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are not to be wasted, to supply some adequate means for holding in check 
the processes of decay which, if allowed to operate, would make them unfit 
for use. 
Cold storage is the modern way for arresting food spoilage. It is the 
latest and most successful method of storing the surplus of one season 
against the want of the next, and of preventing the fluctuation of prices 
from below the cost of production at harvest to a point beyond the re- 
sources of the purse the rest of the year. 
It is of especial interest to the health officer, both because of this 
phase, which, in so far as it affects the available food supply, touckes the 
great problem of nutrition, and because of the zeneral impression that 
goods held beyond what may be termed a natural period of usefulness are 
not suitable for food. Whether food deteriorates and to what extent 
should be understood by him in order that he properly may draft and 
enforce cold storage laws. During the last few years extensive inyestiga- 
tions haye been made to determine the deterioration of food in cold 
storage. The results of these investigations are the more interesting 
because, in some instances, at least, they upset generally accepted theories. 
Iver since cold storage has been practiced, cold storage chicken has been 
viewed with askance by the public, and cold storage food has been held 
accountable for every unexplained illness. 
The flood of ill-designed, crudely drawn bills presented to the law- 
makers of the various States during the last few years was without doubt 
a well-intentioned attempt to meet the demand for a careful regulation of 
the business of cold storage, both with the idea of protecting the health of 
the consumer, and, in some little-understood way, reducing the cost of 
living. In effect, however, the passing of many of the bills suggested 
would have meant the destruction of a most important industry. Yet the 
value of cold storage is clear to everyone who has given intelligent study to 
the subject. Even where cold storage facilities are not available, the 
necessity for them is recognized, and in Canada, at ieast, the government, 
appreciating the need of cold storage plants, has adopted the policy of 
subsidizing the construction of refrigerating warehouses. A committee ap- 
pointed by the French government to study the recent increase in the 
prices of food stuffs has pointed out that this is in no small measure due 
to the fact that France has as yet practically no system of holding food 
stuffs in cold storage. Unfortunately, men who should be thoroughly famil- 
