492 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



A jam or preserve made principally of apple with a small amount of 

 other fruit is a compound and a list of the ingredients must appear upon 

 the label. The source of an article must not be mis-stated; for example — 

 Italian Olive Oil must come from Italy — Grecian Currants must come from 

 Greece, etc. It is your business to know that the goods you handle com- 

 ply with the law in every detail as you are responsible under the law and 

 the laws of Iowa do not extend beyond its borders. If you buy your prod- 

 ucts from other states you are guilty if they do not comply with the law. 

 You should know that a condensed milk made from skimmed milk and 

 cocoanut fat must be labeled "Imitation Evaporated Milk," and must not 

 be sold as condensed milk, for if you do, you will violate the law and be 

 guilty of unfair practice. Also that oleomargarine must be labeled "Sub- 

 stitute for Butter" and sold without any color under the State Law and 

 each package stamped with the weight and your name under the Federal 

 Law. 



New goods should never be placed in front of old goods on your shelves 

 as goods will spoil or the labels will become soiled and faded with age 

 and render goods less salable and cereals become infested with weavils 

 making them a total loss. Extracts should never be sold when there is a 

 suspicion they are being used, as a beverage. 



Licenses which you receive should be tacked up on the wall where they 

 will not be lost and can be seen by the members of this department when 

 calling upon you. Poor business methods are prevalent among grocers. 

 They have a poor cost accounting system or none at all. They fail to 

 charge up their own services and at the end of the year are unable to tell 

 if they have had a profitable business. 



The cleanliness of the store and stock is an important factor in hand- 

 ling foods. How inviting is a store that has its cheese and other un- 

 protected foods in a clean glass case free from flies and dust. The shelf 

 goods neatly arranged and free from any accumulation of dust. The 

 floor of good material and clean, with baskets and barrels of cookies^ 

 crackers, etc., protected with a tight cover. 



It has been a long tedious task to stop the grocer from buying and 

 selling eggs which were not edible and in spite of the law forbidding this 

 practice and many prosecutions, some grocers still persist in handling 

 bad eggs. If every grocer Would let the producer know that there was 

 no market for bad eggs, there would be none on the market. Proper 

 candling and the return of all questionable eggs to the producer will cor- 

 rect this evil and bring a better price to the grocer and producer for his 

 eggs. When we consider that the value of Iowa's eggs probably amounts 

 to $50,000,000, annually, it is evident that the elimination of the bad eggs 

 v<-ill materially increase this sum. 



Vegetables and fruits should never be bought or sold by the basket, 

 but by weight. The law fixes standards for these commodities in terms 

 of pounds per bushel and if sold by the bushel, the legal number of 

 pounds must be given. Accurate scales are an asset to your business 

 and when obtained should have proper care to keep them accurate and 

 prolong their life. When a scale is out of adjustment it is as apt to be 

 against you as your customer. 



