PURE FOODS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18075, 25 October 1920, Page 6

PURE FOODS

IMPORTANT ACTION BY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH. ALTERATION IN THE SPECIFICATIONS REGARDING OATMEAL. Probably our readers are aware that under tho Pure Foods Act of 1903 tho specifications with regard to oatmeal left room for very considerable adulteration. The clause relative to this cereal as detailed in that Act read as follows: — Oatmeal sliall be tho meal produced by grinding oats (Avena Sativa) after tho removal of the liusk. It shall contain not less than live parts per centum of ethereal extract; and it shall contain not more thau two and five-tenths parts centum of meal derived from other grain than oats. For some time past Fleming and Co. (Ltd.), manufacturers of pure oat foods, Gore, have been nointing out to the Government that the regulation in question needed considerable amendment. Every bag of their famous Thistle oatmeal carried an absolute gaaranteo that it contained only 100 per cent, pure oatmeal, and that it was absolutely free from any foreign substance—indeed, the firm offered £1000 to anyone who could detect the slightest admixture of any kind. Unfortunately, however, some other makers of oatmeal were not so scrupulous, and there was ample proof that mixtures of cheaper grains were being utilised by various makers for their own profit and to the detriment of the public. Fleming and Co. (Ltd.) guaranteed that their famous oat foods oontained pure oats only, and were 100 per cent, pure; but the man who was prepared to put in low-grade fowl wheat and other admixtures could naturally sell his brand much more cheaply than was possible in the case of the guaranteed product. As a result of representations, therefore, the Department of Public Health has now amended the 1808 Act, and the new specific regulation reads as follows: Oatmeal shall be, the meal produced by grinding oats (Avena Sativa) after the removal of the husk. It thall contain riot less than five parts per centum of ethereal extract; it shall not contain any foreign substance. This is precisely the action Eleming and 00. (Ltd.) had recommended tho department to take, and every one of our readers will congratulate Messrs Fleming and Co. (Ltd.), and will appreciate the action which the' proprietors of Creamoata, Thistle Oatmeal, and the other splendid cereal foods bearing the Thistle Trade Mark has taken in its endeavours to see to it that tile public was protected from inferior products lacking in nutrition. [Pubb'shed by Arrangement.]