3. In connection with the handling of food stuffs, and the development of various technical processes in their treatment, certain practices arose, many of which were fraudulent in char acter and a few perhaps inimical to health, which the Federal and State governments have endeavored to suppress by means of the so-called Pure Food Legislation. These objectionable practises are commonly known as adulterations and according to most legislation are classified as follows: (a) Mixing the material with foreign substances to reduce or lower, or injuriously affect the quality or strength, as for example the mixing of water with milk.
(b) The substitution of one substance for another, either wholly or in part, such as the employment of cotton seed oil for olive oil.
(c) The removal of any valuable constituent either wholly or in part, as for example the skimming of cream from milk.
(d) The treatment of the food stuff to conceal damage or inferiority, as for example the addition of sulphites to old meat to give it a bright red color.
(e) The presence of added deleterious ingredients, injurious to health. The so-called chemical preservatives come under this head, such as borax or formalin.
(f) Or the retail of food stuffs that are wholly or in part de composed. filthy, or putrid.
It can readily be seen that for the most part the practices grouped here deal practically with the cheating of the purchaser or consumer by unscrupulous dealers, and as such more directly affect the pocket book than it does health.
4. Most food stuffs are as well adapted to the needs of various other forms of life as they are to man's, particularly to micro organisms. As a consequence of the activity of these, most food stuffs readily spoil or undergo decomposition. One of the greatest forward steps in our economic progress has been the dis covery and application of means whereby decomposition may be prevented. Thus seasonable and perishable foods may he kept from years of plenty to years of scarcity, perishable foods may be transported to distant markets, and dense concen trations of population at a great distance from their source of food supply are possible. The great cities of our day have developed progressively with the development of food preservation.
The object of food preservation is to preserve the nutritive value of the food stuffs and their palatability for an indefinite period and at least until the next season. Food stuffs designed for preservation should be fresh and wholesome in their raw state. The methods of preservation are all designed to inhibit the activity of the micro-organisms which produce the changes of decomposition. Amone, these we may mention refrigeration and freezing. drying, salting, smoking, canning by the aid of heat (sterilization), preserving by the use of strong sugar solu tions, and the use of antiseptic chemicals, such as vinegar and spices.
3. Of equal if not of greater importance with production from a hygienic aspect, are the conditions of retail sale and consump tion of food stuffs, particularly from the standpoint of the transmission of infective agents. Food stuffs on the retail market are as a rule but a few hours away from their consump tion, so that if contaminated with infective agents the chances for the survival of the latter and their successful invasion of the consumer are excellent. From an esthetic standpoint, the physical appearance of a retailer's wares influences the purchases a customer will make. The two conditions we have mentioned are affected by the character of the retail establish ment, its cleanliness, the number and variety of vermin present and whether food stuffs are protected from vermin as well as unnecessary handling by both clerks and prospective customers. And in this connection restaurants are of equal if not greater importance than retail stores. Clerks, waiters, cooks, dish washers, etc., may be typhoid carriers or in the active infective stage of venereal disease or other infection; or the knives, forks, spoons, plates, cups, etc. of eating houses may not be adequately cleansed between the services they render to suc cessive patrons, so that infective agents survive upon them. In this capacity soft drink stands are of great importance. The ordinary methods of washing dishes, glassware and eating utensils employed in restaurants and eating houses are insuffi cient to destroy infective agents present in the buccal secretions with which they are contaminated after use. Furthermore they serve to distribute these over all other dishes which are being washed at the same time. The use of boiling water is the most practical method for effecting this sterilization. The dishes, etc., are given a preliminary cleaning in hot water sup plemented with soap, or in soap suds, and then placed in a wire basket, which is dipped into a large kettle of boiling water kept constantly available for this purpose. This method of handling dishes possesses the additional advantage that no subsequent wiping is necessary. Or in the retail stores, food stuffs many of which are ordinarily eaten without further heating or cooking, are exposed to flies, roaches, rats, mice, dogs, or the fingers of prospective customers. Thus their con tamination with infective secretions may occur and infective agents upon them stand an excellent chance of reaching a new host. Employees who have cases of diseases transmitted by contact in their families should be excluded from employment until it is ascertained they are free from infection and that they subsequently remain away from their infected household during its quarantine.