The use of preservatives in food materials has engaged the attention of sanitarians for a number of years and they have uniformly condemned the practice. Nevertheless new and hitherto unsuspected uses of preservatives are discovered from time to time notwithstanding the laws prohibiting their use.
The plea of the manufacturers is that the use of preservatives is absolutely necessary to keep the food materials, and also that it is not harmful.
During the past ten years nearly all of the states of the union have enacted laws which aim to prohibit the use of food preservatives. The national law of 1906 has served as a model for many of the state laws enacted since that time.
The Food and Drugs Act, passed by Congress and approved June 30, 1906, provides "for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous