LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DAIRY AND FOOD DEPARTMENT,
Lansing, Michigan.

Hon. Chase S. Osborn, Governor :

Sir:-In compliance with the provisions of section 9, Act No. 211, Public Acts of 1893, I have the honor to submit the report in detail of the work of this Department for the year ending June 30, 1912.

The policy of the present administration of the Michigan Dairy and Food Department has been to accomplish as much work as possible at the least possible expense. During the year there were employed in inspection work on an average of twelve inspectors. Their duties covered the inspection of food products at the factory, in the wholesale house and with the retailer. It also called them to the creameries, cheese factories, and other dairy producing plants in the state as well as to the dairies themselves. Inspection was given to drug stores, restaurants, hotels, bakeries, ice cream plants and to all places where foods are kept or stored.

By referring to the Department's financial statement appearing in another part of this report, it will be found that $52,648.90 were available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912. Of this amount $41,122.45 were expended and $11,526.45 covered back into the state treasury.

The total number of inspections made during the year aggregated 20,257 divided as follows: Food inspections 12,154; bakeries, 3.171; dairies, cheese factories, creameries, etc., 2,307; hotels, 352 and drug stores, 2,273. A detailed report of each inspection made is on file in the office. In the inspection of bakeries, hotels and restaurants particular attention was given to the problem of sanitation and cleanliness. This also may be said with reference to all places visited, but in addition to the question of sanitation and cleanliness, the food inspectors go carefully over each and every article sold or offered for sale in all places they visit for the purpose of determining, first, whether any food sold or offered for sale therein is adulterated, and second, whether it is misbranded which in a word means whether the label discloses to the purchaser the true character of the food which he receives.

The amount of work involved in a careful and rigid inspection of the average grocery store is considerable, and unless done with care and precision is of little amount. To make this valuable and of real benefit, has been the aim and ambition of the Department during the present administration. Inspectors are experts in their business. They are in most cases able to determine from a careful examination of the food product whether or not it is manufactured and sold in accordance with law. Therefore but a small percentage of the articles examined are sent to the

laboratory. Illustrative of this may be cited the work done by the Department's drug inspectors. While but 282 official samples were taken and sent to the laboratory, the inspectors in their field work condémned 46,592 bottles, these being preparations which were either improperly labeled or below the required standard.

LABORATORY WORK.

Four chemists were employed in the laboratory during the year, one of whom gave his entire attention to drug work. 3,552 samples were examined of which 3,070 were food and drink products, 282 drug products and 200 commercial feeds. A complete report of the laboratory work will be found in the State Analyst's report which appears in another part of this publication.

PROSECUTIONS.

Fifty prosecutions were instituted by the Department during the past year which resulted in 39 convictions, 2 acquittals, 3 dismissals on motion and the remaining number of cases instituted are still pending. It is and has been the policy of the Department to use the utmost caution in the institution of prosecutions. It is not a pleasant duty that devolves upon the commissioner to authorize the institution of a prosecution. No prosecution is commenced against any person unless he has once been warned, unless it is apparent that the offense committed is without justification and that its commission was deliberate and wilful. It furnishes food for thought as to why a dealer in foods or other products, after having been notified and warned, will continue to manufacture or sell prohibited foods to the extent that it becomes necessary for the Department to institute a prosecution. It can only be explained in one of two ways; either he is grossly negligent, or he flatters himself with the belief that the Department after serving the notice will take no further action. To impress those who continue to violate the law, it Las been and will remain the policy of this administration to promptly and vigorously prosecute those who disregard a fair warning.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS.

During the year the Department gave special attention to the examination of certain food products which had heretofore received no particular attention, viz.:

MINCE MEAT.

It is the understanding and contention of those charged with the enforcement of the state's food laws that mince meat means legally what the housewife and consuming public understand it to mean, a mixture of a considerable amount of boiled meat, suet, etc., with fruit added. As mince meat was and is manufactured in the home, and as an exceedingly large number of consumers understand it to be manufactured commercially, corn syrup has no place in its formula and a considerable amount of meat is always present. The investigation which the Department conducted disclosed the fact that in some brands of commercial

mince meat, there was no meat of any kind or description present. Mince meat without any meat in it was determined to be not in conformity with the spirit and intent of the state's food law and it is now held that mince meat shall contain not less than 10% cooked cominuted meat. Manufacturers were warned to comply with the law as interpreted by the Department, and almost without exception changed their formulas. The mince meat on the Michigan market today is not what it was a year ago.

SACCHARIN IN SOFT DRINKS.

In November and December the Department gave special attention to the examination of soft drinks and found that saccharin was exten sively used as a sweetening property. Prompt and vigorous measures were at once taken to bring about a remedial effect in the manufacture of these drinks. During the months above mentioned 690 samples were analyzed and but 257 disclosed the absence of saccharin. Many subsequent analyses of later samples taken prove to us that the use of saccharin as a sweetening property has been discontinued.

In addition to the samples taken by the inspectors and sent to the laboratory, inspectors condemned 68,679 bottles of the different brands of soft drinks which contained saccharin. These were not only removed from sale but were voluntarily destroyed by the manufacturers on the date of the inspector's visit.

CANDY.

With a view of determining whether or not the many grades of candy offered for sale in Michigan contained substances that might be poisonous or injurious to health, the Department inspectors were instructed to secure samples of each and every kind of candy that could be found, and further instructed that at the time such samples were taken the most rigid investigation be made into the manner in which such candy was produced, with a view to cleanliness and sanitation. Two hundred seventy-eight samples were secured and 278 samples were later found to be pure, a remarkable showing and a showing that speaks well for the candy industry. During the year the Department was called on to institute but one prosecution for the adulteration of candy.

RICE.

Rice is another product which called for special attention. It is our contention that the consumer should receive his rice without adulteration, manipulation or sophistication, that he should receive it in its natural state without color, without polish and without deceptive manipulation which would have a tendency to make it appear better and of greater value than it really is. Rice as found on the market was coated or polished, glucose and talc were added and thereby the most inferior grades were made to appear of equal value with the better grades. Dealers and handlers of rice were served with written notice that rice treated in the manner indicated was held to be wholly in conflict with the provisions of the Michigan food law, and that the further treating of rice as above described would be contested; wholesalers hav

ing until January 1, 1913, to dispose of stocks on hand. It is a matter for congratulation that wholesalers with few exceptions fell in line and endorsed the Department's position with the assurance that the ruling would be complied with.

PRESERVATIVES.

The use of questionable preservatives in the preparation of food products is a matter requiring constant vigilance. Several prosecutions against local dealers followed with severe penalties were instituted. It is to be regretted that the manufacturer of the preservatives in question, the party who is primarily responsible for their use in the state, is not within the state's jurisdiction. It therefore becomes necessary to look to the local dealer and hold him responsible. Notice is served on all dealers in food products, and on dealers in meat products in particular, that the Department will continue to enforce the law in its application to preservatives.

COMMERCIAL FEEDING STUFFS.

With its other duties, the Department is charged with the enforcement of what is know as the state concentrated commercial feeding stuff's law. This law provides first that each sack or container in which a concentrated feed is offered for sale shall bear a statement showing the amount of crude protein, crude fibre, nitrogen-free extract and ether extract contained in the feed. It further provides that the manufacturer shall file with the Department an average one pound sample of the feed which he manufactures and sells, evidently with the intention of determining from an anlysis of this sample whether the guarantee which he files in writing truly states the feeding value of the feed in question. Heretofore it has been the practice to analyze the sample sent by the manufacturer and publish the result of this analysis together with the guaranteed analysis. With knowledge gained from experience, it seemed advisable to pay more particular attention not to the sample that the manufacturer had himself sent to the laboratory, but to samples secured here, there and everywhere in different parts of the state. It appeared that the correct way to check up on the manufacturer was not to judge from the result of the analysis of the sample which he had himself taken and sent, but to enable the purchaser to determine the feeding value from results of analyses of samples taken indiscriminately in different sections of the state. This policy was carried into effect during the past year and it is a source of congratulation to be able to announce that out of 220 samples of the different feeds licensed in the state, less than twenty were found to be below the guaranteed analysis as filed in the office and as printed on the tags attached to or stamped on the containers or sacks in which these feeds were sold. This method of enforcing the feeding stuffs law assures to the consumer a feed with feeding value as represented. Insofar as the present feeding stuffs law is concerned, there is but one recommendation to make. It is believed from the experience attained that the manufacturer should be required to state, in addition to its protein, fat and fibre content, the ingredients from which he manufactures the feed.