326 HOW DOES MAN DETERMINE THE VALUE OF FOOD? 



We live in an age where practical applications of science are 

 found at every turn. It is right that this should be so, for we are 

 more and more surrounded by the things made by science and the 

 things done by science. Foods, which not so many years ago were 

 used directly from the stream or field, are now put through a manu- 

 factured process which changes them very greatly. Sometimes 

 the raw plant or animal substances are put into cans and pre- 

 served for our use. It is little wonder that as food in these new 

 forms began to be marketed that the unprincipled food handlers 

 began to adulterate or misbrand their foods, thus cheating the 

 purchaser. State government, and later the United States govern- 

 ment, began to inspect such foods, and found that nearly half the 

 total number of samples examined were adulterated. The Pure 

 Food and Drugs Act of 1906, with its subsequent requirements, 

 was the result of these investigations. At the present time, due 

 to official examinations and inspection, only a very small amount 

 of adulterated or misbranded food is shipped from one state to 

 another. But materials manufactured and sold in the same state 

 may still be adulterated, since the Pure Food and Drugs Act does 

 not control this situation. 



One feature of adulteration that the Pure Food and Drugs Act 

 does not cover in a very satisfactory way is the labeling of patent 

 medicines. While the presence of certain habit-forming drugs 

 and poisons must be shown on the label, there are scores of other 

 deadly poisons that may get into medicines without appearing on 

 the label at all. The labeling of patent medicines is controlled 

 by the Pure Food and Drugs Act ; but the purchase of such medi- 

 cines is in the hands of the American public. Uneducated people 

 will not read labels very carefully, with the result that the patent 

 medicine industry thrives and people throw away several hundred 

 million dollars each year and do what is far worse, damage them- 

 selves while they spend their good money. 



The worst situation, however, exists with reference to the use 

 of alcoholic beverages. Some of the American people are being 

 extremely unpatriotic, and, incidentally, are taking big chances 

 with " bootleg " liquor. Dr. Louis I. Dublin, in a book entitled 

 " Health and Wealth," points out that in states where the Pro- 



