lO MAINE) AGRICUIvTURAI, EXPE;RIMENT STATION. I909. 



protection under the Maine food and drug law, it is necessary 

 to read the labels carefully. Your protection from fraud and 

 your surety against using goods that are artificially colored and 

 chemically preserved depends upon this. 



Practically all adulterations are of two kinds. A treatment 

 so as to make the goods appear better than they are, or substi- 

 tuting an inferior for a superior article of food. The coloring 

 of catsup and preserves, the coating of rice with talc, and the 

 bleaching of flour are illustrations of treatment which makes 

 goods appear better than they are. Bleaching of fruits by sul- 

 phur dioxide and the adding of preservatives to fruits are fre- 

 quently resorted to in order to make possible the sale of goods 

 that otherwise would be unsaleable. This is even a greater 

 argument against buying goods artificially colored and chemi- 

 cally preserved than the poisonous efifects of the colors and 

 preservatives themselves. The masquerading of cheaper under 

 the names of better articles of food, even though they are 

 equally nutritious is a fraud and when it comes to the treatment 

 of sausage meat by the addition of starch for the purpose of 

 making it hold up added quantities of water, the fraud is still 

 greater. 



Do not simply read your labels, but study them and find out 

 what they mean. Read ihe small print as this is often more 

 important than the large. When for instance you purchase 

 sausage and the label reads "Pork sausage cereal and water 

 added," ask yourself what it means, and if you do not under- 

 stand, write to the Director of the Maine Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, Orono. In this particular instance, it means that 

 by the addition of 5 pounds of starch to 50 pounds of meat, 

 there can be added nearly 50 pounds of water so that the 50 

 pounds of meat may masquerade as 100 pounds of "sausage, 

 cereal and water added." 



Bleached Flour. 



Flour bleached with nitrogen peroxide has been made the 

 subject of careful investigation by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture and the results are announced in Food Inspection 

 Decision 100. Based upon all of the testimony given at an 

 extended hearing, upon the reports of those who have investi- 

 gated the subject, upon the literature, and upon the unanimous 



