POISON FOOD DUMPS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3148, 18 December 1922, Page 7

POISON FOOD DUMPS.

There is enough tinned food; in a> state of decomposition in various clumps in France to end' unpleasantly tho career of half the population of" England. There is also little safeguard against the landing of large quantities of this poison here, and its subsequent sale to unsuspecting customers. The tints of bad food can be punctured to release the foul gates, reseated', relaequered, and 1 relabelled so skilfully that the most careful purchaser woulci not question its purity. At Motitoir. six kilometres inland from St. Nazaiire, tho American Expeditionary Force founded a supply depot' in 1918, and concentrated' there the complete supplies for the American Army in France. The war ended, but the supplies remain. The dump covers an area of a mile and a quarter square oil a tract shown as marshy on the maps. In dry times it is a mixture of sand and' wiry grass. When it rains the entile area, becomes; a lake about nine inches deep. Everything rots with complete success. Wc passed through sheik in which good tins of meat were arranged carefully in tiers of cases. There was possibly 1.000 tons in all of corned heel'. roast kef. and hash. We opened tins, and our attendants ate selected portions without evil result. In three sheds we found lons of bad meat. Its badness differed in degree, but it was all bad. four hundred tons of meat, at least, was impressing its presence on all who came near. Some—in ;i few thousand one or two pound tins—bad. merely produced gases sufficient t,, swell tho tins without causing unexpected busts. Some: rusty or punctured by nails had become decomposed to such a degree that only the bravest could approach closely, and then only at fhe risk of asphyxiation. The most dangerous section was that which was capable of disguise, because, tho meat, had not changed color, though it. was clearly unfit for human food.

The danger is there for any one lo see. The French owner is perfectly lamest, and sells the bad food as unlit for human consumption. But his honesty is no safeguard against the tricks of reckless dishonesty which reputable traders have exposed.