Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-30 | Page 74 | Dairy and Food Conditions are Much Improved

Idaho fooii I GONDiTIDNSARE MUCHIMPROVED State Department Keeps a Careful Record of All Investigations In-vestigations of Products on Sale. RULES ARE ISSUED FOR COLD STORAGE Closer Relationships Between Be-tween Officials in West Is Outgrowth of Convention Here in October. Dairy and food products placed ou TJtah markets have sreaUy improved in quality as a result of the work done by the state dairy and food department during it, nine and one-ha If months of existence under present direction. The department, according to Commissioner Commis-sioner Walter M. Boyden, is working under un-der a plan which differs in many respects from that adopted heretofore. Under the new system complete records ate made and placed on file of ail investigations conducted and their results. Jf n complaint com-plaint is received concerning products put out by any purveying institution the record rec-ord is referred to and is used as a guide very - largely in subsequent dealing with the case. Surveying the situation in Utah at the close of the year Commissioner Boyden says that the public is very fairly treated in purchases' of foodstuffs as to weight, measure and quality. This has been tho result of clo?e attention to these details by the department, which made special effort in this direction in view of the high prices which people are compelled to pay for products on account of war conditions. Storage Rules. A new departure in the activities of the state dairy and food depa rtment is accumulation ac-cumulation monthly of records of food products held in cold storage plants of Utah. This is in pursuance of the pro-! pro-! visions of a new state law approved , March S, 1917, under which cold storage rules have been issued by the eommmis-: eommmis-: sioner, of which the following- are the i most important: A separate license is required for each separate warehouse building. The responsibility ior the proper condition of all articles of food offered of-fered for cold storage, shall rest pro-i pro-i n ari 1 y w it h the owner of such food . products, provided, however, that in case the cold storage warehouse owner or operators shail have permitted articles ar-ticles of food not in a wholesome ! condition to be entered for storage and stored in said cold storage warehouse ware-house with a knowledge of its unfit condition or without using- reasonable precaution to ascertain such condition, condi-tion, said warehouse owners or operators oper-ators will be held likewise responsible and may be prosecuted for violation of the law. An article of food shall be deemed " wholesome' only when it is in all respects fit for human consumption. Must Be Marked. Any article of food not intended for human consumption shall be plainly marked when deposited In a cold . storage warehouse, with a stamp or label reading as follows: "Xot intended intend-ed for human consumption" also date when such article was received in storage. The letters or figures on label shall be not less than three-eighths three-eighths of an Inch in height and placed in a conspicuous place on article. All marks required by law or by regulation of the state dairy and food commissioner, shall be made or attached at-tached in a conspicuous position upon the food or its container and must be made and kept In a readable legible condition. The ink or other substance used in marking must be indelible, and any tag. sticker or other material, attached to bear the required marks, must be securely affixed to the food or its container and must be strong I and durable in quality. Report Requested. "When articles of fowl have been kept in cold storage for twelve calendar calen-dar months, report of such facts shall be made to the state dairy and food commissioner by the persons having: custody of such articles, and such articles shail not be removed from cold storage by the owners until said articles have been inspected by an agrent of the state dairy and food department de-partment and released by order of said department. Persons operating cold storage warehouses within the state shall notify the owners of all articles of food stored by them, of the date when such articles shall have been in storage twelve months, at" ldnst twen- I ly days before such twelve months j have elapsed. j Requests for permission to store l food for a longer period than twelve calendar months must be made by the owner or owners of said food to the state dairy and- food commissioner commission-er upon blanks which will be furnished fur-nished by said commissioner upon application. ap-plication. Xo such request will be considered hy the department unless a satisfactory reason, stating why such extension of storage is desired, is given at least two weeks before the expiration of the twelve-month storage stor-age period. Cannot Re-store. No person, firm or corporation, operating op-erating a cold storage warehouse in the state of Utah, shall knowingly receive for storage any article or articles of food which have once been released from -storage for the purpose of placing such articlo or articles of food on the market for sale. By initiatory of the department, the. first meeting of the Western States Food and Drug Officials "was held at the eapl-tol eapl-tol October 2 and 2, 1?H7. The convention was marked by the opening of closer relations re-lations and co-operation between all food and drucr officials of states and the ITniterl yta tes engaged in public service in the western country. As a result tiiese officials are approaehing uniformity in their work In application of pure food and drug laws, and it is expected to accomplish ac-complish a great amount of good. (J. S. 1 nin more of Nevada is president and Waiter M. Boyden of T'taii is vice president presi-dent and chairman of the executive committee. com-mittee. The next meeting is to be held in San Francisco on June 11, injs. Officers in Charge. Following are the names of those connected con-nected with the slate dairy and food department de-partment of Utah : "Waiter M. Boyden, commissioner; Preston Ma rtincau. J. P. Nelson and Arthur Bateson, deputies: Miss Nanon Lloyd, stenographer and clerk. ! Included in the supervision required of ! the department is inspection of hotels ' throughout the siat The greatest fault ! foundand this is beinc gradually rem- : cfiicd is that some hotels in towns whieh : i have water systems are not connected ; ' up with the same, rendering sanitary con- j ditions poor. As such instances are dis- ( covorp'l. notirirn tion is served upon pro- ; i prietnrs that the lack be immediately j I reclined I