244 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



contemplated the employment of eminent scientists to advise the 

 Secretary as to the harmfulness of substances in foods, because the 

 view was expressed in the deliberations of the committee that the 

 Secretary should be allowed a free hand in selecting experts on ques- 

 tions of the wholesomeness of certain foods and the articles used 

 therein. Congress, in the Agricultural appropriation bill, evidently 

 indorsed this vieAv, for this bill contained a provision authorizing 

 the Secretary of Agriculture to employ such assistants as he might 

 consider necessary to secure the enforcement of the law. In his 

 opinion of April 14, 1909 (27 Opinions, 301), the Attorney General 

 held the appointment of the members and the organization of these 

 members into a board to be legal. 



There may be questions arising in the administration of the food 

 and drugs act on which the Secretary of Agriculture may desire an 

 opinion independent of that expressed by the Bureau of Chemistry, 

 as is the case when a great number of food manufacturers of the 

 country claim that the opinion of the Bureau of Chemistry is at 

 variance with the scientific knowledge of the present day. 



The questions as to the harmfulness of the use in foods of the 

 following substances were referred to the referee board: Benzoate 

 of soda, saccharin, sulphur dioxid, alum, and sulphate of copper. 

 The board has reported on three of these questions — that is, on the 

 use of benzoate of soda, saccharin, and sulphate of copper — and the 

 other questions are still pending before it. In arriving at conclusions 

 on questions submitted to them the board must make original investi- 

 gations, and on the questions determined independent original 

 investigations were made by several members of the board. 



BOARD or FOOD AND DRUG INSPECTION. 



In 1907 a Board of Food and Drug Inspection was organized in 

 the Department of Agriculture to assist the Secretary of Agriculture 

 in the administrative work connected with the enforcement of the 

 food and drugs act of June 30, 1906. The duties of this board as 

 defined in General Order No. Ill creating it are as follows : 



* * * Tlie board will consider all questions arising in the enforcement 

 of the food and drugs act of June 30, 190G, upon wliicli the decision of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture is necessai-y , . and will report its findings to the 

 Secretary for his consideration and decision. All correspondence involving 

 interpretations of the law and questions arising under the law not theretofore 

 passed upon by the Secretary of Agriculture shall be considered by the board. 

 The board is directed to hold frequent meetings at stated times, in order that 

 findings may be reported promptly. 



In addition to the above duties, the Board of Food and Drug Inspection shall 

 conduct all hearings based upon alleged violations of the food and drugs act 

 of June 30, 1906, as provided by regulation 5 of the Rules and Regulations for 

 the Enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act, approved October 17, 1906. 



