REPORTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSTS AND EXAMINERS, UNDER THE LAW FOR PREVENTING THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRUGS. 66 As provided and directed by the law known as, An act to prevent the adulteration of food or drugs, chapter 407, passed June 8, 1881, the State Board of Health held a special meeting on the 23d of June to adopt such measures as seemed necessary to facilitate the enforcement of the act, and to prepare rules and regulations and appoint the necessary inspectors and analysts. The act is in the following words, namely: "AN ACT to prevent the adulteration of food or drugs." [Chapter 407, Laws of 1881.] The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. No person shall, within this State, manufacture, have, offer for sale, or sell any article of food or drugs which is adulterated within the meaning of this act, and any person violating this provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding fifty dollars for the first offense, and not exceeding one hundred dollars for each subsequent offense. § 2. The term "food," as used in this act, shall include every article used for food or drink by man. The term "drug," as used in this act, shall include all medicines for internal and external use. § 3. An article shall be deemed to be adulterated within the meaning of this act a.- In the case of drugs. 1. If, when sold under or by a name recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, it differs from the standard of strength, quality, or purity laid down therein. 2. If, when sold under or by a name not recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, but which is found in some other pharmacopoeia or other standard work on Materia Medica, it differs materially from the standard of strength, quality, or purity laid down in such work. 3. If its strength or purity fall below the professed standard under which it is sold. b. In the case of food or drink. 1. If any substance or substances has or have been mixed with it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength. 2. If any inferior or cheaper substance or substances have been substituted wholly or in part for the article. 3. If any valuable constitutent of the article has been wholly or in part abstracted. 4. If it be an imitation of, or be sold under the name of, another article. 5. If it consists wholly or in part of a deceased or decomposed, or putrid or rotten, animal or vegetable substance, whether manufactured or not, or, in the case of milk, if it is the produce of a diseased animal. 6. If it be colored, or coated, or polished, or powdered, whereby damage is concealed, or it is made to appear better than it really is, or of greater value. 7. If it contains any added poisonous ingredient, or any ingredient which may render such article injurious to the health of a person consuming it: Provided, that the State Board of Health may, with the approval of the governor, from time to time declare certain articles or preparations to be exempt from the provisions of this act: And provided further, that the provisions of this act shall not apply to mixtures or compounds recognized as ordinary articles of food, provided that the same are not injurious to health and that the articles are distinctly labelled as a mixture, stating the components of the mixture. 84. It shall be the duty of the State Board of Health to prepare and publish from time to time, lists of the articles, mixtures or compounds declared to be exempt from the provisions of this act in accordance with the preceding section. The State Board of Health shall also from time to time fix the limits of variability permissible in any article of food or drug or compound, the standard of which is not established, by any national pharmacopoeia. § 5. The State Board of Health shall take cognizance of the interests of the public health as it relates to the sale of food and drugs and the adulteration of the same, and make all necessary investigations and inquiries relating thereto. It shall also have the supervision of the appointment of public analysts and chemists, and upon its recommendation whenever it shall deem any such officers incompetent, the appointment of any and every such officer shall be revoked and be held to be void and of no effect. Within thirty days after the passage of this act, the State Board of Health shall meet and adopt such measures as may seem necessary to facilitate the enforcement of this act, and prepare rules and regulations with regard to the proper methods of collecting and examining articles of food or drugs, and for the appointment of the necessary inspectors and analysts; and the State Board of Health shall be authorized to expend, in addition to all sums already appropriated for said Board, an amount not exceeding ten thousand dollars for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act. And the sum of ten thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, for the purposes in this section provided. §6. Every person selling or offering or exposing any article of food or drugs for sale, or delivering any article to purchasers, shall be bound to serve or supply any public analyst or other agent of the State or local Board of Health appointed under this act, who shall apply to him for that purpose, and on his tendering the value of the same, with a sample sufficient for the purpose of analysis of any article which is included in this act, and which is in the possession of the person selling, under a penalty not exceeding fifty dollars for a first offense, and one hundred dollars for a second and subsequent offenses. 7. Any violation of the provisions of this act shall be treated and punished as a misdemeanor; and whoever shall impede, obstruct, hinder, or otherwise prevent any analyst, inspector or prosecuting officer in the performance of his duty, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to indictment and punishment therefor. § 8. Any acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. $9. All the regulations and declarations of the State Board of Health made under this act, from time to time and promulgated, shall be printed in the statutes at large. $10. This act shall take effect at the expiration of ninety days after it shall become a law. As directed by the Board at its meeting, June 23, the following circular of information and suggestion was issued: CONCERNING THE LAW TO PREVENT ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRUGS. OFFICE OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, The State Board of Health is required by this law to take cognizance of the interests of health as they relate to the sale of food and drugs, and the adulterations of the same. For this purpose it has undertaken the necessary investigations, and it now appeals to the people of the State for information and suggestions that may lead to the correction of wrong practices which the provisions of this law are designed to prevent. Information and voluntary reports are specially desired concerning the following points; In regard to Food-articles : 1. Whatever is known or suspected of the adulteration of milk, condensed or uncondensed. 2. Whatever is known or suspected of adulterations and spurious materials sold as dairy butter. 3. Whatever is known or suspected of spurious or artificial liquids sold as wine. 4. Whatever spurious or adulterated substances are combined with or sold as sugar. 5. Whatever alkaline and other earthy substance is fraudulently sold as soda and its salts. 6. Whatever artificial mixtures are sold as baking powders, concerning which there is proof of injurious effects on health. 7. Whatever sugars, confections or other mixtures are known or believed to contain terra alba, or other earthy and mineral or metallic substances. 8. Whatever substances, mixtures or compounds recognized or sold as articles of food, drink, or medicine, are in, or to be placed in, the market for sale, and which are below the natural quality or strength, or which in the judgment of those concerned may be sold and used as articles of food, beverage or medicine, in accordance with the exemptions provided in sections 3 and 4 of chapter 407. In regard to Drugs or Medicines: 1. Whatever substances are known or suspected of any adulteration, or any depreciation from the officinal standards of the Materia Medica, and the Pharmacopoeia, as designated in section 2, chapter 407, of the Laws of 1881. 2. Whenever a drug or compound, the composition of which is not established by a national pharmacopoeia, shall be manufactured, offered and used in the State of New York, the standard ingredients of its composition and the range of variability from such standard or standards should be duly certified and officially filed at the office of the State Board of Health. There are medicinal compounds, of this kind, of such practical and extensive use, that their correct standards should be maintained by whoever makes and sells them. Ar This Board has appointed eight distinguished chemical analysts, located in various parts of the State, to serve under this law. rangements have been made for collecting, the necessary samples of food-articles and drugs. Whenever a citizen in this State desires to have samples of food or drugs tested, which are suspected of adulteration or other fault, he will please give notice by mail to Prof. Charles F. Chandler, chairman of the sanitary committee of this Board, under whose supervision the analyses and investigations are conducted, who will return his request, etc., concerning the same. The rules he will give in each case for procoring and sealing up samples for analysis should be followed. Request. All who are interested in promoting the welfare of life and health by guarding against adulterated and deleterious articles of food, beverages and medicine, will please carefully to observe and inquire concerning the illegal traffic in such articles; and this Board specially requests that whenever any person is cognizant of a case, or cases, in which there is, or seems to be, evidence of poisoning or injury from the use of any food-articles, beverages, drugs, condiments, and the accessories of food, information should be immediately given to the State Board of Health at its Albany office, and the reason for such opinion should be at once communicated, with the name of the informer. All such names and information will be so reserved, and the Board's action will be so directly responsible, that no inconvenience shall result to informants. The State Board of Health desires the fact to be well understood by the public that this law originated as a national measure for the protection of the people, as recommended by the National Board of Health and National Board of Trade; and that in the State of New York its administration will be based upon effectual co-operation of the State Board of Health with the people and honest producers and tradesmen, and upon the faithfulness and skill of this Board's care. fully selected chemical analysts. On behalf of the State Board of Health, At its meeting in June this Board placed the supervision of all work connected with the Food and Drug Law under that subdivision of its members known as its Sanitary Committee; and on the 6th of July the chemists and examiners convened in the city of New York and entered upon organized work under the direction of said committee, of which Prof. Charles F. Chandler, of Columbia College, is chairman. A definite rate of compensation was agreed upon and soon was accepted by the eight chemists thus engaged. Two expert inspectors were employed to gather samples for the use of the chemical analysts, and for ascertaining the facts relating to the substances used as foods, beverages and drugs. Subsequently a third expert inspector was employed. E. H., Secretary. REPORT OF THE SANITARY COMMITTEE OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH ON THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRUGS. By CHARLES F. CHANDLER, Ph. D., Chairman. The Sanitary Committee makes the following report on the work performed during the past year in carrying out the provisions of chapter 407 of the Laws of 1881, entitled "An act to prevent the Adulteration of Food and Drugs;" passed May 28, 1881. It was decided by the Board that the first step in carrying out the provisions of this act should be a careful examination of the food and drugs sold in different parts of the State in order to ascertain the nature and extent of the adulteration practiced; also to have carefully examined the methods of analysis in use for the detection of such adulterations, and to have presented for the use of those on whom the enforcement of the act would finally devolve the best literature on the subject. For this purpose the different articles of food and drugs were divided into twelve groups, and these were assigned to chemists in different parts of the State for investigation and report. The following list exhibits the classification : ANIMAL FOOD. I. Milk fresh and condensed. Assigned to C. F. Chandler, Ph. D., Columbia College, New York. II. Butter, dairy and artificial; cheese; lard; olive oil; and fruit essences. Assigned to G. C. Caldwell, Ph. D., Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. III. Canned meats and animal foods, fresh, smoked, salted, canned; extracts and essences of meat and fish; gelatine and isinglass. Assigned to A. H. Chester, Ph. D., Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. VEGETABLE FOOD. IV. Cereals, and the products and accessories of flour and bread foods, wheat, rye, barley and rice, oatmeal, corn-meal, sago, tapioca |