Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/422

 in this way. Brandied cherries and peaches are perhaps the most abundant. The quantity of alcohol employed varies between 15 and 20 percent of the total weight of the goods. The quantity of cane sugar used has been found to range from six to 20 percent of the weight of the fruit. Fruit preserved in this way cannot be regarded in the light of food solely, but only as a condimental substance. The eating of any large quantity of food containing that percentage of alcohol could not be accomplished without danger of intoxication. The utilization of such foods upon the table should be of a restricted character, and, especially, they should not be used with children or very young people where the danger from the direct effects of the alcohol is magnified and the possibility of forming the alcohol habit is also present.

Adulteration of Brandied Fruits.—The principal adulteration of brandied fruit is in the use of aclohol which is not genuine brandy. It is well known that much of the brandy offered in commerce is fictitious, that is, is not the pure distilled alcoholic product from sound wine properly aged in wood before using. When brandy is purchased for preserved fruit, unless special care is taken to secure the genuine article the imitation article may be supplied. Instead of the real brandy the manufacturers may use an article which is entirely devoid of any product of the distillation of wine or containing only a small amount thereof. The term "brandy" used with the fruit in such a case is a misnomer and the article would be deemed misbranded under the provisions of the law. The manufacturer can assure himself of the purity of the brandy by obtaining it from a bonded warehouse, since it is made under the supervision of the officials of the internal revenue and kept under such supervision until delivered to the consumer. Inasmuch as preparations of this kind are regarded as delicacies and the cost of the product does not enter materially into consideration it is highly advisable that only genuine brandy, distilled from sound wine and aged in wood for a period of not less than four years, be employed in the manufacture.

Importance of the Canning and Preserving Industries.—The statistics for the canning and preserving industries for the calendar year ending December 31, 1904, form a part of the census of manufactures, which is made in conformity with the act of Congress of March 6, 1902, and are compared with similar statistics for the census of 1900, which covered the fiscal year ending May 31st.

There has been a large increase in those industries. The slight decrease in the average number of wage-earners is more apparent than real, and is due largely to the fact that a considerable number were employed in fish canneries under a contract system. The contractor furnishes the laborers and is paid for an agreed quantity of product. The establishment reporting has no record of the number employed by the contractors, and they were not included in the number reported, the amount paid for such contract