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are not to be wasted, to supply some adequate means for holding in check 

 the processes of decay which, if allowed to operate, would make them unfit 

 for use. 



Cold storage is the modern way for arresting food spoilage. It is the 

 latest and most successful method of storing the surplus of one season 

 against the want of the next, and of preventing the fluctuation of prices 

 from below the cost of production at harvest to a point beyond the re- 

 sources of the purse the rest of the year. 



It is of especial interest to the health officer, both because of this 

 phase, which, in so far as it affects the available food supply, touches the 

 great problem of nutrition, and because of the general impression that 

 goods held beyond what may be termed a natural period of usefulness are 

 not suitable for food. Whether food deteriorates and to what extent 

 should be understood by him in order that he properly may draft and 

 enforce cold storage laws. During the last few years extensive investiga- 

 tions have been made to determine the deterioration of food in cold 

 storage. The results of these investigations are the more interesting 

 because, in some instances, at least, they upset generally accepted theories. 

 Ever since cold storage has been practiced, cold storage chicken has been 

 viewed with askance by the public, and cold storage food has been held 

 accountable for every unexplained illness. 



The flood of ill-designed, crudely drawn bills presented to the law- 

 makers of the various States during the last few years was without doubt 

 a well-intentioned attempt to meet the demand for a careful regulation of 

 the business of cold storage, both with the idea of protecting the health of 

 the consumer, and, in some little-understood way, reducing the cost of 

 living. In effect, however, the passing of many of the bills suggested 

 would have meant the destruction of a most important industry- Yet the 

 value of cold storage is clear to everyone who has given intelligent study to 

 the subject. Even where cold storage facilities are not available, the 

 necessity for them is recognized, and in Canada, at least, the government, 

 appreciating the need of cold storage plants, has adopted the policy of 

 subsidizing the construction of refrigerating warehouses. A committee ap- 

 pointed by the French government to study the recent increase in the 

 prices of food stuffs has pointed out that this is in no small measure due 

 to the fact that France has as yet practically no system of holding food 

 stuffs in cold storage. Unfortunately, men who should be thoroughly famil- 



