47 







have been added margarine fats to replace the butter removed. Under the State 

 law these can not be sold without branding, so the makers consign them to themselves 

 in Chicago, 111. When they arrive there they are placed on the market there as they 

 have no one appointed to enforce their laws. 



I have met the paste coffee bean and " black pepsin" for butter. Spices are all 

 more or less reduced. I worked on one ginger a short time ago, and found turmeric 

 and wheat flour. 



From George S. Cox, State chemist, Wisconsin dairy and food com- 

 mission, Madison, Wis.: 



The Wisconsin dairy and food commission is testing about 600 samples of various 

 food products in the laboratory each month. Many of these are milk samples, and 

 since the commission began operations, about four years ago, marked improvements 

 have become apparent in the quality of the milk that is offered for sale, both to the 

 creameries and cheese factories and also for private consumption. Inspections have 

 been made in the larger cities of Wisconsin and it is safe to say that whole milk is 

 very generally sold in this State. 



Recently there has been considerable 'agitation of the vinegar question with us. 

 Our laws require 4 per cent of acetic acid in all vinegars and 2 per cent of cider 

 solids in all cider vinegars and make the sale of a vinegar below this standard 

 a misdemeanor, punishable by a tine of from $10 to $100. The department has made 

 a number of prosecutions under this law since the opening of the year, with bene- 

 ficial results. When active operations were commenced in this line, about 50 per 

 cent of the vinegars sold in the State did not comply with this law. This was mainly 

 due to the manufacturers, who, having enjoyed immunity from interference, con- 

 tinued to ship into Wisconsin goods that could not be sold elsewhere When the 

 vinegar law was passed in 1891, immediate steps were taken to notify all manufac- 

 turers and dealers in vinegar of its provisions, and samples were frequently taken at 

 various points and were reported upon in order to bring the law into greater promi- 

 nence. After these premonitory measures, suits were commenced against some of 

 those who were violating the statute, and in all cases, excepting one, the parties either 

 entered a plea of guilty or were convicted as charged. In all instances where the 

 vinegar had been supplied them by a reliable house the fines, which were made as 

 low as possible, were refunded by the wholesaler and, as the expense came out of the 

 wholesaler or manufacturer, they at once took steps to send nothing but legal vine- 

 gar into the State. 



At present many of the retail dealers throughout the State make a practice of 

 sending small samples of every lot of vinegar purchased to the commission, where it 

 is analyzed and reported upon free of any charge to them, and they are thus enabled 

 to guarantee their customers a legal article and, at the same time, to protect them- 

 selves against the unscrupulous manufacturer. 



On the whole the work of the department has been beneficial, but these benefits 

 to the people have been somewhat curtailed by the lack of laws that can be readily 

 enforced. 



The Wisconsin laws fix an arbitrary standard for three articles of food only, viz, 

 vinegar, milk, and cheese. In regard to other food products and drugs, it lies with 

 the commissioner and his assistants to prove that the substance in question is injuri- 

 ously adulterated. 



In many instances it is impossible to do this, as, in the eyes of the average jury, 

 a substance is injurious only when its deleterious effects are immediate and apparent. 



The commission consists of a commissioner, dairy expert, and the State chemist. 

 Chapter 452, Laws of Wisconsin, 1889, clearly defines the duties and powers _of these 

 officers, but, with the exceptions above cited, the laws they are charged with enfor- 

 cing are almost inoperative. The law regulating the sale of drugs is a notable 

 instance, but it is so framed that a conviction is almost an impossibility, and in the 

 eleven years that it hag been on the statute books there has not been one instance 



