=FOOD LAWS.=--There is now in effect in the United States a rigid law against the offering for sale of any article intended for human consumption which is adulterated in any way, without the fact and nature of such adulteration being plainly stated on a label attached to the package containing the article. This law, however, applies only to articles of this nature which originate, or are produced, in one State and offered for sale in another. The purchaser is, therefore, in a great degree protected, but many foodstuffs or manufactured articles may have their origin within the State wherein they are sold, and in this case the only safeguards are those afforded by the laws of the State, city, or town immediately concerned. If these restraining laws do not exist or if they are not enforced the housekeeper must rely upon her own efforts to protect her family from adulterated food. =PERMISSIBLE ADULTERANTS.=--In this class are included articles having a food value such as salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, or smoke used as preservatives of meats; or starch when added to the salts composing baking powder, where a certain amount is permissible for the purpose of absorbing moisture. =GENERAL DIRECTIONS.=--The ability to select fresh, wholesome meats, poultry, fish, fruits, and vegetables, to determine readily the purity of dairy products, and to detect adulteration or misrepresentation in all classes of foodstuffs must, in most instances, be acquired. Common sense and good reasoning powers are needed here as in every problem of life. While some adulterants can be detected only by trained chemists and by means of tests too difficult and involved for general use, the average housekeeper may amply protect herself from gross imposition by simply cultivating her powers of observation and by making use of a few simple tests well within her grasp and easily applied. =First--Sight, Taste, and Smell.=--All are of prime importance in determining the freshness and wholesomeness of foods, especially meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits. Avoid all highly colored bottled or canned fruits or vegetables; pure preserved fruits, jams, jellies, or relishes may have a good bright color, but never have the brilliant reds and greens so often shown in the artificially colored products.[4] The same is true of canned peas, beans, or Brussels sprouts; here the natural product is a dull, rather dingy green, and all bright green samples must be suspected. Foreign articles of this class are the worst offenders. All food products should have a clean wholesome odor, characteristic of their particular class. The odor of decomposition can be readily detected; stale and musty odors are soon recognized. It should be rarely necessary to use the sense of taste, but any food with a taste foreign to the known taste of a similar product of known purity should be discarded or at least suspected.