The Ensign. MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1909. THE CASE FOR PURE FOOD.

Mataura Ensign, 15 March 1909, Page 2

The Ensign. MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1909. THE CASE FOR PURE FOOD.

Though tlio adage "A healthy 1 i«.- < iplt.is ;i wealthy people'' has become ;i Into -i-'viny; it is nevertheless I lie trutli. Tho purity ol tlio people's loud should be Us first care: it, is the neglect ol in some eases simple precautions that has led to disaster in the Inn issues ol today, and we must realise that the adulteration policy must be carefully preached. Speaking to a press representative the other dav the new .Minister for I'ublic Health (tint Hon. I). Uuddo) outlined what this Department intended to do to protect tlio public from impure loud. The latest food and Drills Act, he said, gives the- Department extensive power when it decides what shall constitute the standard quality of any article in common use; the mamilacturer or retailer who provides sotitclliiug inferior will do so only at the risk "of a heavy line. Nlanda'rds have already been adopted lor a number ol articles, and the work is going on sleadily. Inquiries and experiments are -till going on with the object of fixing reasonable standards of purity, and he noped ere long to set them up with every class ol article in daily consumption which could bo adulterated. Apropos ol this an interesting article in the \Svduev Dailv Telegraph' bv Mr William Hughes, .U.H.K., deals with the public control of the public food supply. He siates: I'ure food is an esseutial to happiness and success. A man is what he eats. I'ure loud is only less important than pure air; vet the deaths caused through bad and adulterated food are -o numerous that no sensible eomniuniiv can afford to allow the present system to continue. 1. know of no sphere in which private enterprise has proved ii-.cll so unworthy, or. on the whole. S.i utterly failed to perform its duly as in this. And in saying so much one ■•ays a great, deal, lor private elifeipi iso, has many sins to answer for. Ii -ells cotton goods as woollen ; labels In-own paper soles as best English le,;ther; builds houses that moves one at onco to tears and laughter. These- and n hundred other eccentricities are its achievements in the piping days oi p'-aee. In times ol war it has supplied bayonets to our nieii which bent like lend, saddles which crippled horses and men, and bridles made ol oll'al. JS.v •■iicli means hundreds ol good men lost their lives, lint for every one of these a thousand have been slain by import lends. Tor my own sins and those y) tuy own forbears L possess a stomach exquisitely sensilive to all impurities ami adulterations. That which neither taste nor smell can detect my stomach rejects or denounces with insistent voice. It is probably owing to this that I am still alive. 1 have learned to avoio certain brands of ■•pure foods" as ii they were the. evil one. .My lrionds with strong stomachs who persisted 11 going on are dead. 1 can conceive of no crime worse than deliberately niatiiilaclurliig and selling bad food or drink. That some ol the ingredients with which l'ood anil drink are adulterated are in themselves innocuous enough may bo admitted; and recently in .Melbourne a magistrate stated that in all prosecutions under the Pure Foods Act this would he taken into consideration when deciding the amount of the line of imprisonment. Cornflour is harmless; very probably it is better than mustard. Water is excellent; probablv whisky is bolter for being freely diluted with it. On the other hand, milk it not. lint alter ali, if a man wants mustard or whisky hj" ought to get, it and not cornflour or water. Those that indulge in this sorl ol adulteration arc guilty ol obtaining money under false pretences. They should be lined or scut to gaol. Ilu'l those that adulterate with deleterious substances, or place on the market an impure article injurious to the health of the. public, should be hanged. .Now, I admit at once thai, the municipality cannot immediately charge itsell directly with the entire food supply ol the people, It must proceed with deliberation and care Jlul it ought to proceed. The food of the public must be pure ami good, and wherever private enterprise fails to supply pure food and reasonably cheap articles the State must step in. In my opinion, as 1 pointed out in a previous article, fruit ami milk seem lo call, though by quite dill'ereiil ways, and for different reasons, for present action.