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United States Food Standards. [april, 



By an Act approved on March 3rd, 1903, the Government 

 appointed a committee to collaborate with the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to establish standards of purity for food products, 

 and to determine what are regarded as adulterations. As a 

 result of this inquiry the Secretary of Agriculture, in Circular 

 No. 10, dated 20th November, 1903, proclaimed certain standards 

 for various products, and also laid down definitions of these, 

 substances. The following relate to agricultural products of 

 most interest to farmers or consumers in this country : — 



Meat is defined any sound, dressed, and properly prepared 

 edible part of animals in good health at the time of slaughter. 

 The term " animals " includes not only mammals, but fish, fowl, 

 •crustaceans, molluscs, and all other animals used as food. 

 Fresh meat is meat from animals recently slaughtered or pre- 

 served only by refrigeration. Salted, pickled and smoked meats 

 are unmixed meats preserved by salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, or 

 smoke, singly or in combination, whether in bulk or in packages. 



-Manufactured meats are meats not included in the above, 

 whether simple or mixed, whole or comminuted, in bulk or 

 packages, with or without the addition of salt, sugar, vinegar, 

 spices, smoke, oils, or rendered fat. 



Lard is the rendered fresh fat from slaughtered healthy hogs, 

 Leaf lard is the lard rendered at moderately high temperatures 

 from the internal fat of the abdomen of the hog, excluding that 

 adherent to the intestines. Standard lard, and standard leaf 

 lard, are lard and leaf lard respectively, free from rancidity 

 containing not more than 1 per cent, of substances, other than 

 fatty acids, not fat, necessarily incorporated therewith in the 

 process of rendering, and standard leaf lard has an iodine 

 number not greater than 60. Neutral lard is lard rendered at 

 low temperatures. 



Milk {whole milk) is the lacteal secretion obtained by the 

 complete milking of one or more healthy cows, properly fed and 

 kept, excluding that obtained within fifteen days before and five 

 days after calving. Standard milk is milk containing not less 

 than 12 per cent, of total solids, and not less than 8*5 per cent, 

 of solids not fat, nor less than 3*25 per cent, of milk fat. 



Blended milk is milk modified in its composition so as to 

 have a definite and stated percentage of one or more of its 

 constituents. 



