TX 599 .N42 Copy 1 Tl :m ENSURING AN INDUSTRY I ISSUED BY NATIONAL CANNERS ASSOCIATIONS^? *x «\ WASHINGTON, D. C. (3- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/insuringindustryOOnati RESEARCH LABORATORIES. 1739 H STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, D. C. INSURING an INDUSTRY ISSUED BY NATIONAL CANNERS ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON, D. C. THE LORD BALTIMORE PRESS BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. A ^ FOEEWOED. Between the covers of this booklet are recorded a number of facts. They are presented primarily for the purpose of answering the ques- tion, What and Why is The National Canners, Association ? But whether he be an old member of this Association, or a new member, or one whose daily routine brings him into contact with some phase or product of canning — let the reader bear in mind also that these facts automatically fulfill yet another mission : To train the spotlight upon the present creeds of a representative American industry. LVTIJODTTTIOX. More than a hundred years ago the National Canners Association was unwittingly started on its career by one Nicholas Appert, a Frenchman. In addition to this achievement he won undying fame as the founder of the art of canning. And there is method in the apparent madness of putting the cart before the horse in the above statement. The mere fact that this Frenchman was the first man to succeed in preserving foods by heating them in sealed containers makes him directly responsible for the founding of this Association. For in making this discovery he laid the foundations for a colossal industry. which as the years have passed has developed into a .universal institution. The canning of foods keeps pace with and fosters our very civilized progress. To-day this industry is an inseparable element of our prosperity. Destroy the art and the industry and our national development would be arrested. So by virtue of the very logic of cause and effect, this Association has come into being. The art and practice of canning foods has spread throughout the civilized world: it now represents an invest- ment in canning establishments in the United States alone of more than two hundred million dollars. Furthermore this industry did and does now represent something more than a mere investment of two hundred million dollars for personal gain : The preparation of canned foods has become a public service. The public must be served and protected as well as the investment. Failure to recognize this obligation would spell disaster — for canner and consumer alike. And because of the tremendous growth of this industry, there naturally have developed innumerable problems and obstacles to be overcome before the industry could run without stripping its gears and before open paths for its future expansion could be hacked through a wilderness of complex difficulties. 7 Individual effort on the part of canners to solve these problems and smooth the way for future expansion of their business has been made and has accomplished a great deal. But the psychology of the situation early brought out the truth that no canner works unto himself alone; his interests are intertwined with those of his fellow canners. He cannot build a wall around his business, lock the door against all comers and succeed in seclusion. His business needs breath- ing space, and companionship, a mutual exchange of ideas — co-operation ! And so there came about a voluntary get-together in the industry, a fusing of aims and ideas, working to a common end, through a centralized machine. The National Canners Association was not created; it sprang automatically into being by pressure of the law that two heads are better than one when searching for a common prize. The present Association dates its inception from the year 1907, when earlier formed organizations voluntarily welded their aims and efforts into the new organization. And the basic cause of this inevitable get-together was a general desire on the part of American canners to see the United States Congress pass adequate national legislation for the protection of both producer and consumer of canned foods. Correct and rational sanitation requirements for the pack was the issue. The result was the passage of the National Food and Drugs Act. And building up its activities on that sturdy cornerstone, the Association has now become a constructive mechanism, made, run, and kept in repair by the canners, the affiliated associations and the trade at large for the betterment of the industry and the protection of the public. ENSURING AN ENDUSTRY. I. The Com rsiox of Tongues. Although the Association is to-day the heartiest champion of the Federal Fond and Drugs? Act. there is due the confession that its operation has entailed a tremendous amount of work upon that body. The operation of this act is altogether wonderful in its intricacies. This is the direct result of the necessity of promulga- ting genera] or blanket legal provisions which must be interpreted to meet the needs of certain specific cases falling within their juris- diction. What is meant by an insanitary can of food? When is a can of food rightfully outlawed ? There is a vast difference between a can of food presenting an off appearance due wholly to mechanical defects and one spoiled by chemical or bacteriological action. The canner who produces within the area circumscribed by this act frequently must have a pilot for safe steering through its danger zones. The Association undertakes to do this piloting. What with a backward glance over reams of correspondence and files of opinions rendered by the Association's retained attorneys, this Association feels that its members are unquestionably well served in this respect. The cases which come up for this Association to handle as the result of misinterpretation by canners of the Food and Drugs Act are well-nigh innumerable. It would be impossible to dwell at length upon them. However, one or two typical ones may serve to convey the motive of this chapter. " What in the name of all that is logical have I clone to bring- down the wrath of the Government officials on me and my product ? They tell me I have violated the Food and Drugs Act. When, where, how? I know of no violation which I have committed. 1 felt sure that my product was immune from seizure. Please advise me." This is a typical case. Now the Association is prepared to receive and act upon just such cases. It frequently happens the violation 11 has been absolutely unintentional, due entirely to an ignorance of some specific interpretation of the act itself. In such cases, when the Association has satisfied itself as to their merit, immediate steps are taken to present the facts in their true light before the Federal authorities. If it develops that a member's violation of the act was of such a nature that he should be held strictly accountable, then the Asso- ciation immediately drops the case. It lias not. does not, and will not defend any member whose methods are proved to be in the least intentionally unethical. As an illustration of the above: There recently came to the attention of this Association the appeal of a canner whose pack was found to be short in weight. The canner protested that he had been putting up this pack for a number of years, that in bis own plant the contents had weighed out correctly in conformity with the state- ment on the label, and that it was beyond him how the charge could be made. Here was a case demanding rigid investigation by the Association before it undertook to commit itself. Accordingly, one of its experts was dispatched to the plant in question, lie made a thorough in- spection of its methods and found a single Haw which cleared up the whole mystery. The canner's methods were a shade off. Should he continue to operate under those methods there would certainly be more trouble ahead for him. He was advised of this fact. He was also advised of the fact that the Association would keep it- official bands oil' his case unless he agreed to modify his methods so as to make his pack immune to further criticism. Another instance: A member of this Association was notified by Federal authorities that a certain product put out under his name and brand label fell below standard requirements. He appealed to the Association. The Association looked into the case ami learned that the canned food in question had been bought from a second canner and marketed under the defendant"- own Label. The defendant was entirely ignorant of any violation of the Food and Drugs Act. Xeverthele>-. there had been a violation and he was so advised by the Association. The Association, with him. laid the entire case before the Federal authorities at the hearing. There was no effort on the part of the defendant to deny responsibility. 12 The trouble arose from his failure to thorough!} investigate the product he was buying al the second plant. Through the medium of regular printed bulletins and through personal letters, the Association keeps its members advised on ever} ruling under or modification in the Food and Drugs Act. Further- more, it invariably offers a correct interpretation of such rulings. Such interpretations are made by the Association's retained attorneys. This service really forestalls an immense amounl of confusion and serious consequences. As was Qoted in the introduction, this Association is an insepa rable unit of the American canning industry. Whatever force militates against the good name of one single member of this Asso- ciation, militates against the entire industry. The industry cannot afford to tolerate unethical canners, nor does it so far as the jurisdic- tion of its Association allow-. For which reason it has happened in rare cases that the Association has requested a member to withdraw his name from its membership list. Its future polity will be shaped in strict accord with this principle. In the matter of sanitation in the plant the Association cannot be too emphatic in saying that not only does it approve of strict sanitary regulations as drawn up and enforced by individual states, but its Committee on Sanitation constantly designs and presents to state legislatures definite forms of legislation on this subject. And many states have thought it wise to adopt these recommendations and frame them into laws. There has been unlimited confusion throughout the industry duv to conflicting state laws affecting canned foods moved intrastate and interstate. This Association took the initial steps to urge the Com- missioners on Uniform State Laws to urge upon state legislatures the necessity of passing such laws as would conform closely to the provisions of the Xational Food and Drugs Act. The result of such state legislation will be that one label on the can will meet all requirements of state and Federal laws. Confusion defying the powers of description has followed the passage of the Xet Weight Act. Since the canning industry pre- sents many exceptions to the policy of Federal authorities in making general regulations for all kinds of foods and containers, innumer- able inquiries have been received by the Secretary of the Association 15 from canners asking for interpretations of this act to cover specific cases. It should be remembered that the very location of the head- quarters of the Association, Washington, D. C, simplifies the han- dling of such inquiries. The Secretary is in daily touch with numerous Federal officials whose opinions are from time to time made public to the canners through the Association's Publicity Bureau. It has been demonstrated that prompt and trustworthy informa- tion on Government rulings regarding the regulations imposed upon canned foods are of inestimable value to the canners. A clearly mapped-out course well within the provisions of the law is much to be preferred to an adjustment of trouble arising from violations due to misinterpretations. Forewarned is forearmed. For the first time in the history of canning there has been com- piled a complete resume of all the national and state food laws, and so compiled as to make it readable and usable. This work has been done by the Association for the benefit of its members. Let it be remembered : That the headquarters of the National Canners Association are located in Washington, D. C, within a few minutes walk and in direct telephonic communication with every Department in the Government ; That the Secretary of the Association and his assistants are charged with the duty of serving the interests of its members, particularly with regard to interpreting new rulings and new legislation, attending hearings, and in securing such data and other information as members find necessary for the progressive manage- ment of their business : That there are no charges for such services other than the regular membership and general dues. In some cases out of the ordinary, nominal charges are made, but such cases arc very rare. II. Make the Best a Little Better. Co-operation is a term to juggle with. Some " co-operators " practice this religion for purely selfish motives; true co-operators believe in an equal division of its benefits. It is no desecration of modesty for this Association to make the statement that the seg- 16 merits of its official backbone arc composed of the elements of true co-operation. And in no feature of its work is thai fad so thoroughly exemplified as in the service rendered by its research laboratories. These laboratories are exactly what their name implies. Thej are manned by a corps of experts whose business it is to dig into the intricate chemical ami bacteriological problems which no rainier ran avoid. Bacteriology and chemistry are at once the fountain beads of all the good and all the ill there may be in a ran of food. The entire output of a plant may be irretrievably lost if. in its process- ing, there has been omitted some step which controls the develop- ment of certain destructive organisms or which forestalls destructive chemical action. The mechanical problems of a plant are ABC as compared with those of its chemistry and bacteriology. The Association's research laboratories are operated for the benefit of American canners and American consumers. The find- ings are published broadcast by means of bulletins. These labora- tories are conducted on the principle that a problem solved for one canner is a finding of value to any number. of canners. and therefore, to the industry and the consuming public. While some of the progressive canneries in this country maintain their own laboratories, this does not in the least conflict with or hamper the activities of the Association's laboratories. At a cost to canners of about $35,000 a year they serve the industry and the public. From the chapters of the laboratories' work suppose we take the case of a can of corn which when opened shows a dark color. That single can of corn is at once a problem for the investigator and a matter of importance to the industry. The average consumer is not a bacteriologist or a chemist. He has not the time nor inclina- tion to take that corn to a laboratory and have it examined. He would discard it and likely as not pronounce anathemas upon canned corn in particular and the canning industry in general. Now there did develop such a case which was investigated by these laboratories and it was found that the darkened color did not in the least indicate an impurity in the product or that it had in any sense become unfit for food. This color was due to the presence of an infinitesimal amount of copper extracted from the machinery during 19 the processing. The remedy was apparent. The tinning of such portions of the machinery as come in contact with brine or with the corn after it has been mixed with brine precludes the possibility of any off color in the finished product. Perhaps this sounds very simple and unworthy of serious refer- ence here. However, it has been selected because of its very simplicity. The simplest things often cause the most trouble. If it were the policy of this Association and this laboratory to present the result of such an investigation to the canner in whose plant the problem arose and to give him exclusive control of that information, wherein would the canning industry or the public be benefited? The publication of such facts is stock in trade for the entire canning industry and a square deal for the public. The scientific corps of the research laboratories is headed by Dr. W. D. Bigelow as food chemist, and Dr. A. W. Bitting as food technologist. They are assisted by trained experts. Both these heads were formerly engaged in research work in foods for the Federal Bureau of Chemistry. Their connection with this Associa- tion is a real acquisition by the industry. Another policy pursued by the laboratories is to keep its corps in intimate touch with the industry. While all of the analyses and examinations are made at the Washington headquarters, the stall' is (instantly travelling from plant to plant investigating the process- ing of foods. It often happens that they detect an unsafe practice in the plant before it ha- had time to levy its tribute on the finished product. While handling the general run of problems for members of the Association, the research corps is constantly branching out into new fields. It is looking ahead. For example: For many years a tin can was a tin can — nothing more. Any spoilage or discolora- tion of the product within it before the can was opened was charged against some fault in the processing. But the research laboratories thought differently of this and determined to find out to what extent different foods act differently upon the tin in which they are encased. The experts from this laboratory took up the question with manu- facturers of tin plate. And quite recently co-operation between these two factors has been effected. In the past individual and more or less non-correlated investigations were pursued. 20 But like the canners themselves, tin plate manufacturers realize that the problems affecting their business have by do means been solved. And at this moment the scientific corps of the research laboratories, co-operating with tin plate manufacturers, is making a thorough study of the action of various foods u] the tin con- tainers. The object of this work is to eventually determine the composition of a tin plate best adapted for use in cans for each variety of food. There is little or no need to attempt an explanation of the inside machinery of the research laboratories. Writers of ability and note have relieved the Association of that. The laboratories have attracted them. The constructive research work conducted for the benefit of the industry and the public has attracted the investigator and writer of modern achievement articles for newspapers and magazines. This one manifestation of public appreciation of the work the Association is conducting is not its least compensation. Such questions as what constitutes an ideal shipping case from the standpoint of the shipper and the public carrier have arisen from time to time and have been taken up by this Association in conjunction with organizations of the trade at large. A get-together on such questions means the elimination of waste, loss of time, and confusion regarding claims for damage in shipping. The use of cannery by-products is being given thorough study by the laboratory experts to the end that there shall be a more efficient utilization of these. A study of the methods for examining evaporated milk revealed an error in the methods usually employed for reading the modifica- tions of the Babcock method. The conclusion is that exact results can only be secured with the Boese-Gottlieb method. A thorough inspection of a number of canneries led to the publi- cation of a bulletin on safety measures for such plants, a subject of prime economic importance to the industry. The problem of eliminating " swells " and " springers " and an inquiry into the causes of these have been given systematic atten- tion in the laboratories and the results published in a bulletin. Each day brings a new quota of problems, and it is perhaps unwise to suggest the extent to which the laboratorv work will Do *> 23 eventually modify certain methods and systems now conceded to be economically and scientifically correct. It should be remembered that : The Association's laboratories are conceded to be second to none of their kind in the United States ; That they are maintained by the Association for the benefit of the industry at large and the consuming public: That there are no extra charges for information and advice, and that charges for examination and analysis of foods are merely sufficient to cover actual costs; That the laboratories were not intended for routine work, but were established for the purpose of looking ahead and working out many of the problems which some day will affect the pack : That the work within the walls of the laboratory is followed by work within the walls of the plant from which the original problem came ; That these laboratories are designed for ((instructive research work; That the laboratories are at all times open to suggestions, and invite and respect the hearty eo-operati