ADULTERATION OF LIQUOR AND FOOD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 876, 23 July 1910, Page 10

ADULTERATION OF LIQUOR AND FOOD.

Sir —Withont endorsing in its entirety Mr. J. A. Hanan's (M.V.) statement in the House yesterday that "it was a grave reflection that the laws against adulteration both as regards liquor and lood were not rigorously enforced in tlio protection of tho public," permit mo to invite 'attention to tho practice of some restaurateurs adulterating and reducing the quality of certain condiments nnd other articles used with- food, even although they may retain tho original labels on the bottles, generally accepted ns a guarantee of wholesomeness nnd purity. Some of the table accessories, whether in bottles or otherwiso, are, to put it mildly, abominable. Take tho "compound" coffeo as occasionally served—(l use the substantive to indicate what it is, not what it should be)—it is all but innocent of the berry of tho namo. I sa.y, without fear of contradiction from the consumer, that although bottles of (suy) Worcestershire sauce, anchovy sauce, and similar palatable adjuncts having clean labels in many cases Biiffer most material dilution; and wherethis detail is left to. subordinates tho degreo of strength, nnd even wholesomeness, may be Questionable, .Vendors of.

Crustacea who supply vinegar nt every meal of bivalves have, somehow, gone back to an old and .exploded axiom tliat union must necessarily mean strength; and so the by-product of genuine malt gives way not infrequently to a mixture of salt water, eta., with a soupcon of strong acetic acid, to roughen it up; although this does not obtain, perhaps, in the bust surroundings. This is enough to indicate to the Department concerned a now field for their exertions, and one in which they may bo suro of the public backing them up; and I feel ocrtain they would have the united press with them in their efforts to minimise, if not prevent, this paltry attempt at proprietors' thrift from so contemptible a base. There are thousands who are necessarily compelled to have their meals outside the comforts of a home, on whose behalf this is more, particularly written; and nlso because I notice a disposition to declaim against lessees of licensed houses for reducing tho strength of their commodities to healthful conditions, which is (in somo eases) demanded by tho Legislature; and thus, as Herbert Spencer says (although not in identical words) vigorously grasp a small detail while the main" features of the law, viz., wholesome and pure food, are ignored.—l am, ctC -'.' BENB. July 21, 1910.