THE LABEL. 27 



Again, when the sirup is one of the factors in grading a product, 

 that fact should be given, though it is not required. A consumer 

 can not go to the grocery and buy peaches in a 40, 30, or 20 

 sirup, though the packers use care in preparing such sirups to use 

 for their different grades. Such designations as heavy, medium, 

 and light sirup are also inadequate. A heavy sirup may mean any- 

 thing between 35 and 60, a medium between 20 and 45, and a 

 light between 10 and 30, depending on who uses it. These varia- 

 tions are too wide to be carried under such elastic terms. There is 

 no doubt that some fruit packed in light or 20 sirup is just as good 

 as that put up in medium or 30 sirup, but there can be no harm 

 done by giving the exact facts. On general principles, if it is worth 

 while for the packer to select his stock carefuly and put up different 

 grades, the consumer should know how to select them. 



A can of any food should be as full as it can reasonably be packed 

 and processed without injuring either the quality or appearance 

 of the product. There is such a thing as overfilling as well as 

 under filling, and one is as much a fault as the other. All foods 

 packed in a liquid or semiliquid condition, or as solids surrounded by 

 liquid, should fill to within one-half inch of the top, and when free 

 liquid is present it should cover the solids. Corn or peas an inch 

 below the top would be a slack fill, even though covered with liquid. 

 The fruits present a more perplexing problem, depending upon the 

 size of the pieces and the degree to which they shrink in the sirup. 

 The very choice large peaches, having only 5 or 6 pieces to the can, 

 will weigh only 18 or 19 ounces and be as full as they can be sealed. 

 A slightly smaller size, of 7 to 9 pieces to the can, will weigh 20 

 ounces, and for more than 10 pieces the weight will be from 21 to 22 

 ounces. After they have been cooked in the sirup the pieces will 

 soften, the weight will change, and the fill will not be the same, 

 though in all the amount was as much as could be sealed. If the 

 cans be judged upon weight of the solids alone, the highest grade 

 would be short weight ; the quality must also be considered. The pres- 

 ence of only 18 or 19 ounces of low-grade peaches would be mani- 

 festly slack filled. Soft berries, like strawberries and raspberries, if 

 filled as full as the can will hold and sirup or water added, will 

 appear only one-third to one-half full of solids upon opening and 

 considerable variation will occur, depending upon their condition. 

 Some foods can be packed so as to give a fairly uniform net weight 

 upon opening, but with others the volume of solids and its own liquid 

 is a fairer measure. The buyer is entitled to a full can and most pack- 

 ers try to furnish it. The net weights given for several products at 

 the close of the descriptions of processing are intended to represent 

 the minimum; the amount actually obtained should exceed these 

 figures. A lower net weight may be regarded as " slack filled." 



