The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-08-27
Adulteration of Food.

IHE cutlery against the prevailing
| adulteration of food inaugurated in
Great Britain by several prominent
writers, with Sir Arthur Helps at the
front, and taken up by the press of that
country and finally by Parliament, has
at last attained some practical results.
The committee appointed to investigate
| the workings of the NATURALIZATION act
have published a report which shows at
least some progress to have been made
In milk there has been decided reform
Before the passage of the act so per cent
| OF the milk sold in the city was skinned
| or watered and chalked, while now it is
very easy to obtain good article Arti
| fetal butter, too, is less common, and the
committee assure the public that, so far
as they can ascertain, its ingredients are
harmless. Teas are in about as bad con-
dition as ever and Prussan blue used as
| literally as ever to make the green arti-
Gle. In other articles of table consump-
| ton the committee find decided change
| for the better, and close with recon-
| mendation of still greater stringency in
enforcing the law.
1t is deeply to be regretted that as
| much cannot be said for America. Far
from improving here, we are going from
| bad to worse. There is no restriction
whatever upon the covetousness of the
| adulterator, and it would fairly startle
| the injurious eater to learn how very
| of 70 hot hn l..
that which it is represented to be. Spir-
ituous and malt liquors we may pass
over-their adulteration has been too
frequent a theme of late for any who
read to remain ignorant that in drinking
them they consume considerably more
strychnine, fusel-oil, rosin, gentian root
indicus cocculus, and tobacco stems
than they do whisky or beer The adul-
iteration of the lighter wines SO largely
used for summer medicines is more
serious matter. Too often the "purest"
of them are a compound of highwines,
sugar, coloring matter, and flavoring, and
wholly innocent of the juice of the grape.
The claret wines, especially, which as II
summer stimulant and astringent are
an invaluable addition to the physicians
pharmacopeia, and often the only as
tringent that can be safely used, are
subject to the most injurious adultera
ton, the native and the imported wines
suffering alike. A goodly part of our
Ives Seeding, for instance, is cider vine
gar with little sugar added colored
with beet-root, and sold to our wine mer-
chants at fifty cents gallon delivered
Fortunately there is very simple means
by which the artificial cooring of the
claret wines may be detected Dissolve
IA bit of potash in glass of wine, and if
no sediment forms, and the wine assumes
a greenish color, it is not artiticially col
ored. If violent sediment forms, elder
or mulberry has been used to color it;
if the sediment is red, beet-root has been
used; if violet-colored, logwood; if yell
low, "phytolac" berries; if violet blue,
privet berries; and if pale violet, sun
flower
But it is in the adulteration of the ia
BILE articles that we are most cheated.
Our tea has leaves and coloring matter
Of all descriptions. Our coffee, unless in
the berry, has every addition, from burnt
molasses to chickory and beans. Our
sugar has sand, chalk and plaster of
Paris. Our flour has magnesia in vari
Gus shapes. Our ground spices have Il
little of everything else save what they
are called Our olive Oil is made out of
lard. Our horse-radish is mostly old tur-
nips. Our picked olives are small plums,
soaked in lard oil before picking. Our
crackers are made out of damaged flour,
bought mp especially for crackermanu-
featuring houses.
1t is unnecessary to continue the list.
There is hardly an article that we take
up, with which any manufacturing has
played part, where some illegitimate
adulteration is not used to increase the
profits of the manufacturer. We need
just such law as England has, ana just
such rigid examination of the food sold
in the market-Cincianati Times.