Am'ju^er'i909arm'}        Food  and  Drug  Adulteration.  269 
ditions,  that  it  has  seemed  to  outstrip  the  commercial  enterprises 
which  have  to  do  with  the  preparation  and  sale  of  food  stuffs,  but 
a  closer  examination  of  the  facts  clearly  shows  that  this  lack  of 
progress  is  apparent  and  not  real.  When  we  compare  existing 
conditions  in  our  own  city  and  State  along  the  general  line  of 
food  and  drug  adulteration  with  those  of  only  five  years  ago,  we 
will  seem  to  have  stepped  from  darkness  into  light,  so  marked 
has  been  the  actual  progress  to  those  who  have  been  in  a  position 
to  closely  observe  it.  From  the  numerous  instances  which  have 
come  under  my  observation  during  the  past  five  years  I  propose 
to  briefly  consider  a  few  of  those  which  are  more  important. 
The  title  "  olive  oil  "  has  always  been  understood  by  the  con- 
suming public  to  mean  the  oil  expressed  from  olives,  but  a  few 
years  ago  the  material  which  was  sold  as  olive  oil  in  the  majority 
of  cases  consisted  of  cotton-seed  or  some  other  inferior  vegetable 
oil.  Now  olive  oil  in  its  pure  state  has  a  recognized  food  value, 
and  is  frequently  prescribed  as  an  addition  to  the  dietary  of  poorly 
nourished  persons,  particularly  those  suffering  from  so-called  wast- 
ing diseases,  such  as  tuberculosis.  While  it  is  true  that  a  prime 
or  first-class  variety  of  cotton-seed,  peanut,  or  sesame  oil  also 
possesses  food  value,  it  is  also  a  fact  that  the  substituted  oil  in 
most  cases  was  found  to  be  of  very  inferior  quality,  often  slightly 
rancid,  and  the  substitution  was  therefore  prejudicial  to  the  health 
of  the  consumer  as  well  as  to  his  pocketbook.  The  deception  in 
the  case  of  olive  oil  was  all  the  more  flagrant  on  account  of  the 
fact  that  the  style  of  the  packages  was  intended  to  convey  the  im- 
pression that  they  were  original,  as  imported,  being  close  imitations 
of  genuine  original  packages,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  degree  of  adul- 
teration was  in  direct  ratio  to  the  number  of  medals  pictured  on 
the  label  and  the  claims  for  purity  of  the  product.  This  nefarious 
practice  has  been  almost  entirely  wiped  out,  and  the  payment  of 
fines  in  no  less  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  cases  brought  by  the 
Pennsylvania  Dairy  and  Food  Department  was  undoubtedly  the 
main  factor  in  bringing  about  the  observance  of  the  law  with  re- 
gard to  this  product  which  is  so  marked  at  the  present  time. 
Milk  is  a  food  product  second  in  importance  to  no  other,  and 
as  it  is  almost  the  sole  article  of  diet  of  a  large  proportion  of  our 
population,  and  has  an  important  place  in  feeding  tuberculosis 
patients,  its  purity  should  be  unwaveringly  maintained.  Strict  and 
careful  supervision  by  municipal  authorities  has  been  supplemented 
