CORDIAL COMPOUNDS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 100, 27 April 1912, Page 10

CORDIAL COMPOUNDS.

Mr. E. S. W. Paul, general manager in Australia tor Schweppea I/imitod, stated before the Food Commywion in Sydney that there wm no diflkuHy in making fruit syrups and cordials from the fruit and sugar alone, without lha addition of cohvurint; hutlei 1 . He therefore urged that no curtHiuft should b» allowed to contAin Any ofUßMttl colout* Ing. seeing that the natural colouring of the fruit juke wtw, mlHcicttti He «)«• sidorcd that the regulations «houW not contain any provision a« to ike percentage ol fruit juice which uoioiftls aiid syrups should oont.iih. Jt they aid not contain sumoieht fruit juic* they would be almo&t rotourtess syvnuo, cud on tha-t account would be uiiftalcble. -Moreover. :f it wore proposed w> require 14 per cent, of fruit juice, trouble might ttl'ifle on account of the difficulty in identifying tho exa<:t quantity on ttnalyufc. The commissioner (Dr. Aahbuffcda Thompson) remarked that in ni» capacity i'« Qto> of tho authorities to j^guUte ottott matters in ( New South i Wale*, he had considered tho advisability of ralaing the porctttt&po to 20 per' cent, oft fioedttut t>f tho difficulty mohbiofied. The wtlnow fcaid that Mt, Oertel wa* the onty city manufacturer who agreed with him on the matter of prohibition of colouring matter hi pure fruit Aftd imitation cordiah. The firefceni regulations had not raised the (standard at 61), but if colouring wei«e prohibited the cordials would be plaOed before feh/fc public in their undisguised state. At present, in the caw. of the imitation COfdiAls, it was the attiftCjlftl eolottr alone which cold thotUi The commissioner' \ They ftre simply mixtures of chemicals, and have h<» relation whatever to tho ffiiib mentioned Oil the labels? Witness i That is sd. At present ll>e dale of th* mote «xp>en&ivß fruib Cordials is very small. When & man wfcntfcß to go into the business ho Bimply buy* a, recipe' book from ont> of the *e*ence manufacturer* and fallow* the Instructions, without poSßfcs»in|{ a,ny further knowledge of ihe trade. The reault i» ihttt ' the standard of cordials iii New South Wales is very low down, t think Queensland is even wonse. $ew South Wales conditions in this reßpefct ate probably better than any of the dthev St&tw, but that is not saying much, and things ate not nearly what they ought to be. Mr. Paul was very emphatic in hie contention that the »ole reason tor putting colouring matter in & cowliftl v»ae to concetti ite inferiority and deceive tho public. He produced a botblfe of coloured liquid which bow the label, "Fiiual Raspberry Syrup j made from the niyfest va»pberry ]Uicej pumt iligrtdien'tet tonic and refreshing; purity and quality;" and filially the tnconbpittuoiife notice, " Artificially coloured." The witness recommended that fti! makers of «etated waters «Jld cbrdiaU should require to be licenced, it feet ranging from £20 to £160, aocomtutf k the amount of business done. Thi* would prevent unfair competition or. the part of sundry small manufacturer; with firms which put up good ftrtiole,and would asoißt the work of inspecting The commissioner t I h*Ve that, poiin in mind. I think it is a very important point, »ud one which muefc receive careful consideration. The witness remarked that in toany prosecutions the Magistrate's syttip&bhy wae \vith the offeliderls, and not with the derj&iimeitt, a^d abmetUh^i only liottliriai frnes tfefe tthp6«ed for adulterition. The Magistrate eVen occasionally expressed re&Tet thftt tho JJroßeCtlibioilK had beeh taken. Charles Poeoek, cordial mttnufttbtutef , of Canitiewlown. representing &. nuM»t % of other manufacturers of Sydney,, lttafced thas the tha.iiura,oturer» desired to> utgo thdt there should 'be no reduction In the amount of saccharine allowed irt various hoh-ekcisa,ble fermented drinks— namely, 3 grains per gilkm. lies* thttAi this qviantity would w> of no use. Tin* 1910 conference recommended fchftb ih<s amount of fea«chb,fine per gallon gihould not exceed 2 grains. The i*guUrtiott 4p« piled to ginger beer, dfthdelbll ahS Mid herbal and othfer brewed be©!** Tho commissioner : I quite agl"ee 'Wibh you that 2 grains is too little j It should be 3 gr&htt.