SANITARY CONTROL OF TOMATO-CANNING FACTORIES. 13 



12^ square feet per bushel, with an average of about 9^. As the to- 

 matoes should be fed onto the apron so as to leave at least one-half of 

 the space uncovered, a space of about 18| square feet should be pro- 

 vided for each bushel. This would mean that a sorting apron 18 

 inches wide and moving at the rate of 25 feet per minute would have 

 a capacity of about 120 bushels per hour and when handling average 

 stock would require the services of six efficient sorters. On this basis 

 a separate sorting apron would be required for each 1,200 bushels 

 handled per 10-hour day. Such an arrangement provides for the 

 most efficient utilization of equipment. In some factories visited the 

 arrangement was so poorly planned that the apron was running ten 

 times faster than was necessary for handling the volume of stock. 

 In other factories the tomatoes were run through at from five to six 

 times the normal capacity of the machine and the number of sorters 

 was insufficient to handle them under proper conditions. 



SOETING SYSTEMS THAT HAVE FAILED. 



In the past the practice of making pulp from peeling-table waste 

 was not uncommon. Much of this pulp, in a more or less concen- 

 trated condition, was placed in barrels and disposed of for making 

 cheap ketchup. The careless methods employed resulted in many 

 condemnations of the product under the Federal Food and Drugs 

 Act because the product was decomposed, in whole or in part. As a 

 result of the Government's campaign against adulterated tomato 

 pulp, some of the evils of the practice have abated. 



The pulp commonly used for low-grade ketchups sold at from 75 

 cents to $2.50 per barrel, most of it selling for from $1 to $1.75. At 

 these prices the manufacturer received only about enough to pay for 

 the disposal of the waste which otherwise was an item of expense. 

 When it is realized that the stock from which tomato pulp is made 

 may contain 20 per cent of rotten tomatoes and yet not give to the 

 finished product such plain evidences of their presence as to be de- 

 tected by the average consumer, it is easy to understand the tempta- 

 tion and opportunity for negligence and carelessness in the manufac- 

 ture of the product. 



Some firms, by modifying their methods of manufacture, have been 

 attempting to produce from trimmings an article which would be 

 satisfactory under pure-food laws, but only a few have been suc- 

 cessful, and these only in part. An examination of the prosecutions 

 brought against adulterated tomato products during the last six years 

 will show that most of these products were made from trimming 

 stock. A recognition of these facts has raised the question whether 

 it is possible to make a satisfactory pulp from the trimmings. It is 

 possible to do this, but the added labor required makes it doubtful 

 whether it is profitable. As the tomatoes must be sorted and handled 



