This manual is descriptive in character and aims to give, within its scope, as thoroughly and intelligibly as possible, an account of the various food-products in common use in their natural and manufactured conditions, with the usual adulterations which have been found therein.
It includes information regarding Methods of Preparation and Manufacture, Food Values, Standards of Purity, Regulations for Inspection, Simple Tests for Adulterations, Effects of Storage, and similar matters pertaining to the subject.
It has been designed to interest the consumer, as well as the manufacturer, the scientific, as well as the general reader, all of whom it is hoped will find in it something useful. The consumer is entitled to know the nature of the product offered, the manufacturer and dealer the best methods of preparation. It will give the physician and sanitarian knowledge of the value of foods, their proper use and inspection, and, while not analytical in purpose, will provide the chemist with information which will guide him in his work of detecting impurities.
It has been thought advisable to give in the appendices extracts from the national laws relating to the subject, as well as the rules and regulations for their enforcement and official standards of purity, as these are now of general interest to all classes. In revising the manuscript and in reading the proofs, especial recognition is made of the valuable aid of Dr. W. D. Bigelow, Chief of the Division of Foods of the Department of Agriculture; Dr. F. V. Coville, Botanist of the Department of Agriculture, and Dr. B. W. Evermann, of the Bureau of Fisheries. Acknowledgement is also made of the favors of the Bureaus of Plant Industry, Animal Industry, and Forestry. Many helpful suggestions from other sources can only be acknowledged in this general way. All opinions respecting adulterations, misbranding, nutritive value, and wholesomeness are the individual expressions of the author and are not to be considered in any other manner. Honest and truthful practices of manufacture and labeling are to be promoted in every possible manner. In the end the true, the ethical, and the just in these practices will prevail.
Harvey W. Wiley.
Washington, D. C., May 1, 1907.
