HEALTH ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT. COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, Saturday, June 4, 1910. The committee was called to order at 10.15 a. m., Hon. James R. Mann (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MAJ. WILLIAM O. OWEN, TOGETHER WITH PAPERS SUBMITTED. 121. Major OWEN. I submit also Food Inspections Decisions 110 and It will be noted that 110 has the signature of H. W. Wiley thereto, while that of Wiley was omitted from 121. I desire to invite attention particularly to 121, since this permits oysters to be floated in dangerous waters, if I understand it correctly. It might be interesting to know why Doctor Wiley's signature is not appended to 121, and whether it meets with his approval or not. (United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary, Board of Food and Drug Inspection.] FOOD INSPECTION DECISION 110. SHELLFISH. The department has investigated the preparation and shipment of oysters, clams, and other shellfish. A public hearing on this subject was held by the Board of Food and Drug Inspection on May 20, 1909. At this hearing, growers, packers, dealers, and the public were afforded an opportunity to be heard. It is unlawful to ship or to sell in interstate commerce oysters or other shellfish taken from insanitary or polluted beds. The pollution of oysters with sewage can readily be detected by bacteriological examination, and such polluted oysters or other shellfish are adulterated under section 7 of the food and drugs act of June 30, 1906, in that they contain an added "poisonous or other added deleterious ingredient which may render such article injurious to health." Such articles are likewise adulterated under section 7, in the case of foods because they consist "in whole or in part of a filthy, decomposed, or putrid animal or vegetable substance." It is unlawful to ship or to sell in interstate commerce oysters or other shellfish which have become polluted because of packing under insanitary conditions or being placed in unclean receptacles. In order to prevent pollution during the packing or shipment of oysters, it is necessary to give proper attention to the sanitary condition of the establishment in which they are packed and to use only receptacles which have been thoroughly cleansed as soon as emptied. In order to prevent the possibility of contamination, it is desirable that such containers be sterilized before using. It is unlawful to ship or to sell in interstate commerce oysters or other shellfish which have been subjected to "floating" or "drinking" in brackish water, or water containing less salt than that in which they are grown. Such food is adulterated under section 7 of the law because a substance "has been mixed and packed with it 80 as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength." There can be . no objection to "drinking" shellfish in unpolluted water of the same salt content as that from which they have been removed. Attention is called, however, to the danger resulting from "drinking" shellfish near polluted fresh-water streams and near other sources of pollution. It is unlawful to ship or to sell in interstate commerce shucked oysters to which water has been added, either directly or in the form of melted ice. Such food is adulterated under section 7 of the act because a "substance has been mixed and packed with it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength," and also because a "substance has been substituted wholly or in part for the article." The packing of shellfish with ice in contact may lead to the absorption by the oyster of a portion of the water formed by the melting ice, thus leading to the adulteration of the oysters with water. Only unpolluted cold or iced water should be employed in washing shucked shellfish, and the washing, including chilling, should not continue longer than the minimum time necessary for cleaning and chilling. In view of the fact that the shipping season has begun and shippers will require several months to provide themselves with suitable containers for the shipment of shellfish out of contact with ice, no prosecutions will be recommended prior to May 1, 1910, for the shipment or sale in interstate commerce of oysters or other shellfish be cause of the addition of water caused solely by shipment in contact with ice. Considerable evidence has been submitted to the department since the issuance of Food Inspection Decision 110 on the practice of floating or drinking oysters in water of less saline content than that in which they were grown to maturity. Full consideration has been given to all the hearings and to the briefs and other information submitted subsequent to the hearings and the board is of the opinion that it is not improper to drink oysters in water of a saline content equal to that in which oysters will grow to maturity. If, however, oysters are floated in water of a less saline content than that in which oysters will properly mature, the packages containing such oysters must be very clearly and legibly labeled "Floated oysters;" otherwise they will be considered adulterated under section 7 of the law. Particular attention should be paid by the growers and handlers of oysters to the character of the water in which the oysters are brought to maturity or floated. Where such waters are polluted it will invariably follow that the oysters will also partake of this pollution, and subsequent washing of the oysters, or even floating in water which is not polluted, is likely not to cleanse them of this pollution. Oysters found in interstate commerce in a polluted condition because of the character of the water in which they are grown or floated are adulterated under the food and drugs act. F. L. DUNLAP, Approved: JAMES WILSON, Secretary of Agriculture. WASHINGTON, D. C., May 14, 1910. |