327. Use Of Food Preservatives A Doubtful Policy

After the investigation and discussion of the past, there is not a general agreement that the policy of permitting the introduction of preservatives into human food is a wise one, even if food packages accurately state their contents. First of all, it is doubtful if the investigations so far carried on demonstrate conclusively that the long-continued introduction of the preservative compounds into the human system under all conditions of age and physical vigor is devoid of undesirable effects. It may be difficult to secure convincing testimony either way on this point. But the absence of appreciable effect with vigorous adults during comparatively brief periods is hot convincing evidence to those who understand how subtle and difficult of detection are the nutritive factors that determine our bodily and mental states.

The various compounds classed as preservatives have a strongly repressive influence on the unicellular organisms or bacteria that are the direct cause of fermentations. These cells are essentially the same in structure and contents as those that compose the tissues of the more complex organisms, and it if unsafe to assume an absence of effect on any cellular tissue. The profound influence of the chemical environment of living cells upon their activities is coming to be more and more appreciated as we gain added insight into biological processes. The human organism, through centuries of development, has been brought into nutritive adjustment and harmony with the compounds present in plant and animal tissues, and it is unsafe to conclude that no deleterious influence will be exerted by the life-long use, even in minute proportions, of substances that exert so marked an effect on the simpler forms of life.

328. Use Of Food Preservatives Promotes Careless Methods

It is also urged that the introduction of preservatives into food materials in order to prevent fermentations will permit careless methods of manufacture and the use of unsound materials. There is abundant evidence that all classes of vegetables and fruits may be held in a sound condition without the use of preservatives, and the presence of one of these in any food justifies the suspicion that the manufacturer is using materials or methods inferior to those of manufacturers who do not add preservatives to their goods. It is a very serious question whether indicating the presence of a preservative on a food package is an efficient defense of public welfare, because a very large proportion of consumers are neither enlightened nor warned by such printed statements. Buyers of food supplies will do well to give themselves the benefit of the doubt as to the healthfulness of preservatives and purchase goods not containing them.