

 a little more per barrel, but it will have the advantage of being 

 genuine vinegar and those who sell it will be obeying the law, as 

 good citizens should. 



SOFT DRINKS. 



Up to the end of the year 1908, when this report closes, this State 

 was destitute of a la^v' regulating the manufacture and sale of 

 what are known as soft drinks. This Bureau continued the prac- 

 tice of collecting and analyzing samples of the drinks manufactured 

 and sold for lemonade, soda, etc., and occasional reports of the 

 results obtained were published in the Monthly Bulletin as well as 

 in many of the daily newspapers of the State. This had a good 

 effect, but many of the dealers were quite well aware that no law 

 existed and the result was, as might have been expected, the sale 

 of -very injurious preparations under innocent names. This practice 

 was carried on at a very brisk rate during the summer months and 

 especially in the tenement districts of our larger cities. Most of 

 the "lemonade" sold to children and others at one cent a glass 

 was made entirely of an injurious acid, not a drop of lemon juice 

 being found in the mixture. The effect upon the stomachs of the 

 habitual patrons of these establishments must have been extremely 

 injurious. It would be an exceptional person who could use these 

 deceptive compounds without receiving harm. By reference to the 

 table at the end of this report it will be observed that of the 43 

 samples of various drinks collected and examined, 23, or more than 

 half, Avere adulterated. These included apple cider, birch beer, 

 chocolate, sarsaparilla and strawberry pop, chocolate, cream, lemon, 

 plain and straAvberry soda, ginger ale, lemonade, orangeade and sar- 

 saparilla. That is to say, it included pretty nearly everything on the 

 list of summer drinks. As large quantities of these compounds are 

 consumed every summer, it will be readily perceived that this traffic 

 has been one of the most pernicious and dangerous carried on in 

 the State. The outlook for the coming year, I am glad to say, is 

 entirely different, and it is to be hoped that our next report will 

 show that this deadly business has ceased. 



CAKES AND ICE CREAMS. 



The nine cakes subjected to minute examination during the year 

 made a very good showing. Eight turned out to be pure, while 

 but a single one had been adulterated. There has arisen during the 

 year a very serious question concerning the quality of some of the 

 ingredients used by bakers, but this is discussed in another part of 

 this report, and it is confidently believed that steps have been taken 

 whereby the nuisance complained of will be permently abated. In 

 the meantime the lovers of cake may take comfort from the thought 

 that if their cake does them harm it will not be on account of the 

 impure ingredients. 



When it comes to the question of ice cream, a different condition 

 of affairs has been revealed. Of the 26 samples collected and 

 analyzed, all but five were adulterated. Of the ice cream cones 

 gathered, 50 jx'r cent, were impure; of the hokey pokey, the single 

 sample was adulterated; of the strawberry ice cream, 80 per cent, 

 showed adulteration; of the vanilla ice cream, 6G per cent., while 

 10 out of 12 samples having no distinctive name contained foreign 



