144 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



RESULT OF ANALYSES MADE BY PROF. J. B. WEEMrf, OF AMES. 



Ames, Iowa, November 21, 1903. 

 Governor S. B. Pacard, Marshalltown, Iowa. 



My Dear Sir — Please find enclosed the report of the investigation of 

 food products used in our state. I have made the report as full as pos- 

 sible, but I regret that the limited funds at our disposal naturally restricted 

 the work. I have endeavored to add to the work by supplying 

 some necessary results from the reports of other states. If any sugges- 

 tion comes to you in which I can add to the report, I will be glad to do so. 



Yours very truly, 



J. B. Weems. 



The amount of money which could be used for the investigation was 

 limited, and it was decided to carry on the work as far as the funds would 

 allow. 



The first group of products selected were the vinegars. Twelve sam- 

 ples were analyzed, with the results as shown in the table, which is a 

 part of this report. From the chemical analyses, it will be seen that 

 eight of the twelve samples were not cider vinegar, or, in other words^ 

 66 2-3 per cent of the products sold as cider vinegar are not produced 

 from cider. 



In this connection it is of interest to note that in Massachusetts, dur- 

 ing the year ending September 20, 1902, that of 270 samples of vinegar, 

 178 were condemned as not meeting the requirements of the state law. 

 In Ohio, twenty-four samples of a total of seventy were regarded as 

 adulterated. Many of the samples were below the strength required by 

 the law. Many of the retail dealers have no means of determining 

 whether a vinegar is pure or not. They have simply the word of the 

 jobber. I have in mind an example where the vinegar sold by a mer- 

 chant as cider vinegar, when it proved, on examination, to be a spirit 

 vinegar, he reported the fact to the dealer in Chicago, and it was claimed 

 by them that they purchased the product for cider vinegar and were 

 themselves misled by the statement of the makers. Some of the dealers 

 claim that the price is an indication whether the product is pure cider 

 vinegar or not. There is no doubt that the vinegars sold to the public 

 are grossly misrepresented. 



JELLIES, PRESERVES AND SYRUPS. 



Twenty-nine samples of these products were examined, as shown by 

 the results of the chemical analyses. In twelve of the samples, glucose 

 was found to exceed 50 per cent in the product, and in seventeen in an 

 amount exceeding 25 per cent of the product. In many of the other sam- 

 ples, the amount of cane sugar that is present is very small. 



In the report of the Food Commissioner of Ohio for 1902, nineteen 

 samples of syrup were analyzed, and eight were adulterated. The report 

 for August, 1902, of the Dairy and Food Commissioner of Michigan shows 

 that two samples of molasses and seventeen samples of jellies were ana- 

 lyzed, and all found to be adulterated. 



