No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 95 



a large degree, has brought about this much desired change for the 

 better, and the Commissioner is pleased to render this tribute to 

 their helpfulness and commendable work. The Stewards' Associa- 

 tion has strongly favored the passage of pure food laws, and now 

 insist upon such*^ guarantees and regulations as will enable them to 

 get better food products of all kinds for their tables. 



IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY OF FOOD STUFFS. 



With the continued vigorous enforcement of the pure food laws 

 of Pennsylvania, there has again been a marked improvement in the 

 quality of nearly all food commodities sold in this State. This state- 

 ment is fully corroborated by the published analytical reports of the 

 Dairy and Food Division, which form a sharp and decided contrast 

 with the conditions that prevailed only a few years ago. Manufac- 

 turers, packers and producers of all kinds realize that it pays to 

 obey the law, and that the market for the stuff which bears on the 

 label the tale of adulteration is no longer a profitable one. To-day, 

 manufacturers of food products whose products were shown by 

 chemical analysis to contain poisons and deleterious substances have 

 either eliminated the objectionable stuff from their wares, or have 

 placed the names and the quantities of the adulterants on the face 

 of the package so that all may buy knowingly. Many other delin- 

 quent manufacturers have withdrawn their goods from the Pennsyl- 

 vania markets. 



DANGEROUS ADULTERATION OF FLOUR. 



The high price of flour has led to a new adulterant which has been 

 detected in the Ohio markets by the State authorities. It is made 

 of white clay pulverized and is called miueraline. Because of the 

 fact that it is indigestible, it is a very unwholesome adulterant. It 

 costs about one cent a pound, and as flour sells at three cents a 

 pound, a small proportion of mineraline mixed with the flour makes 

 it quite profitable. It can easily be detected under a microscope. 

 Commissioner Blackburn, of Ohio, who investigated the matter, 

 wrote as follows to the trade who desired information: 



*'A chemical analysis shows that it is a siliceous mineral resemb- 

 ling talc in physical properties. It is insoluble even in the strongest 

 sulphuric acid, and is totally unfit for the purpose for which it is 

 made. It seems to be a kind of clay, dried and powdered \evj fine, 

 and is shipped from Greensboro, N. C. You are hereby notified to be 

 on the lookout for flour adulterated with this substance, take sam- 

 ples and leave them with the nearest chemist for analysis. The 

 smallest per cent, of adulteration with this substance can be easily 

 detected under a microscope." 



The Pennsylvania authorities have no't found any such adulterated 

 flour on sale. 



BOGUS DAIRY AND FOOD AGENTS. 



No one ordinarily has any conception of the many obstacles that 

 must necessarily be overcome in a campaign for pure dairy and food 

 products, but one of the most unpleasant and annoying facts is the 

 occasional appearance of a bogus '^special agent" of the Dairy and 

 Food Division. In one instance at least, the guilty party was 

 promptly arrested and subjected to a term of imprisonment. All 



