REPORT OF COMMITTEE C ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF REFEREES.

By R. E. DOOLITTLE (Transportation Building, Chicago, Ill.), Chairman. [Food preservatives, coloring matters in foods, metals in foods, fruits and fruit products' canned vegetables, cereal foods, wines, soft drinks (bottlers' products), distilled liquors, beers, vinegars, flavoring extracts, meat and meat products (separation of nitrogenous compounds in meat products, meat extracts), eggs and egg products, gelatin, edible fats and oils, spices and other condiments, cacao products, coffee, tea, baking powder.]

FOOD PRESERVATIVES.

No report or recommendations received.

Your committee, however, submits the following suggestions, from the recommendations of the referee for 1917, for study during the coming

year:

(1) That further work be done on Method II1, for the determination of saccharin in the presence of mustard oil.

Approved.

(2) That other methods not dependent upon the sulphur component of saccharin be investigated.

Approved.

(3) That further work be done upon the determination of saccharin in baked flour preparations.

Approved.

COLORING MATTERS IN FOODS.

The report of the referee was not referred to Committee C.

(1) Your committee understands, however, that there has recently been completed in the Bureau of Chemistry some work on methods for the separation and adulteration of oil-soluble dyes. It is suggested that these methods be investigated by the referee for collaborative study. Approved.

(2) Your committee further recommends that the referee undertake a study of the methods in the Chapter on Coloring Matters in Foods2 for the purpose of recommending at the next meeting such methods as may be made official.

Approved.

(3) That the work on natural coloring matters be continued. Approved.

METALS IN FOODS.

The referee submits the following recommendations3:

J. Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, 1920, 3: 505.

2 Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, Methods, 1916, 155. J. Assoc Official Agr. Chemists, 1921, 4: 455.

(1) That the Gutzeit method for arsenic be described in its essential details, with explanation of the precautions necessary to obtain uniform results, with a view to its adoption in 1920 as an official method.

Your committee does not approve this recommendation. The committee is of the opinion that the various steps in the methods should be given in such detail that an analyst unfamiliar with the method can make the determinations; that essential details which can not be varied shall be so described and thus made empirical; that where slight changes or modifications may be made they be indicated in the description of the apparatus or manipulation, as the case may be.

Committee action approved by association.

(2) That the volumetric method and the gravimetric method for tin be described in essential details for adoption as official methods in 1920. Your committee does not approve this recommendation for the reasons given above. As a substitute, your committee recommends that the gravimetric method for the determination of tin1 be made official and that the volumetric method for the determination of tin1 be made official. This is the first presentation of the methods to the association for adoption as official methods.

Committee recommendation approved by association.

(3) That further study be made of the Penniman method for tin in canned foods, and, if studies now in progress justify further test of this method or modifications of it, collaborative work be done on the method. Your committee approves this recommendation.

Approved by association.

(4) That methods for determining zinc, aluminium, and copper be made the subject of study as soon as possible.

Your committee approves this recommendation.
Approved by association.

FRUITS AND FRUIT PRODUCTS.

No report of referee or recommendations received.

Your committee desires to call attention to the recommendation made in 1917 that methods for the detection of pectin from apple pomace, used in the manufacture of jellies and jams, be studied.

CANNED VEGETABLES.

No report of referee or recommendations received.

Your committee desires to call attention to the recommendation made at the 1917 meeting that the referee be instructed to study methods peculiarly adapted to the examination of canned foods, especially methods for the detection of spoilage and conditions which are likely to lead to spoilage.

1 Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, Methods, 1916, 173.

CEREAL FOODS.

No report of referee or recommendations received.

Your committee desires to call to the attention of the incoming referee the recommendations made at the 1917 meeting1, which were as follows:

It is recommended

(1) That the work on the determination of moisture, gluten, soluble carbohydrates, cold water extract, chlorin, and ash be continued. Approved.

(2) That the referee study methods for the determination of fat in baked cereal products.

Approved.

WINES.

The referee submitted the following recommendations2:

(1) That the subject of wines be dropped from the association work on account of prohibition.

It is the opinion of your committee that it would be inadvisable to discontinue the referee on wines for reason of the necessity of work on methods for grape juice and other fruit juice beverages. It is therefore recommended that the referee on wines be continued.

Committee recommendation approved by association.

(2) That an additional study of the Rothenfusser method be made upon vinegars or grape juice.

Your committee approves this recommendation.
Approved by association.

Your committee makes the following additional recommendation:

(3) That studies be undertaken for the development of a method for the detection of methyl anthranilate, used for imparting flavor to the so-called "dealcoholized wines", grape juice preparations, and similar products.

Approved.

SOFT DRINKS (BOTTLERS' PRODUCTS).

The referee, in his 1917 report, refers to the preliminary work that has been done in his laboratory on methods for the analysis of soft drinks, and recommends that the work be continued.

Your committee approves this recommendation.
Approved by association.

J. Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, 1920, 4: 253.

2 Ibid., 1921, 4: 463.

DISTILLED LIQUORS.

The referee has submitted no recommendations for work for the coming year. Your committee has no lines of work to suggest, and unless some member of the association has a suggestion to make as to work that might be taken up advantageously by a referee on this subject, your committee suggests that the position of referee on distilled liquors be discontinued.

Approved.

BEERS.

No report of referee or recommendations received.

Your committee submits the following suggestions for the work of the referee during the coming year:

(1) That a study be made of the method for the determination of alcohol to determine limits of accuracy.

Many of the revenue and regulatory laws now define the term "intoxicating beverage", and it is essential that the analyst should know definitely the limits of the method he is using and may be called upon to defend in court.

Approved.

(2) That methods for the analysis of cereal beverages or so-called "near beers" be studied.

Due to the prohibition laws, this class of preparations is appearing upon the market in large numbers and under various names, and it is important that the control analyst should know to what extent existing methods are applicable, and have information regarding other methods for the analysis of these preparations.

Approved.

VINEGARS.

The referee on vinegars recommends that the methods for the following determinations1 be made official, pages 467-8:

1, PHYSICAL EXAMINATION.

2, PREPARATION of sample.

3, SPECIFIC GRAVITY.

4, ALCOHOL.

8, TOTAL REDUcing substances BEFORE INVERSION.

9, REDUCING SUGARS BEFORE INVERSION AFTER EVAPORATION.

10, REDUCING SUGARS AFTER INVERSION.

13, ASH.

14, SOLUBLE AND INSOLUBLE ash.

15, ALKALINITY OF THE SOLUBLE Ash.

16, SOLUBLE AND INSOLUBLE PHOSPHORIC ACID.

17, TOTAL ACIDS.

23, PENTOSANS.

1 Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, Methods, 1916, 253.

Your committee finds that all of the above methods, with the exception of two, viz, "Physical Examination" and "Alcohol," were made official by the association at the 1917 meeting1 upon recommendation of the Committee on Editing Methods of Analysis.

It is therefore recommended

(1) That the methods for "Physical Examination" and "Alcohol"" be made official.

First presentation of these methods for adoption as official methods. Approved.

(2) That the incoming referee select the more important of the remaining methods for further critical work with a view to improvement, namely:

5, GLYCEROL.

7, SOLIDS.

18, FIXED ACIDS.

Your committee approves this recommendation.
Approved by association.

FLAVORING EXTRACTS.

The referee on flavoring extracts submits the following recommendations, page 479:

(1) That the rapid methods for vanillin (Folin's quantitative), coumarin (Wichmann's qualitative), and lead number (Wichmann's quantitative), while meritorious, be held in abeyance until: (a) Sufficient data are collated on authentic samples of vanilla extracts to enable satisfactory interpretation of analyses; (b) the new lead number is submitted in some form in which it will not be confused with the present official method; and (c) a satisfactory quantitative rapid method for coumarin has been developed. Investigations along these lines by individuals, especially by the authors of the methods, are urged.

Your committee approves this recommendation.

Approved by association.

(2) That a study of methods of analysis of imitation vanilla preparations containing large quantities of coumarin and vanillin be undertaken. Your committee approves this recommendation.

Approved by association.

(3) That Hortvet and West's method3 for alcohol in lemon and orange extracts be adopted as an official alternative method for extracts consisting only of oil, alcohol and water.

1 J. Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, 1920, 4: 264.

Assoc. Official Agr. Chemists, Methods, 1916, 253.

J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 1909, 1: 84.