34 



From Jesse Owen, 410 West Church street, Elmira, N. Y.: 



I have no information that would be new to you, but am sure that some very 

 stringent laws should be made and then enforced against the adulteration of food. 

 I have been quite conversant with the dairy commissioner of New York State. The 

 old commissioner was an active, honest man and did much to keep out oleo. 



A man at the icing station in Waverly, N. Y., told my son that they were 

 icing some ten cars a day loaded with Elgin butter made in Chicago and destined 

 for New York City. This butter was packed in tierces. I presume it was oleo. 



From Schoellkopf, Hartford & Maclagan, New York : 



With regard to the adulteration of food and drugs we beg to say that we only 

 handle imported drugs, and of course the appraisers are here to reject inferior quality, 

 but as a matter of fact they often pass very inferior drugs. We have known of very 

 inferior jalap being allowed through the custom-house. But they go to the other 

 extreme with regard to ipecac, and refuse to admit the root that comes from Car- 

 thagena, although, as far as we know, it is fully equal to the Brazilian root. 



From Fairchild Bros. & Foster, New York : 



Concerning the adulterations of children's foods we would say that we have never 

 heard of such a thing. There are so-called u infants' foods " of very great variety 

 of composition. Some of these are practically baked flour; others malted flour or 

 Liebig's foods ; others are simply condensed milk or milk condensed with farinaceous 

 substances or with malted flour ; others of dried milk, or milk dried with farinaceous 

 and saccharine matter. We do not see how any of these foods can be considered in 

 any way adulterated foods. If there was a certain definite standard of composition 

 for each variety of infant food then there would be some point of view from which 

 the quality of an infant food could be considered. For instance, if a Liebig food 

 contained glucose not due to the malting of flour it would be considered adulterated, 

 but there is no such adulterated food in existence. If a food stated to be Liebig's 

 food contained anything more than a trace of starch it must be considered to be 

 badly made, but scarcely to be adulterated. It would simply be an imperfect Lie- 

 big food. Infants' foods are in the main just what they are represented to be, in so 

 far as their composition is concerned, and every variety of them is employed for the 

 food of infants. There is no such thing as an adulterated infant food to our knowl- 

 edge. 



As to the adulterations of pharmaceutical preparations we can not give you any 

 data. We do not believe that there are any such which would properly be consid- 

 ered adulterated. We believe that in general they conform closely to the statements 

 made concerning their composition and quality; that they will differ mainly owing 

 to the skill and knowledge with which they are prepare<l, and will not be found to 

 be adulterated in any sense in which that term can be used. Of the dairy products 

 we have no special knowledge. 



From W. T. Pettengill, manager Genesee Fruit Company, 501 West 

 street, Holley, K Y. : 



We have a State law governing the sale of vinegar in the State, which has mate- 

 rially improved the quality of all vinegar, but for want of a general law we are 

 handicapped by the " original package" from other States. 



The State dairy commissioner has the enforcement of the vinegar law in this 

 State, which he does through subordinates. 



I believe a general law governing the branding of all articles of food and drugs 

 would be beneficial in protecting honest manufacturing, and in telling to the buyer 

 what he is getting, and driving from the market articles which would never be used 

 if the consumer knew what they contained, 



