19 



imported to this country. The obvious remedy wouhl seem to he to eliminate zinc 

 entirely from the construction of every apparatus used to dry fruit for export. 

 Wood has been used for this purpose, hut it is open to two serious objections: the 

 trays are liable to take fire when exposed to high temperatures, and contact with 

 wood while drying discolors apples and impairs their market value. It is therefore 

 suggested, as an easy way out of the difficulty, that fruit for the German market 

 shall be either sun-dried or evaporated in trays of perforated tin or tinned-wire 

 gauze, either of which, although more expensive than zinc, would soon repay the 

 additional cost by wholly eliminating the present difficulty. 



The sun-dried ai)ricots, pears, peaches, and prunes of California and Oregon are rec- 

 ognized as superior to any others of whatever origin, and the two lirst named are rap- 

 idly taking possession of the German market. The import duty on such fruits from 

 the United States is 95 cents per 100 kilograms (220. 16 pounds), and they are retailed 

 here at about 22 cents per pound (or half kilogram). It is somewhat remarkable 

 that the best California dried fruits come from Chicago, Avhere exporters take the 

 trouble to send expert agents to the Pacific Coast during the gathering season, where 

 they select and superintend the packing of the fruit. 



Of fruits, as well as all other food products, only the best and purest should be 

 exported to a country like Germany, where the laws protecting the public health 

 are so searching and so rigidly enforced that the slightest defect is sure to be 

 detected, and where the whole agricultural population is interested in opposing the 

 importation of foreign products which compete directly with the home-grown supply. 



Fkaxkfort, May 22, 1895. 



Exhibit A. 



[Translation.] 



Expert opinion concerning the hnrmlessness of American evaporated apples, (jiven by the 

 royal chief health officer, Privy Sanitary Counsellor Ur. Zimmermann, and Dr. Loock, 

 chief inspector of the public food-inspection bureau for the city of Diisseldorf. 



OFFICIAL ATTESTATION. 



At the request of the merchant C. L. Fusbahn, of this city, and as an inclosure 

 with the expert opinion of the municipal and court chemist, Dr. Loock, of this city, 

 herewith presented, I hereby declare that through the eating of a large portion of 

 apple sauce made of the dried apples in question, the amount of malate of zinc which 

 would thereby be consumed bj- one person would not exceed one-fifth part of a normal 

 dose of that salt which may be prescribed for small children without causing vomit- 

 ing; and further, that from 0,5 to 1.2 grams of the acetate of zinc, which of all 

 zinc derivates is the most analogous to malate of zinc, are necessary to produce vom- 

 iting when administered to small children. In cases of adults, four times the same 

 quantity would scarcely suffice to produce nausea or vomiting. 



I therefore consider the eating of American dried apples as manifestly devoid of 

 danger. 



Dr. ZiMMEKMANX, 



Chief Health Officer, Privy Counsellor. 

 DrssELUOKF, November 30, 1892. 



Certificate of Food Inspector Dr. Loock. 



The city food-inspection bureau of the city of Diisseldorf has been charged from 

 time to time with numerous chemical examinations of American dried apples, from 

 official boards, business firms, etc. These analyses, which in general have tested the 

 quality and quantity of salts of zinc contained therein, have shown the most various 

 results, according to which the wholesomeness of the product is to be judged. A 

 large part of these samples of ai)])lcs have been foiind free from zinc. Of those 

 which contained zinc, the greater portion show an admixture of from 0.01 to 0.05 per 

 cent of zinc; the largest percentage found here has been 0,09 per cent. 



