The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1878-04-25
ADULTERATED CONFECTIONERY.
SamctbInM About the Dangerous Substances
Omen uuea In the MahinM of Candies,

@amethInm About the Dangerous substances
Omen Us~a In the nIaktnH of Candies.
In raising adultcration to the dignity
nf science, the manufacturers of con
fectionery have done their part. Prop
erly, there are only three component
parts in pure confectionery sugar.
or body Of the matter. the extract, or
havoring quality of the same, and the
coluring property. To such n degree
of ingenuity have candy makers arrived.
that some kinds Of their wares are put
up for the market with only very
slight proportion Of the irst, and with
the coloring and tlayoring ot so
cheap quality that their manufactured
articles can be bought at the same
price per pound Hs the plain sugar
itself
1t is not 30 bo supposed that there is
no pure confectionery. Those who pur-
chase at our best and old.establiahed
places are morally sure Of getting a
genuine article. But children do not
always 60 a. these places They strike
for the nearest shop or store and where
they can get the most for their pennies.
The cheaper candies, Of which hundreds
Of tons are sold every year, contain some
oi the most DEADLY poisons known,
among them rod lead gamboge, yer
million, chromate of lead, Prussian blue.
verliter or carbonate of copper. arsenite
OF copper. Brunswick green, the various
oxides of iron, white lead, etc. TcTa
alba, a kind of clay or white eartlfis
very largely used, IN some qualities il
forming from fifty 10 sixty per cent Of
the manufactured article
The argument that the substances
named arc used IN quantities So small
that poisoning cannot result from their
use is founded upon Ignorance. Some
uf tho poisous named are known as
cumulative. from the fact that they ac-
cumulate in the system, and that, no
matter how small the quantity taken in
at each time. each addition remains. the
constantly growing mass working slowly
and silently. producing even more deadly
effects than large doses accidentally
taken, whose results may be neutraliZed
or affected by antidotes A distinguish
al physician lately made u deliberate
statement at an annual meeting of the
society Of which he was member, that
there WAS no question but hundreds of
children were slain every year by cheap
confectionery, without the real cause Of
their death being known.
As we have just stated, the article
which is most used by dishonest con-
tectioners is what is known 10 the trade
AS terra alba. Ii Is principally brought
from Ireland, and was brought into use
fifteen or twenty years ago. It's first
extensive use Was during the war, when
cream Of tartar, bicarbonate Of soda.
pepper, ground rice and other articles
Of domestic use rose 10 double their
ordinary prices. Ttrra alba was then
worth about ten or fifteen dollars per
ton. The demand has brought il up 10
about double those figures. This com.
pound is nothing more nor less than
actual dirt. In color Il resembles dark
hour or ground chalk, and is just as in.
furious AS SO much clay or dirt Ii enters
mostly into the composition of " mixed"
candies, though this does not imply that
all candies OF this sort are adulteratei
with II, for some Of the choicest candies
in reliable confectioners' stores are
called mixed, and are the most ex-
pensiye.
Many readers who have bought the
common fruit OF nut-cAndy will remem-
ber that III letting the round pieces con
tanning the fruit melt in their mouth the
result Was a thick, tastelcss paste with
oHt sweetness or flavor. This was the
white earth, which was only frosted
on the outside. The cheaper chocolate
creams, OF which children are 80 fond,
are male Of terra aiba and glycerine
mixed together, the glycerine keeping
the earth soft and pasty, making il all
here so il will not fall apart, and then
the balls are rolled IN tallow, with sufH-
cient grease 81 allow one pound Of choc-
olate 10 60 as far as i've or SIX pounds
would If properly made.
The worst effects uf the use Of terra
alba are, that the terrible diseases Of
stone and gravel are caused bv the iu-
PRODUCTION Of earth into the system, and
the large increase Of patients suffering
from these attributed by high medical
authorities 90 the Introduction Of this
terrible ingredient into the confectiOn-
ery and similar articles consumed in this
country.
Glucose, or grape sugar" is the
name Of another dangerous article cI-
tensiyely used in the adulteration Of
candies. IL is not, as its name would
imply, made from grapes, but from po-
tatoes, and It's effect in to produce par.
alysis OF various portions Of the system,
especially the kidneys, whore the effect
is not only 10 paralyEe them, bat b turn
them into n sugary substance in other
words. TO produce Bright's disease. a
malAdy for which physicians have found
as vet no remedy.
The reason for the use of glucose is
the same that is given for the use OF
every other adulteration-cheapn
Gum arabic, for which il Is used as a
substitute, is worth fifty cents pound,
while glucose sells for five or si1. Most
of the cheap gum-drops are made from
this compound.
More disgusting than any of the arti-
cles named, though perhaps not so
hurtful, are what confectioners term
the scrapings. When n sugar ship
comes into port and is emptied OF her
cargo, a good deal OF syrup has adhered
10 the sides Of the vessel and run down
into the bilge water. The first is
scraped of and the second pumped ont,
mixed together, and boiled, and Of this
compound candy il made.
The coloring OF cheap candies, al
though il would hardly come under the
head of adulteration, is yet n fraud, and
oftentimes a dangerous one. Instead Of
the cochineal fly which the best confec-
TONERS use for the red in their wares,
the unprincipled manufacturers use
aniline. powerful and poisonous color.
For yellows chromium is used, one of
the elements of which is arsenic. We
have already mentioned some OF the
other preparations of lead and copper
used for this purpose. The yellow in
the best candies is produced by the use
of saffron.
Most candies favored with pear, APP
pie, banana and other fruits are
unwholesome, these extracts in many
instances being made from fusil-oil,
taken from the refuse Of liquor-stills. -
Boston Commercial Bulletin.
Chinamen's Bones.
According 70 n San Francisco corre-
spondent, whenever Chinaman Is sick