Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 March 1911 — THE COLD STORAGE BILL. [ARTICLE]

THE COLD STORAGE BILL.

In our summary of. the good work done by the legislature we omitted to mention the law regulating the cold storage business in Indiana. Under this law all food products placed in storage, except those destined for interstate shipment, must be “marked, stamped and tagged” with the date of their receipt, and also the date of their removal from storage. Food products shall not be held longer than nine months. In case any meat, fish, butter, eggs, cheese, poultry, game, fruits or farm and garden products, or other perishable food products, are left in storage longer than nine months, it is made the duty of the manager of the storehouse to report the same to the,state board of health. And it is made the duty of the board to inform the nearest judge or justice of the peace that the goods have been stored longer than nine months, and the judge is empowered to Order the destruction of the products. Eggs that have been stored for more than thirty days must be placed in a receptacle marked “cold storage” when they are offered for sale, and the container in which eggs are delivered for consumption must be thus marked.

Persons conducting a cold storage business must keep accurate records of the food stored, which records shall at all times be open to the inspection of the board of health, which ,shall issue licenses for cold storage warehouses. Of course, the state board of health is to have power to inspect, not merely the records, but the plants themselves, and the food stored therein at'all times. Such legislation as this is greatly needed. For though cold storage is a blessing when the business is rightly carried on, it is a serious menace to health when it is not carried on. There ' are economic j considerations also that are important. Men have used the cold storage plants to limit the food supply, to create a monopoly, and ; so to force up prices. In other , .words, the effort has been to! manufacture an artificial scarcity.! 'Ticods have been put in cold storage, not to save them for future use, but to keep them out of the rna ket until such time as ‘the price was “right”, jfor the ( sellers of the goods. But even this, is not the worst: of it. Bad as it was thus to lift prices, the waste and destruction of foodstuffs that had been held too long was even worse. That much food has thus been lost is certain. Greed overreached itself, and the -result was that the food, being utterly unfit for consumption, had to be destroyed. The new law will do something to check evils. The legislature is entitled to the gratitude o f the people for having passed it. The people have a right to know whether they are buying cold storage products or not, and if so they should know how long they have been stored. The law is one that was greatly needed. ■>—lndianapolis News.