CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES 409 



benzoate is defended by some authors, while others argue that any 

 chemical which is poisonous in large quantities should be considered 

 as poisonous in small quantities until the contrary is proved. This 

 can be determined only by tests extending over long periods, for 

 whereas one dose may not be injurious the continuous use may. 

 So it is best to exclude as far as practical the use of chemical pre- 

 servatives from food. The subject is well summarized by Jordan 

 as follows: 



"The remedy is obvious and has been frequently suggested 

 namely, laws prohibiting the addition of any chemical to food except 

 in certain definitely specified cases. The presumption then would 

 be as in truth it is that such chemicals are more or less dangerous, 

 and proof of innocuousness must be brought forward before any one 

 substance can be listed as an exception to the general rule. Such 

 laws would include not only the use of chemicals or preservatives, 

 but the employment of substances to ' improve the appearance' of 

 foodstuffs. As already pointed out, the childish practice of arti- 

 ficially coloring foods involves waste and sometimes danger. It 

 rests on no deep-seated 'human need; food that is natural and 

 un tampered with may be made the fashion just as easily as the color 

 and cut of clothing are altered by the fashionmonger. The incor- 

 poration of any chemical substance into food for preservative or 

 cosmetic purposes could wisely be subject to a general prohibition, 

 and the necessary list of exceptions (substances such as sugar and 

 salt) should be passed on by a national board of experts or by some 

 authoritative organization like the American Public Health Associa- 

 tion." 



An advance in the right direction was made by the passage of the 

 National Food and Drug Law in 1906. This is being rapidly 

 incorporated in the statutes of the various states. According to 

 this law a food is adulterated : 



1 . "If any substance has been mixed and packed with it so as to 

 reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength. 



2. "If any substance has been substituted wholly or in part for 

 the article. 



3. "If any valuable constituent of the article has been wholly or 

 in part abstracted. 



4. "If it is* mixed, colored, powdered, coated, or stained in any 

 manner whereby damage or inferiority is concealed. 



5. "If it contains any poisonous or other added deleterious 

 ingredient which may render such article injurious to health. 



6. "If it consists in whole or in part of a filthy, decomposed or 

 putrid animal or vegetable substance or any portion of an animal 

 unfit for food, whether manufactured or not, or if it is the product 

 of a diseased animal or one that has died otherwise than by 

 slaughter." 



