206 ANNUAL EEPO-RTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The campaign against cottonseed meals adulterated with hulls, and 

 cottonseed meals which are not up to the guaranty of protein and 

 fat and are over the guaranty of fiber given upon the label has been 

 continued. Though many cases have been made and conditions 

 greatly improved, the situation is not yet entirely under control, so 

 that this work will be prosecuted with vigor during the coming 

 year, _ After a cooperative study with the Bureau of Markets, a 

 "Notice to Shippers of Cotton Seed" was issued, outlining the posi- 

 tion taken by the department relative .to the illegality of the practice 

 of returning, or deliberately adding, foreign matter to cottonseed. 



Descriptive definitions have been announced for hominy feed, corn 

 feed meal, alfalfa meal, ground cottonseed hulls, and cottonseed hull 

 bran. Definitions for linseed meal, oil meal, old process oil meal, new 

 process oil meal, and flaxseed meal have been suggested to, and ten- 

 tatively adopted by, the Association of Feed Control Officials of the 

 United States. Action has been taken against manufacturers who 

 adulterate linseed meal with screenings oil feed. Tankage containing 

 garbage has been found, and action has been taken against such prod- 

 ucts sold under a false guaranty of composition or adulterated with 

 considerable amounts of sand and glass. 



Investigation of rye milling has shown that there is little chance 

 of the contamination of rye flour witji ergot. This passes mostly 

 into the screenings, and is used in poultrj^ feed. Such poultry feeds 

 are under investigation. Vigorous action has been taken against the 

 illegitimate use of rice hulls. 



The education of shippers of fruits and vegetables concerning 

 the requirements of the net-weight amendment to the Food and 

 Drugs Act was attempted. Also an extensive investigation of the 

 canned-goods industry, with a view to the control of the practice 

 of " slack filling," has been made. At the present time this practice 

 of underfilling the can or of substituting water or brine for a portion 

 of the food product which it should contain is especially pernicious, 

 not merely because it may deceive and defraud the consumer, but also 

 because it is accompanied by a waste of shipping space and of valu- 

 able basic material, such as tin and steel, of which there has been a 

 shortage. 



Food Inspection Decision 175, on " Colors in Food," which was 

 issued during the year, amends Food Inspection Decisions 76, 117, 

 129, and 164 by adding to the permitted list four dyes soluble in 

 alcohol and oil and more or less suitable for coloring butter and fats. 

 No batches of these dyes have as yet been submitted for certification. 

 Certification was, however, asked in all for 30,327 pounds of dyes, 

 as compared with 46,802 pounds in 1916-17. The quantities of 

 amaranth, erythrosine, and indigotine, for which certification was 

 asked, were greater than in the preceding year. 



One hundred and forty crimin-il prosecutions and 30 seizures were 

 inaugurated against " quack " medicines, and increased attention 

 was given these products when offered for import. In cooperation 

 with the Public Health Service the traffic in " quack " medicines for 

 the treatment of venereal diseases was surveyed in the vicinity of 

 the cantonments. No evidence of an increased sale of such products 

 in these localities was obtained. 



