REPORT OF THE CHEMIST.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY, Washington, D. C., September 1, 1911.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual report of the Bureau of Chemistry for the year ending June 30, 1911, together with the plans for the work proposed for the next fiscal year.

Respectfully,

Hon. JAMES WILSON,

Secretary of Agriculture.

H. W. WILEY,

Chief of Bureau.

FOOD AND DRUG INSPECTION.

GENERAL NATURE AND VOLUME OF THE INSPECTORS' WORK.

As the initial force in the correction of violations of the food and drugs act of June 30, 1906, the inspectors continued their work of locating and reporting instances of the production and shipment of misbranded or adulterated foods or drugs, and procuring samples of the same for examination. References of this nature, when confirmed by the necessary examinations and analyses, form the bases of punitive actions directed against the persons, firms, or corporations who may be responsible for the violations, or cause the institution of libel actions against the commodities at fault. The department submitted 312 of the latter cases to the appropriate United States district attorneys, who caused the issuance of summary orders by the proper courts to restrain traffic in the goods. After due trial some of these goods were destroyed and others returned to the claimants upon the submission of satisfactory evidence that they would not be disposed of contrary to law. The scope of inspection work as far as libel actions are concerned was very materially enlarged by a decision of the Supreme Court within the past year. It was held that an interstate shipment made in violation of the law was subject to seizure as long as the product remained in the original, unbroken package, regardless of the extent to which the shipment had entered the commerce of the State by means of intrastate sales subsequent to its delivery to the original interstate consignee.

The number of official samples collected during the past fiscal year was approximately 9,500. These were representative of products which had actually been shipped into interstate commerce for distribution to the consuming public and were subjected to examination for

purity and grade. Although there has been a great improvement in the character of foods and drugs now being manufactured and sold, as well as in the representations made concerning them, the number of prosecutions concluded during this year was greater than ever, and resulted in the inspectors devoting much time to attendance at trials and in securing needed evidence at the request of prosecuting attorneys; this, of course, affected the volume of routine inspection work. In addition to the samples mentioned, there were also obtained approximately 2,000 informal samples for the information of the bureau, for scientific research, or to indicate the general character of interstate shipments. The careful inspection of factories was not neglected, and as the location of certain classes of producers becomes better known this branch of the inspection work is being systematized so that more results are obtained with less expenditure of time and effort.

COOPERATION OF INSPECTORS IN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS.

WORK CONTINUED FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

SARDINES. Among the unfinished work of the preceding year was the investigation of the sardine-packing industry, which it was impossible to conclude within the usual season because of the late run of fish. This was continued during the summer and fall of 1910, and a number of reports and specimens were submitted, the examination of which verified the belief that the products were unfit for food purposes either because of age and spoilage or contamination with tin. A number of seizures of such goods was made, the last and most important of these consisting of 8 carloads of sardines which were seized before the consignee, a packing firm, had an opportunity to process them. In this case the goods were in such an advanced stage of decomposition as to constitute an adulteration. The inspectors were aided in this investigation by a number of firms and individuals connected with the trade, who were desirous of checking certain undesirable practices which had begun to invade the industry.

BLEACHED FLOUR.-The collection of official samples of flour which had been bleached with nitrogen peroxid was also continued, for repeated investigations proved that a number of mills were continuing to ship interstate consignments of such products in the face of adverse decisions by the courts. The data thus obtained was used in sustaining the department's position in the bleached-flour appeal case which was argued in the spring of 1911, following the decision in Kansas City in July, 1910.

EGG PRODUCTS AND VINEGARS.-In spite of the many actions brought against shipments of egg products which were unfit for food purposes because of filthiness, putridity, or decomposition, traffic in such inferior articles of food did not seem to abate, as a résumé of the inspection work shows that a far greater number of samples of such adulterated eggs were collected and more seizures made during this period than in the preceding year. Vinegar is another substance which continued to be the subject of sophistication, and a great many instances of adulteration have been reported, the chief form of which is the admixture of inferior vinegar with cider vinegar, and the subsequent misbranding of the compounds as apple or cider vinegar.

CITRUS FRUITS.-The investigation concerning the shipment of immature citrus fruits, begun several years ago, was again taken up at the proper season, and the collection of samples and of necessary information was continued over such a length of time as to enable the bureau to establish beyond a doubt that the interstate traffic in unripe fruit of this character, which was subsequently treated to increase the color in the peel in order to simulate full development and mature fruit, was an illegal practice. The conclusion of this investigation was followed by the issuance of Food Inspection Decision 133, giving the opinion of the department in this matter, especially as it relates to oranges.

MILK INSPECTION.-The intrusion of other work operated against the massing of a large force of inspectors at any one point, such as has been customary in conducting milk campaigns in the past, but this did not prevent a scrutiny of the milk products furnished to a number of cities throughout the country. The collection of samples in these instances was undertaken by a fewer number of inspectors who were favorably situated at locations affording strategic advantages. It is worthy of note that these collections showed that the adulteration of such valuable food substances as milk and cream is less prevalent than formerly.

NEW INVESTIGATIONS.

When the examination of a great many samples of a given line of products indicates that there are but few instances of violations, further collection is discontinued and attention is given to a new class of material. This policy caused the abandonment of some of the former subjects of investigation and the substitution in their stead of other inquiries, several of which are especially noteworthy. Simultaneous investigation was made during the fall of 1910, in a number of localities, of the tomato-canning industry. This inquiry developed that it had been a practice for factories to utilize tomato refuse in preparing soup stocks and pastes, and as this material was permitted to remain unprocessed for considerable lengths of time, under conditions which were often the reverse of sanitary, it was plain that the finished products could not be free from evidences of spoilage and bacterial contamination. As the analyses substantiated and confirmed the findings of the inspectors relative to the filthy condition of such articles, prompt steps were taken to suppress traffic in such goods, and a great many seizure actions were submitted by the department to the Department of Justice for appropriate proceeding.

The investigation of the presence of arsenic in food materials had progressed far enough to indicate that this deleterious substance was found only too frequently, and a great many official samples have been collected of baking powders and baking-powder materials, colors, and shellac and other coating materials used in the manufacture of confectionery. A large number of these contained arsenic in prohibited amounts and led to the institution of many libel recommendations. The collection of specimens of cheap confectionery during the holiday seasons, such as Christmas and Easter, revealed the too prevalent use of coloring agents and filling materials of questionable value.

The former practice of improperly branding as "Mocha" or "Java" coffees grown elsewhere than in Arabia or the Dutch East Indies has

been practically abandoned as far as interstate shipments are concerned, but a different form of sophistication was revealed in the manipulation or sweating of inferior grades of coffee to improve the appearance and to enable the sale at increased prices under false designations. Since the seizure of one shipment of this processed coffee no further violations of this sort have been reported. Greater attention was also paid to the manufacture of the various forms of prepared and dried mustard, as quite large quantities of charlock or wild mustard are known to be used, and endeavor was made to prevent the substitutions of this for pure mustard without proper declaration on the label.

Considerable attention has been given also to the spurious champagnes or champagne ciders which masquerade under the guise of genuine bottle-fermented wines. The inspectors continue to maintain vigilant supervision over bulk goods which may be misbranded as to weight or capacity; the chief commodities which are thus misbranded have been found to be vinegar, cheese, meal, and stock feeds. Since the passage of the insecticide and fungicide act the inspectors have also been charged with the collection of official samples of such commodities which have been shipped into interstate commerce subsequent to January 1, 1911.

COOPERATION IN SCIENTIFIC STUDIES.

The scientific branches of the bureau have continued to request that inspectors take up special subjects for investigation, and as instances of this sort there may be mentioned the following: The investigation of the production of infant and invalid foods, at the request of the animal physiological laboratory; the collection of authentic samples of animal and vegetable oils, together with reports on the attending processes of manufacture, for the information of the fat, oils, and wax laboratory; inspection of breweries for the purpose of making a closer study of the manufacture of beers and other fermented liquors; an extended investigation of the molasses industry, with particular reference to the moisture content in molasses, and the continued collection of authentic samples and the investigation of the manufacture of maple products, for the information of the sugar laboratory; inspection of the sources of spring waters and collection of samples, at the request of the water laboratory; and the investigation of pseudo cod-fiver oil preparations at the request of the drug division.

DRUG INSPECTION.

The inspection of factories producing drug products and the supervision of interstate traffic in the case of such goods was continued. Many samples of patent and proprietary medicines were obtained for examination by the drug division, and, in addition to these, official samples were also collected of a number of pharmaceuticals which are recognized by the United States Pharmocopoeia and the National Formulary. Such goods are not offered to the consuming public directly, as is the case with patent medicines, but they are manufactured for dispensing upon physicians' prescriptions, and the necessity for such articles conforming to the prescribed standards of purity and

strength is greater even than in the case of other substances whose sophistication would prove no more serious than perpetrating a fraud upon the purchaser. Several instances of violations of the law were developed in the case of adulterated crude drugs, not indigenous to this country, which were imported through ports not having laboratory inspection, and thus escaping the examination which is always made at laboratory ports. In addition to these, there were also obtained official samples of many varieties of native as well as imported crude drugs, which were forwarded to the drug division for examination.

WORK OF THE INSPECTION LABORATORIES.

Samples of interstate foods and drugs taken by the inspectors and samples of imported foods taken at the ports of entry are referred for analysis and report to the appropriate laboratory in Washington or to one of the 21 branch laboratories in other cities. The reports of the branch laboratories on these samples are referred to the appropriate laboratory in Washington for filing, and in case of those samples believed to be in violation of the law for the preparation of the proper information for the Solicitor's Office. The offices of the Bureau of Chemistry in Washington charged in this manner with the preparation of cases are: The Washington food inspection laboratory and the laboratory of food technology of the division of foods, the Washington drug inspection laboratory of the division of drugs, the water laboratory and the cattle food and grain laboratory of the miscellaneous division, and the dairy laboratory. In addition to this other laboratories and divisions make both original and check analyses of samples, but report their results to one of the laboratories mentioned above for the preparation of the case for the Solicitor. In this class may be mentioned especially the sugar laboratory and the microchemical and bacteriological laboratories, whose cases are prepared by the Washington food inspection laboratory, and the leather and paper laboratory, which examines samples of turpentine and reports its results to the division of drugs.

WASHINGTON DRUG INSPECTION LABORATory.

During the past year the Washington drug inspection laboratory has examined 752 samples as follows: Eighty check analyses of imported drugs, 60 check analyses of domestic drugs, and 73 import products coming directly under this laboratory, the remainder, 529 samples, being domestic products; 231 of the latter were found to be either adulterated or misbranded or both, and 421 cases of interstate drugs judged to be adulterated or misbranded were prepared in this laboratory and reported to the chief of the bureau for transmission to the Solicitor. Two hundred and seventy-five cases on imported drugs, referred from the port laboratories for action, were prepared for the Board of Food and Drug Inspection, 248 of which were found to be contrary to law and 27 were released without prejudice. A number of consignments of domestic drugs have been recommended for seizure on the ground of being misbranded or adulterated or both.