BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 475 



is a tendency among some manufacturers to put up more of the better 

 grades of goods and less of the cheaper ones. 



PORTLAND LABORATORY. 



In addition to the import and interstate work, 46 miscellaneous 

 examinations have been made for the War, Treasury, and Post-Office 

 departments and for the state dairy and food commissioner, and in 

 the course of cooperative work in the study of methods for the analy- 

 sis of extracts, cocoa products, ketchups, ginger ale, etc. Of the 354 

 import samples, 29 per cent were adjudged illegal, and of 255 inter- 

 state samples 56 per cent were illegal. 



One hundred and thirty-seven hearings have been called, in which 

 it appeared, especially in regard to import cases, that the misbrand- 

 ing and adulteration were more often due to carelessness and igno- 

 rance than to any willful intent to violate the law. 



Vinegar factories at Salem and Portland, Oreg., have been visited 

 and samples obtained for information and study, especially of the 

 " second pressings " to determine to what extent it is permissible to use 

 them in the manufacture of cider vinegar. 



ST. LOUIS LABORATORY. 



Of the 646 interstate samples examined, 43 per cent were considered 

 illegal. The total of 765 samples included 99 unofficial samples, 

 quite a number of flavoring extracts, baking powders, and other goods 

 naving been analyzed for the purchasing commissary of the United 

 States Army at this point. 



The most important research was done on vinegars, 47 unofficial 

 samples being examined in an effort to obtain information as to the 

 composition of brown-sugar vinegar, molasses vinegar, and corn- 

 sugar vinegar, and to determine as definitely as possible the change 

 taking place in the composition of the material during the process of 

 manufacture. This work, while as yet incomplete, has yielded a 

 great deal of information which will be of valuable assistance in 

 judging vinegars in the future. 



Of the 295 hearings recorded, 5 pertained to imported food prod- 

 ucts, and these being misbranded, in all cases save one, they were 

 released to the importer after relabeling. 



ST. PAUL LABORATORY. 



Investigations on the bleaching of wheat flour were continued, 

 special regard being given to the grade or quality of the flour treated. 

 As a result it has been possible to produce evidence of misbranding 

 of so-called " patent flour " in a number of instances where seizures 

 have been made. Work on the composition of the known grades of 

 flour is also continued from time to time with a view to the fixing 

 of percentage limits of the several constituents of flour which have 

 bearing ui)on its grade or quality. 



Collaborative work has been done on methods for the analysis of 

 cocoa products, sugar and molasses, ginger products, vinegar, vanilla 

 flavoring, and citral in lemon extract, and on the examination of 

 linseed oil. An investigation was also made of the chemical compo- 



