The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-01-05
Adulterated Confectionery,

In raising sdulterAtion TO the dignity
of science, the manufacturers Of con.
fectionery have done their part. Prop
erly there are only three component
parts in pure confectionery-the sugar,
or body of the matter; the extract, OF
Aavoring quality of the same. and the
coloring property. To such degree Of
ingenuity have candy-mskers arrived,
that some kinds Of their wares are put
up for the market with only q very
slight proportion Of the first, and with
the coloring or fla voring of 20 cheap q
quality that their manufactured arti-
cles can be bought at the same price
per pound ss the plain sugar itself
II is not to he supposed that there is
no pure confectionery. The cheaper
candies, of which hundreds of tons are
sold every year. contain some OF the
most deadly poisons known, among
then red lead, gamboge, vermillion,
chromate Of lead, Prussisn blue, verdi
ter or carbonate of copper. arsenite Of
copper. Brunswick green, the various
oxides Of iron, white lead, etc. Terra
alba, q kind Of clay or white earth, is
very largely used, in some qualities it
forming from fifty to sixty per cent of
the manufactured article. The argu.
ment that the substances named arc
used in quantities so small that poison.
ing cannot result from their use, is
founded upon ignorance.
As We have just stated, the article
which is most used by dishonest con-
fectioners is what 10 known to the trade
as terra alba. It 10 principally brought
from Ireland, and was brought into use
fifteen or twenty years ago. Its first
extensive use was during the war. when
cream Of tartar. bicarbonite Of soda,
pepper, ground rice, and other articles
of domestic use, rose to double their
ordinary price. Terra alba was worth
about $40 or $l5 q ton. The demand
has brought it up to about double those
figures. This compound is nothing
more nor less than actual dirt.
Many readers who have bought the
comman fruit or nut candy will remem-
Der that in letting the round pieces
containing the fruit melt in their mouth
the result was thick, tssteless paste
without 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 made out Of terra alba and
glycerine mixed together. the glycerine
keeping the earth soft and pasty,
making it adhere 50 it will not fall
apart, and then tho balls are rolled in
tsllow to cool them, with sufficient
grease to allow one pound of chocolate
to 60 40 far Is five or six pounds would
if properly made.
Glucose, or grape sugar." 10 the
name of another dangerous article ex-
tensively used in the adulteration of
candies. It 10 not. as its name would
imply. made from grapes, but from po-
tatoes, and it, effect is to produce psraly
sis of various portions of the ~ stem. ss-
pecislly Of the kidneys. where the effect
is not only to paralyze them but to
turn them into q sugary substance; in
other words. to produce Bright's disease.
q malady for which physicians have
found IS yet no remedy.
More disgusting than any Of the srti-
cles named, though perhaps not 90
hurtful, are what oonfectioners term
the scrapings. When . sugar ship comes
into port aud il emptied Of her cargo, .
good deal Of syrup has adhered to the
sides of the vessel aud run down into
the bilge water. The fret is scraped off
and the second pumped out. mixed
together. and boiled. and Of this COM
pound candy IL made.
The coloring Of cheap candies,
although it would hardly come under
the head Of adulterstion. is yet . fraud
aud oftentimes . dangerous one.
Instead of the cochinesl Az, which the
best confcctiouers use for the red in
their wares, the unprincipled msnufac-
turers use aniliue, powerful and pois-
onous color. For yellows chromium is
used. one OF the elements of which 10
arsenic. We have already mentioned
some of the other preparations of lead
aud copper used for this purpose. The
yellow in the best candies is produced
by the use of saffron.
A few years ago the Massachusetts
Board OF Health, entered into an inves.
tigation in relation to the confectionery
sold in the State. Of the sixty seven
colored samples examined, there
vert twenty one specimens Of yellow,
twelve Of orange, twenty-ni of red.
i've Of brown, seven Of green, and four
Of blue. Of the twenty lone yellows.
seventeen consisted entirely of chrome
yellow or chrcmate of lead. two con-
tanned chromate of lead. although .
vegetable yellow also WAS present. ard
two were oolored with organic yellows
alone. Of the twelve specimens of
orange. nine were colored with orange
chrome or orange chromate of lead.
two contained IN organic and red
mixed with chrome yellow. and in one
the ooloriug matter was entirely organ
ic.
In the twenty mine reds. twenty-five
we're organic, three samples Of . bright
red color contained iron. and one Was
colored with vermillion or suiphide Of
Of mercury. OF the four specimens Of
blue, two contained only organic
coloring matter, aud two were found to
be ultra-warins Of siiicate of soda and
alumnia with salphide of sodiam. OF
the seven greens. one. pale green. Was
found to b organic. ak were coiored