Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 132, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1915 — ADULTERATION OF OATS MUST STOP [ARTICLE]

ADULTERATION OF OATS MUST STOP

Grail Shippers and Dealers Warned by Govennneiit that Two Practices Must Cease. Seventy-five carloads of oats intended for export have been seized by the federal authorities because they were found to be adulterated within- the meaning of the Food and Drugs Act. The adulteration charged Is the addition of feed barley or water, or both. Under certain circumstances adulteration in these ways may be so profitable that it is believed to be at times a common practice among grain shippers. The Government, however, Is determined that the practice shall cease and field representatives of the Department of Agriculture have all been Instructed to exercise the utmost vigilance In detecting future shipments adulterated in this way.

Low grade barley which Is known to the trade as “feed barley’* is sometimes mixed with oats when there is sufficient difference between the prices of the two grains to make this profitable. This “feed barley’ ’is the product which remains after the best grade of the grain has been separated and removed for malting purposes. It contains material percentages of weed seeds, foreign grains and dust, and the addition to oats of such a product is held to be a violation of the Food and Drugs Act The addition of water to oats arises from the fact that the grain is sold by weight. Investigations of the Department of Agriculture have revealed the fact that water is sometimes added in the amount of from 2 to 4 per cent. In the opinion of the Government officials there is no reason why either of these practices should be tolerated. Grain shippers and dealers, therefore, are being warned that the prevalence of the custom in the past will not affect the legal proceedings against future shipments found to be adulterated in this way.