The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-08-02
TIE ADULTERATION or FOOD.

WHILE 1t is certain that needless alarm
10 frequently excited By exaggerated state
ments regarding food collaboration. there
can be NO doubt that many of the articles
of food met with on our tables often con.
tain foreign ingredients which are intro
duced either for the purpose Of lessening
their cost or improving their taste and APP
pearancc. The former species of adultera-
ton, however fraudulent it may be, il the
less reprehensible from sanitary point of
view, IS the admixtures employed to pro.
duce an increase of weight and bulk fire.
quently act as simple dilutents. and al
though in these circumstances the nutri-
tious properties of the food are often d.
minished, the substances used are gen.
orally inert and harmless.
The artificial production of a desirable
flavor and color, no 1cver, commonly in
wolves the use of more harmful substances.
In the one case the consumer pays for
what he does not really receive; in the
other his stomach is exposed to the evil
effects of deleterious chemicals, the profits
of the manufacturer, it need scarcely be
added, being in both instances largely in
creased.
Flour is subjected to adulteration with
other and inferior meals, such as rice,
beans, rye, potatoes and Indian corn, the
addition of which cheapens the price and
in some cases bestows good color upon
a damaged or inferior grade, and causes
it to take up an abnormally large quantity
of water. The addition Of foreign meals
to flour is practiced, however, almost ex-
clusively in Europe, as most of the SUBJ
stances of this class used have in this
country greater value than pure wheaton
flour. A more probable adulteration with
US is the use of alum and mineral sub
stances; the former is occasionally EN-.
plOyed to impart white color to the
flour, the latter, which include sulphate of
lime, kaolin, chalk and bone dust, being
used to produce increased weight. It has
quite recently come to light that q -four
containing 10 per cent. of mixture of
chalk, plaster of Paris and barytes has for
some time formed q steady article OF ex-
port from Holland into other European
countries. The presence of such sub
stances as these can be detected by placing
the -four in long tube nearly filled with
chloroform, shaking the mixture, and
allowing it to stand, when the pure -four
will rise To the top IF the liquid, the
heavier mineral adulterants sinking to the
bottom.
Bread naturally contains the foreign in
gradients added to the flour from which
it is made; but in addition to these, other
substances are sometimes used in its prep
aration. Alum is employed to prevent
the action of the diastase upon the starch,
and to keep the bread from becoming sour
and moldy; and although this salt un.
doubleday tends to accomplish these re.
suits ind imparts fine white appearance
to the bread, its use is not justif1able.
When taken into the stomach it is liable
to occasion acidity and dyspepsia; fur.
thermore, it prevents the solution of q
large proportion of the gluten of the
bread, thereby causing decrease in its
nutritious value. A far more reprehensi.
BILE adulteratiOn consists in the addition
OF sulphate Of copper, which has the same
effect on the color of the bread and on tine
diastase. Although this salt is but sci.
dom employed, and then in very small
amounts, its use is to be condemned In
the strongest terms, as it acts as viru.
lent poison, and its effects are cumulative.
A simple and delicate test for detecting
the presence of copper is to moisten the
suspected bread with few drops of s0lu.
ton of ferrocyanide of potassium, which
will cause a pinkish color to become ap.
parent If the metal be present.
Pickles and preserves are often artl
ficially colored. The deep green col0l
frequently noticeable in the former is al.
most invariably due to the presence of q
sort Of copper 1.-THE sulphate of acetate)
which is either directly added to them OF
is produced by using copper vessels in
their preparation, both methods being rec.
commended in several cooking books
This adulteration can be detected by al
lowing a piece of clean and polished iron
to remain immersed in the picking vine.
gar for a few hours; in presence of cop
per q thin coating Of this metal will be
deposited upon the iron.
The condiments used at the table arr
also frequently far from pure. Addition
al acidity is often impaired to vinegar BY
the addition of sulphuric acid, the use Of
which was formerly considered necessary
in order to prevent its decomposition, an6
was allowed by law in Great Britain; bu
although the fallacy of this belief has beer
demonstrated, the practice is still resortet
to. A few weeks ago five carloads o
vinegar received in Washington from
Chicago were found 10 contain over fifty
four grains of sulphuric acid per gallon i
the form of sulphate of lime, in addi
ton to five grains per gallon Of the FREE
acid On adding little nitrate Of baryt,
to vinegar containing sulphuric acid,
heavy white precipitate will be immedi
ately formed.