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resent a certain kind of product and this kind of product is defined 
and established by the standard. Therefore the protests against the 
standard as being too high and oppressive to the consumer and 
impossible of observation by the manufacturer have no basis of fact 
on which to stand. 
A careful study of all the evidence which has been submitted and 
of the authorities leads to the conclusion that ice cream should be 
made of cream, that no other ingredient should be used except the 
sugar and the flavor or fruit, that it should contain not less than 14 
per cent of butter fat where concentrated flavors are used and not 
less than 12 per cent where fruits are used, and with such a defini- 
tion and standard each consumer will know exactly what he buys 
and each manufacturer will know exactly what he shall make. If it 
be desirable to make other frozen puddings, custards, dainties, 
desserts, etc., at the will of the manufacturer, neither the law nor 
the standard raises any objections thereto, but these products should 
be delivered to the consumer under their proper names and not bear 
the name of a standard product on which the physician and the con- 
sumer both rely. 
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
From a careful study of the data which have been collected it is 
evident the following conclusions may be drawn : 
First. The sanitary conditions of many of the localities where ice 
cream is manufactured in the District of Columbia are not at all 
satisfactory. Eadical improvements in such localities are necessary 
to secure purity and freedom from contamination. It is a recognized 
fact that many cases of violent poisoning which arise from eating 
cream or ice cream are due to insanitary conditions surrounding the 
dairy or ice cream factory, the storage for an improper length of time 
of these products, and the contamination which they suffer by reason 
of insanitary conditions by infection from preexisting poisonous 
bodies. The development of ptomaine poisoning in cream and ice 
cream is entirely prevented by using a fresh sanitary raw product, 
manufacturing it in perfectly clean surroundings, and disposing of 
it within a reasonable length of time after manufacture. 
Second. The average percentage of fat in the cream sold com- 
mercially in the District of Columbia is slightly less than that re- 
quired by the statute governing the sale of cream in the District of 
Columbia. It is, however, well within the standard established for 
cream in general by the Secretary of Agriculture. As long as the 
Act of Congress relating to the standard of cream in the District of 
Columbia is on the statute books the dealers should comply with its 
provisions and cream containing less than 20 per cent of butter fat 
should not be sold in the District. 
