The Bulletin. 



RESOLUTIONS. 



The following important resolutions were adopted by the Associa- 

 tion of State and National Food Officials at their last annual meeting : 



Resolved, That this Association is unalterably opposed to the bleaching of 

 flour by the oxides of nitrogen or other chemicals. 



Resolved, That this Association is convinced that all chemical preservatives- 

 are harmful in foods, and that all kinds of food products are and may be pre- 

 pared and distributed without them, and pledges its best effort to use all moral 

 and legal means at its disposal to exclude chemical preservatives from food 

 products. 



BLEACHED FLOUR. 



The Secretary of Agriculture of the United States has just issued 

 a decision regarding the bleaching of flour, which is in part as follows : 



Flour bleached with nitrogen peroxide, as affected by the Food and Drugs Act 

 of June 30, 1906, has been made the subject of a careful investigation extending 

 over several months. 



A public hearing on this subject was held by the Secretary of Agriculture 

 and the Board of Food and Drug Inspection, beginning November 18, 1908, and 

 continuing five days. At this hearing those who favored the bleaching process 

 and those who opposed it were given equal opportunities to be heard. 



It is my opinion, based upon all the testimony given at the hearing, upon the 

 . reports of those who have investigated the subject, upon the literature, and 

 upon the unanimous opinion of the Board of Food and Drug Inspection, that 

 flour bleached by nitrogen peroxide is an adulterated product under the Food 

 and Drugs Act of June 30, 1906; that the character of the adulteration is such 

 that no statement upon the label will bring bleached flour within the law. and 

 that such flour cannot legally be made or sold in the District of Columbia or 

 in the Territories, or be transported or sold in interstate commerce. 



In view of the extent of the bleaching process and of the immense quantity 

 of bleached flour now on hand or in process of manufacture, no prosecutions 

 will be recommended by this Department for manufacture and sale thereof in 

 the District of Columbia or the Territories or for transportation or sale in 

 interstate or foreign commerce for a period of six months from the date hereof. 



The sale of flour bleached by nitrogen peroxide is regarded as a 

 violation of the State Food Law, and after June 1, 1909, the sale of 

 flour so bleached will be prohibited in North Carolina. 



