1020 FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



The general result of the examination of the canned goods exposed 

 for sale in this country leads to the rather unpleasant conclusion that 

 the consumers thereof are exposed to greater or less dangers from poison- 

 ing from copper, zinc, tin, and lead. These dangers could be easily re- 

 moved if the manufacturers of these goods were required to follow the 

 dicta of a reasonable regard to public hygiene. 



FOOD VALUE AND DIGESTIBILITY OF CANNED GOODS. 



In regard to the food value of canned goods, interesting data have 

 also been obtained. It will be seen that many expensive articles of 

 canned goods contain an amount of nutrient matter totally out of pro- 

 portion to the price paid therefor. The conclusion is therefore forced 

 upon us that the use of canned goods is in every sense a luxury and a 

 luxury which is attended with many dangers. On the whole, the less 

 rich portions of our population should rather congratulate themselves 

 that their incomes do not warrant them in purchasing at a high price 

 foods of so little digestive value and fraught with so many dangers to 

 health. As an illustration of the excessive cost of some goods put up 

 in cans, attention may be called to the analytical data in the tables 

 which follow. These tables will be useful to consumers who have not 

 time to search through all the details of the bulletin. 



The quantity of dry food material in canned goods varies within 

 wide limits. It is very low in such vegetables as string beans, aspara- 

 gus, etc., and quite high in such materials as canned corn, succotash, 

 and other bodies of that description. The lowest percentage of dry 

 matter in string beans of American origin was 4.17. In other words, 

 in buying 100 pounds of such material the consunier purchases 95.83 

 pounds of water. 



The price of the packages of string beans varied within wide limits, 

 depending both upon the size of the packages and the labels they bore. 

 The highest price paid was 35 cents, and the weight of the contents of 

 the package was a little over 3 pounds. The lowest price paid was 10 

 cents, and this was paid in many instances. The highest price paid, 

 according to the percentage of dry matter, was in sample 10928, cost- 

 ing 30 cents and containing only 254 grams of string beans, 31.1 grams 

 of dry matter, and 94.37 per cent of water. The price of the dry mat- 

 ter in this package was nearly 1 cent per gram, which would be almost 

 $5 per pound. The enormous cost of food in canned goods is illustrated 

 to the fullest extent by this sample, showing in a striking way that 

 such food materials must be regarded in the light of luxuries or con- 

 diments rather than as nutrients to support a healthy organism. 



In regard to the composition of the dry material of string beans of 

 American origin, full data are found in the analytical tables in the 

 body of the report. To illustrate, its nutrient value it may be well to 

 give the analysis of the sample just mentioned, viz, 10928. The dry 

 matter of this sample contained 0.40 per rent of matter soluble in ether, 



