Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1877-11-16
TRICKS OF THE TRADE.

We propose to show the difference be-
tween what our people think they eat
and what they do eat; to analyze the con.
tents of our pantries and store-rooms; to
inspect the shelves of our groceries, and
to develop, in fine, the true inwardness
of certain branches of trade which de-
pend for their existence upon the de-
mands Of the stomach and palate. --
It is not with the middlemen but the
manufacturers that we have to deal. An
honest grocer may sell all sorts of adul.
terations in the original packages. He
has no means of knowing them from the
genuine He buys them under the sup
position that they are what they purport
TO be, and though he may have shrewd
doubts at times as to thecharacter of the
articles that pass through his hands he
quiets his conscience by the reflection
that the crookedness is none of his, and
that if he does not sell it somebody else
viii.
And just here, before going farther,
we wish to disclaim any intention of re-
flecting upon those honest and upright
firms which, in spite of constant and long
continued temptation, stick to the prin.
ciple of right, and furnish only the
Simon-pure article. The mention of
their names would be superfluous, as
everybody will know whom we mean,
and will except them in making out the
list of commercial offenders against the
health and physical well.being of the
community.
Food adulteratlon is no outgrowth of
modern civilization. More than 600 years
ago, in the reign of Henry I'LL, there was
law upon the English statute book
against the adulteration of bread and
beer. The penalty in either. case was
exposure in the pillory. Bakers and
brewers both got hardened in the course
of time, however, and the pillory lost its
terrors. Every few years, when things
got to going a little too far, the British
Parliament Numbered out its rebuke
against the makers of beer, and invented
new punishments.
In the reign of James l., any attempt
to weaken or adulterate the national
drink was followed by confiscation of
the entire stock, besides Imprisonment
and fine. The statesmen of Queen Bess'
time found quite enough to do to keep
the beer brewers straight and secure a
good article. In 1886, during the brief
reign, of William ~ :, Parliament took up
the subject of bread adulteration, and a
law was passed which imposed fine of
ten pounds, or six months Imprisonment,
on any baker who should use in his bread
any other ingredients than those speci-
fed in the bill.
Fifteen years later, after Victoria had
ascended the throne, she suggested still
further action on the part of Parliament
in regard to the matter, the result being
the enactment adding the penalty of
hard labor to the punishments already
imposed. Still later the law was amended,
making bread adulterators amenable to a
fine Of fifty pounds instead of ten. In
1874 the law was retinkered. 1t was
shown that by a long course of training
the public taste had become vitiated,
and that although the peculiar white ap.
psarance of wheat bread was produced
by the use of deleterious substances, the
public, knowing that fact, still demanded
it.
The law was compelled to recognize
the force of that demand, and an amend
ment provided that if anyone preferred
adulterated food he might have it, if it
was not positively deleteriOus to health.
To save himself from the penalties be-
fore described the vendor was compelled
to make it appear on the outside of the
package that it was adulterated. 1t is
officially stated that that fact has not af-
fected the sales in the least. So much
for food adulteration in England.
In this country there is hardly pre-
pared article of food but is more or less
adulterated. Sometimes the material
added is not absolutely deleterious, while
on the other hand it is often absolutely
poisonous. There are three forms of
adulteration The first consists in the
addition of substances of greatly inferior
value for the sake of bulk and weight;
the second consists in the addition of col
oring matter of various kinds with view
to heighten the color and improve the
appearance of the articles, as well as to
conceal other forms of adulteration; the
third kind is for the purpose of impart-
ing smell, favor, pungenoy and other
properties OF these the first is the least
harmful, while the second and third are
highly reprehensible, because the articles
made use of are in many cases of a high
ly POISONOUS character, as various prepa-
ratiOns of copper, lead, mercury and
arsenic.
II would be considered highly impeTti-
nent in US to enter one of our large gro
Gerry stores, even in Imagination, for the
purpose of taking an inventory of its
contents in illustration of the statement
we have made. Let us instead, then,
take peep into the store-room of one of
our well-appointed domestic establish
ments, where an Investigation can be
made without fear of interruption, and
on our own ground. The most prOmi-
nent object here is the barrel of flour,
and the most important, for from II is
drawn daily the material upon which we
mainly subsist. Let us hope it is the
best Hsxall OF st Louis, but still let us
see what 1t possibly may be. Mitchell,
Normandy, PeIeiIa and Hassall .all ex.
pert food chefnists-tell US that flour
is extensively adulterated, and that where
this is done the principal materials used
for the purpose are potato starch, bean
-four, rice -four, chalk, bone dust and
plaster of Paris. White clay is some.
times used, and sulphate of copper and
alum is often added to bad wheat -four to
impToYe its quality and render Il better
fitted for bread-makipg There is little
doubt that the poorer qualities of certain
DIahNo VI hOut eio r uoStoiON W SOhV
Of these articles.
Nov let us take a look at the sugar
barrels, for we will suppose that the gen
tlewomanly hOusekeepef who has ad
mittee us TO the sacred ground has her
barrel of brown and barrel of granulated.
1t comes 80 much cheaper, and saves the
grocer good many visits.
The talk about " sanding" sugar is gen
orally regarded IS a joke, but we are
sorry 70 say that IL has truthful founda.
tion. Nearly all the brown sugars, i'm
ported on Of native manufacture, contain
large amount Of impurity. Some
brandf are absolutely unfit for use. They
are flled with acdrf, or insects. which,
on close inspection, are visible to the
naked eyes Tue higher grades Of brown
sugars ere a ulteraled By mixture with
the pdO1sf, and thus the buyer OF the