THE PUBLIC WATER, MILK, AND FOOD SUPPLY 361 



United States government passed what has been known as 

 the Pure Food Law. This law does not forbid the use of all 

 preservatives and coloring matters, but it requires prepara- 

 tions put up in bottles, cans, and other packages, intended 

 for interstate shipment, to bear a label stating the materials 

 contained and the proportions of each. One often sees the 

 inscription on foods and drugs " Guaranteed under the United 

 States Food and Drug Act, June 30, 1906, Serial No. ." 

 This inscription is often misunderstood to mean that the 

 product has been examined by government inspectors and its 

 purity and the correctness of the label guaranteed. It would 

 be a splendid thing if this were so, but it is not. The state- 

 ment on the label is merely the guarantee of the manufac- 

 turer, not of the government, under this act. 



But this law was important in that it established the 

 principle that the government has the right to regulate the 

 manufacture and sale of foods. It enables one to know 

 what is inside the package and is, of course, a check on 

 many dishonest manufacturers. Under the federal act 

 also, arrangements were made for the appointment of in- 

 spectors to examine meat in certain establishments. This 

 federal meat inspection covers only meat intended for 

 interstate shipments. State supervision is needed to look 

 after meat intended for local consumption. Some steps 

 have already been taken along this line and most of the 

 states are passing and enforcing laws to protect us from 

 impure foods. 



United States Division of Foods. Much of the credit for 

 these investigations into the purity of our food supply is 

 due to the Bureau of Chemistry, which is a branch of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. About thirty 

 years ago, Dr. Wiley, the former chief of this bureau, began 

 an investigation of food adulteration. Since then this work 

 has grown in importance, till about five years ago this food 

 laboratory was made into a sub-branch of the Bureau of 



