434 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In canned evaporated milks skimming is comparatively rare and 

 the addition of foreign substances almost unknown. The most com- 

 mon fault is that of low concentration — thin milk — but there has 

 been such a diircrcnce of opinion as to the degree of concentration 

 properly to be required in an evaporated milk that but few legal 

 actions have been Drought on tliis charge. In one case, however, a 

 large shipment was seized because of low concentration, and the 

 goods condemned by the court. 



For the purpose of fixing upon a fair and just requirement in the 

 matter of concentration the bureau in 1909 began an investigation 

 of the manufacture of tliis product, which lasted until the fall of 1910. 

 In this investigation factories were visited in various parts of the 

 country, the processes of manufacture were observed in detail, and 

 numerous analyses made of the resulting products produced under 

 observed conditions. Opportunity to observe, and to investigate if 

 desired, was freely granted at nearly all the factories visited, always, 

 however, with the understanding and pledge that the details of fac- 

 tory procedure would not be divulged. The data obtained, how- 

 ever, were used as the basis for a decision on the subject, published 

 early in the present year as Food Inspection Decision 131, on the 

 composition of evaporated milk. 



Shortage in the weight of canned evaporated milk is uncommon, 

 and when found is usually so small as to be regarded as accidental, 

 due to the faulty working of the filling machine. This view, how- 

 ever, could not be taken in an instance where a sliipment of goods 

 was found to contain only 15^ ounces in cans labeled as "20-ounce 

 size." 



Condensed milk, both the sweetened and the unsweetened, when 

 designed for sale in bulk is frequently made from skimmed or partly 

 skimmed milk, and there are constant attempts to sell these skimmed 

 products for genuine condensed milk. The use of the term ' ' skimmed' ' 

 or "partly skimmed" is studiously avoided by some manufacturers. 

 The distasteful term was in one instance replaced on the label by the 

 word "blended," but the goods were seized as misbranded and con- 

 demned by the court. 



Violations of law in the cheese trade consist nearly always in the 

 sale of skimmed or partly skimmed cheese for the genuine article, 

 and in short weights. The first is a somewhat common offense, 

 because this practice was so general prior to the existence of the 

 food law that to effect complete reform is a slow and difficult process. 



A classified list of the cases prepared by this laboratory is as 

 follows : 



Butter. 14 



Dry milks 7 



Ice-cream thickeners 2 



Total 347 



Milks and creams 198 



Cheese 44 



Ice creams 40 



Evaporated milks 21 



CondenspH milks (sweetened) 21 



Of these, 163 were prepared from analyses made in branch labora- 

 tories of fresh milks and creams and ice creams, and 30 from analyses 

 of fresh milks and creams made by the health officer of the District 

 of Columbia. As usual, much w^ork has been done in the study of 

 methods for the analysis of dairy products. 



