OLEOMARGARINE. 847 



Mr. CULBERSON. Yes; tnat can be done. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Do you think it is possible that any of that caustic soda will be left 

 in the oil after the refining? 



Mr. CULBERSON. It is possible, but not for butter-oil purposes. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Then in all of the oleomargarine that we eat we eat an oil that has 

 been through a process of refinement by caustic soda or with caustic soda? 



Mr. CULBERSON. Not necessarily. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Well, some other chemical equally strong. 



Mr. CULBERSON. Not necessarily. There are other processes. I tell you what we use. 



HEALTHFULNESS OF OLEOMARGARINE. 



This is a subject upon which "doctors disagree," and which, while 

 we have alwa}^ and do now claim is absolutely immaterial when the 

 evil we seek to remedy is fraud, yet we do not shrink from the discus- 

 sion of the proposition. 



Dr. Wiley said before the House Committee on Agriculture, as 

 printed on page 772 of the House report: 



From a chemical study of the composition of butter, it is reasonable to infer that it 

 requires less effort on the part of the vital organs to ferment the butter, and that is 

 the reason why I say that I believe butter is a more digestible substance, more easily 

 digested, more quickly digested than oleomargarine. 



Speaking from a practical standpoint, Secretary Wilson said, as 

 printed on page 417: 



There is an impression abroad that the oleomargarine industry is as legitimate and 

 praiseworthy as making butter from the cow. As far as the making of oleo oil, to be 

 sold as such, is concerned there is no controversy, but that the mixture of ingredi- 

 ents that compose oleomargarine is as healthy as the butter from milk of the cow 

 nobody who has inquired into both can believe. The flavor of butter, a prime ele- 

 ment in palatability and digestibility, comes from bacteria universally present when- 

 ever milk is exposed to the atmosphere. Fine butter has a fine flavor, one of its 

 principal characteristics. Bacteria feed upon casein, an element not found in vege- 

 table fats nor in the tallow of animals. The imitation of butter known as oleomar- 

 garine is washed in milk in order that some of the casein may be present as the basis 

 of the flavor. The imitation, in as far as it varies from genuine butter, lacks both the 

 flavor that comes from a full complement of casein and the digestibility natural to the 

 cow's product. It is well known that the scalding of milk kills the bacterial growth, 

 after which it will keep longer, but its digestibility is greatly impaired. Butter for 

 immediate consumption is but slightly worked, so that the leaving within it of a con- 

 siderable amount of casein will grow bacteria and develop flavor. If it is to be con- 

 sumed in a week it is worked over more, and if within two weeks still more. If it is 

 to be kept for months the buttermilk with the casein is thoroughly worked out, 

 unless it is to be put in cold storage and kept at a temperature at which bacteria will 

 not multiply. 



Milk contains a ferment that changes casein into a digestible nutrient. The imita- 

 tion of butter made by the chemist is a mixture of fats that should be sold for what 

 it is. It is not as palatable nor as digestible nor as grateful to the human system. 

 The digestible juices flow freely. When palatable food is eaten, the mouth waters. 

 Oils and fats as such have their uses, but the coloring of them deceives the people 

 and induces a consumption as liberal as with butter, which, while not so injurious to 

 people in full vigor as to children and invalids, is nevertheless undoubtedly harmful. 

 The yellow coloring of butter in winter, when it has a light shade, if green cured 

 hay or roots are not used, deceives nobody. The yellow coloring of a mixture of fats 

 is with intent to deceive. 



The present law is not well enforced; it is evidently difficult of enforcement. The 

 effacement of marks and brands is easily done. The greatest sufferers are the poorer 

 classes and consumers who have not the opportunity to select their food. If there 

 were no coloring there would be no fraud. The most intelligent are deceived, how- 

 ever, with good imitations, and from careful inquiry I am satisfied that most of us 

 are using the bogus product at greatly increased expense over the price of the oils of 

 commerce, and with danger to health from the less digestible and less palatable 

 imitation. 



