370 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRK'.ULTURE. 



nntors. The results show that no attempts arc being made to use 

 prohibited preservatives and coloring matters at establishments under 

 Federal inspection. 1'he condemnations which have resulted from 

 laboratory inspection have been made, as in previous years, in the 

 case of oils and fats chiefly on account of rancidity, and in the case 

 of prepared meats chiefly on account of the employment of cereal 

 substances without proper declaration on the label as required by the 

 regulations. It is pleasing to rej)ort that the use of cereal in sausage 

 without proper declaration has been much less frequent during the 

 past fiscal year than in previous years. This is no doubt due to a 

 more active and careful supv'irvision of the preparation of sausages, 

 brought about by orders from the chief of the bureau. 



During the year a careful study was made of 330 samples of water. 

 These samples were secured from a large number of different estab- 

 lishments throughout the countr}', inspectors having been instructed 

 that samples must be forwarded to the laboratories for examination if 

 there is any reason whatever to doubt the wholesomeness of the sup- 

 ply, as the department insists that water used in the preparation of 

 meats and meat food products shall be of the same degree of purity 

 as is required for drinking water. As a result of this work 11 sources 

 of water supply in different parts of the country have been con- 

 demned and the proprietors of packing houses required to substitute 

 more satisfactory supplies. TJie number of condemnations of water 

 supplies during the past jeav is less than in previous years, altliough 

 a considerably greater number of analyses were made. This indicates 

 that the water supplies of packing houses are in better condition than 

 ever before. 



During the year 4,245 gallons of branding ink were prepared and 

 shipped to inspectors in charge of meat inspection for use in applying 

 the mark " U. S. inspected and passed " to meats Avhich had been 

 found to be sound, healthful, wholesome, and fit for human food, and 

 in applying the mark " Inspected and condemned " to carcasses and 

 2>arts which have been found to be unfit for food. 



RESEARCH WORK REGARDING MEAT PRODUCTS AND EGGS. 



Mr. W. B. Smith, in charge of the Kansas City laboratory, has 

 acted as referee for the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 

 on methods for the analysis of meat and fish. He, with others in the 

 division, carried out considerable work in this connection, and his 

 report will be submitted to the association at its next meeting. The 

 division has also cooperated with the referee on fats and oils of this 

 association, and has made a considerable number of analyses of 

 various proposed methods. 



As the rules of the bureau require that the presence of cereal be 

 shown when it is used in sausages, and as they require, furthermore, 

 that when more than 5 per cent of cereal is used the label shall be 

 modified so as to indicate to the purchaser a considerable proportion 

 of cereal, it has been necessary for the laboratories not only to detect 

 the presence of cereal but to estimate with exactness the amount 

 employed. The methods heretofore recommended for the quantita- 

 tive estimation of starch in meats, and particularly the so-called offi- 

 cial methods of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, 

 were found to be unsatisfactory, both on account of inexactness and 



