BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 275 



permitted to be used for coloriiiir food products. The dyes are tested 

 for arsenic and other injurious and poisonous substances that may be 

 there, and if found, present the dye is rejected. Determinations on 

 the strength of the dye are also made. If the sample submitted 

 comes up to standard a certificate for the particular batch of dye 

 from which the sample avrs taken is issuer!. From 8,000 to 9,000 

 pounds of dyes are thus certified every month. 



ENFORCEMENT OF REGULATORY STATUTES. 



THE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. 



The magnitude of the food industry is indicated by the latest 

 statistics of the Bureau of the Census of certain manufacturing in- 

 dustries which show that in 1019, ()7,453 establishments were engaged 

 in the manufacture of food products. The annual value of the 

 products of these establishments was $13,391,914,000. These figures 

 cover only manufactured foods and do not take into account the 

 great volume of commerce in nonmanufactured foods, such as milk, 

 fresh 'fish, raw oysters, wheat, corn, oats, all fresh fruits and vege- 

 tables, and the like, to which the food and drugs act also applies when 

 they are shipped within the jurisdiction of this act. Imported 

 food products, which also come under the provision of this act, w^re 

 valued during the calendar j-ear 1921 at $672,975,456. The annual 

 cost of enforcing the Federal food and drugs act is less than one 

 hundredth of 1 per cent of the value of the foreign and domestic 

 products coming within its jurisdiction. 



Project System. 



The food and drugs act is corrective rather than punitive. Its 

 effective enforcement is of advantage primarily to consumers but 

 also to the great majority of those engaged in the food industry who 

 do an honest business since it eliminates competition with adulterated, 

 debased products and promotes fair trading. 



Owing to the magnitude of the food and drug industries, the ex- 

 tensive territory to be covered, and the great variety of products 

 to which the food and drugs act applies, it is possible to maintain 

 an effective supervision of interstate and foreign commerce in these 

 products with a small organization only by having every unit of 

 the organization working in unison towards a common end and 

 in accordance with a definitely planned schedule. This is accom- 

 plished by preparing before the beginning of each fiscal year a 

 scliedule of projects which includes all the important lines of work 

 to receive attention during the year, and a definite plan of attack 

 for each line, shoAving the time the work is to be done and the part 

 to be done bv each unit of the organization. 



Before laying out a campaign to correct any particular trade 

 abuse that violates the provisions of the food and drugs act, a care- 

 ful survey of the industry involved, to deteriliine the extent of the 

 violation and its effect on consumers and the trade, is made by the 

 units of the field force that are in the best position to do it effec- 

 tively, and a preliminary plan of action is prepared. This plan of 

 action is considered by the administrative officers of the bureau and 



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