BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 487 



GENERAL FOOD IN VESTIGATIOKS. 



The work of the Division of Foods and the branch food inspection 

 laboratories will consist largely, as in the past, of the inspection of 

 foods imported into the United States and those sold in interstate 

 commerce. For the purpose of increasing the efficiency of this work 

 and promoting uniformity in the results obtained the collaborative 

 study of analytical methods must be continued and new methods de- 

 vised from time to time as conditions of manufacture and the char- 

 acter of adulterations change. Investigations regarding the methods 

 of manufacture and the sanitation of foods will be made for the pur- 

 pose in some cases of improving the methods of manufacture or of 

 assisting the manufacturer to overcome difficulties by reason of which 

 his products are in violation of the law, and on the other hand for 

 the purpose of securing infoiTnation that will enable the Department 

 to determine whether or not certain products should be considered as 

 illegal. 



Among such studies which should be continued or inaugurated dur- 

 ing the coming year may be mentioned the changes in composition 

 that occur in the conversion of cider into vinegar; a study of the 

 prevalence in foods of certain added injurious substances, such as 

 arsenic; the solubility of lead solder in foods, especially in foods con- 

 taining oil of various decrees of acidity; the manufacture of citrus 

 by-products from waste fruits; the chemical composition of the soy 

 bean with special reference to methods for the manufacture and clari- 

 fication of the oil; clarification and preservation of fruit juices, giv- 

 ing attention to additional varieties of fruit and continuing the in- 

 vestigation of storing at low temperatures under commercial condi- 

 tions; the effect of low temperatures on the life process of fruits; 

 the composition of several varieties of oranges at different stages 

 of their maturity with a view to securing data that may be used 

 in the definition of types of oranges; a study of canned goods with 

 a view to determining the relative suitability of different grades 

 of tin and the action on tin plate of different varieties of food; a 

 study of the organic acids in various types of foods for the purpose 

 of improving methods of analysis and increasing the data on which 

 judgment of the purity and soundness of foods may be based. 



The extensive investigations under way in the Washington, New 

 York, and Seattle inspection laboratories in collaboration with ex- 

 perts concerning the whole question of food colors, their identification, 

 and the construction of analytical trees for this purpose, will be con- 

 tinued. Among the more important researches in progress at the 

 branch laboratories the followmg should be noted: Vinegar investi- 

 gations and researches as to the chemical composition of the various 

 products and the same product at- different stages of development; 

 study of domestic and imported rices, especially of the Japanese 

 types; work on apple butters to determine the nature of material 

 used; studies on cocoa products, including additional determinations 

 and constituents of the cocoa bean ; the effects of aging on the com- 

 position, physical characters, and bread-making properties of flour; 

 the amounts of phosjihoric acid in jams and jellies of known origin 

 and the detection of added phosphoric acid; tlie composition of 

 vanilla extracts prepared by different methods, and the detection of 

 caramel therein. 



