REPORT ON FOOD ADULTERATION FOR 1912. 



Bt W. M. ALLEN, State Food Chemist, 



Assisted by 



VV. A. SMITH, Assistant Chemist,* 

 C. E. BELL, Assistant Chemist. 



' A general statement, a short discussion on hearings and standards, an 

 extract from the Food Law, rules on labeling, a notice to dealers and 

 manufacturers, a summary of the work and the results of the examina- 

 tion of food products for the year 1912 — constituting the thirteenth an- 

 nual report under the Food Law — are presented in the following pages : 



GENERAL STATEMENT. 



When of general interest or when it will facilitate the enforcement 

 of the Food Law, examinations will be made of food or beverages for 

 parties within the State, provided samples of same are taken and sent 

 to the Food Chemist in accordance with instructions from the Depart- 

 ment, and the required information concerning the sample is furnished. 



Results of analyses are sent to parties sending samples and parties 

 from whom samples are obtained by the Department, as well as the 

 manufacturer of the products. 



It is the desire of the Department to put information into the hands 

 of manufacturers, dealers and consumers of food, and to assist them in 

 every way it can to know and manufacture, handle and use the best, 

 most desirable and most wholesome food products. The Food Control is 

 in the interest of the honest manufacturer, the honest dealer, and for 

 the protection of the consumer. 



HEARINGS UNDER FOOD LAW. 



The State Food Law provides that if any of the provisions of the act 

 are found to have been violated, the party committing the offence shall 

 be notified of the facts in the case and given an opportunity to show 

 cause why he should not be prosecuted for the same. During the year 

 about 250 such notices and hearings have been given. Many of the 

 offences were not serious, but others were. A large percentage of them 

 seems to have been due to a lack of information on the part of the 

 grocerymen and other dealers in regard to the products. The dealers 

 do not take the trouble to know what they are offering for sale to the 

 public. They offer compounds and substitutes for natural food 

 products without really knowing that they are not as represented. The 

 Department has worked faithfully to cause the dealers to know and com- 

 ply with the requirements of the law, but they go along until they are 

 caught, and then plead that they did not know the facts in the case, and 

 for that reason should not be prosecuted. They are usually ready to 

 make all kinds of promises that in future nothing further of the kind 

 will happen in their business. Dealers often sell food products in short 

 weight packages for which there is no excuse, and then plead that they 

 did not know it. 



•Resigned October 1, 1915 



