Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-11-22

OF sugar and syrup. reveal To rs the fearfh
extent to which they are being used by Ger
tsin dishonest sugar %refiners; aud believing
1t to be the duty Of the press to further in
.vest,gate the subject, and expose The fraud
being perpetrated upon au ucsnspec,ing
public, We have done so. and present the
following for the serious consideration Of
not only the public, but especially the
medical profession, whose duty w believe
it to be TO take prompt action in q matter
involving our physical well,being. 1T is for
them to say, whether, In their opinion.
pure cane.sugar honestly refined. or sugar
adultera,ed with glucose and muriate Of tin.
is che most wholesome and nutritious. {.
There are few ailments more important
than sugar. because of its general use. 1t is
found on tile table Of the rich and the poor,
aud is largely combined with the dietary ali.
ments of infants. The pure c%ane-susar,s nu.
%tri,ious, asiproved by chemistry and expert
ence. That it Is an inexpensive aliment, it
is not necessary to prove.
That sugar, when adu!terated, Is robbed
of a large percentage Of its nutritlve quality,
while its cost to the consumer is not cheap
ened, can be abundantly proved. 1t is our
purpose to make it clear to the mind of every
customer that when he uses adulterated
sugar he is being cheated doth in body and
in pocket.
But it may be asked by the unsuspicious
and, perhaps, doubling consumer, "Wheth.
er retiners do really practice adulteration2"
In reply We will quote from the Testimony
of Dr.. Booth Of the w%ell-kuown, firm Of
Booth s Edgar. do you ask me- said
Dr.. Booth, ''whether l believe the retiners
adulterate their sugars: Do you ask me, as
you asked Mr.. Fuller the other day, whe,h-
er l know how they do it? tell you, yes
l 90. l know they adulterate their sugars
and l know how they do it. A man came
to me some time ago and said, Doctor you
are a fool!' l said, 1T may be SO, but l am
an honest one.' Said he, You know about
that glucose business, don't you? Why
don't you go into the glucose business? Your
firm has had the reputation of making good,
straight, honest, sugars, and you can put
glucose into them and nobody will know
it, 'Weli,' said !, when l have 10 die I
will die honest.' Ihave had men come to
me week after week, offering me this and
that adulteration, and saying: Others use
it. l sell carload after carload Of ii to this
and that concern They are using it in
large quantities."
Here then we have indubitable proofthat
refners practice adulteration. But the con.
sImer is doubtless by this time somewhat
curious to learn something of the nature Of
these adulterants, and why they are used by
re6ne!s. Several years ago, the public mind
was greatly excited by the discovery that
terra alba, sand and ground white marble
were being used by sugar dealers as adulter-
ants. Well, these were bad enough, and
mothe,s were terribly alarmed about their
children, lestthe hard indisestible SUBSTANCES
should either excite inflammation Of the
stomach and bowels, or perhaps cause a IA
tai diarrhea. II then the people were hor-
rited by these authorizations, should they
not be much more so, when shown that the
re6ners of sugar of the present day are-and
have been for several years-using upon an
extensive scale, aoulterations infinitely
worse? Let US see what they are. There
are two that we propose to discuss in this
article, and to which We invite pub ic atten-
ton. The first is glucose.
This substance is derived from various
sources; from fruits, corn or any vegetable
containing starch also from lignine or
wood-6ber. When made from lignine, old
bits of linen and paper are dissolved in
strong sulphuric acid. Commercial glucose
is chiefly manufactured from corn, and its
market price does not exceed 8 to 4 cents
per pound, being scarcely half the price Of
pure cane-sugar. Glucose is insipidly sweet,
but not in the least nutritious. It's sweet
ness and cheapness, however, is the real ex.
planation as to why it is so largely and
probably used by sugar-refners. Con-
sumers will be surprised to learn that table
sugars are being made by the aforesaid re-
fners which contain from 80 to 60 per cent.
of glucose.
The question that properly comes up at
this point, is whether 80 large a percentage
of an innutritious adulterant which is sub
for an equal amount of a nutritious
aliment, may not by its continued use, affect
the nutrition of the body, especially that of
the infant, whose dietary ailments are 80
combined with sugar. We take the
affirmative of this question without areu-
ment, believing that the medical profession
and an intelligent public will sustain US.
But there is yet another and very serious
to consider, namely, whether the
continued use of this adulteration in our tea
nd coffee, and for sweetening purposes gen.
rally, may o have a most pernicious
fleet upon the system? Several eminent
hemists who have within a few months
aade a very thorough analyzation of adul-
Grated SUI .r, unhesitatingly give it as their
that the constant use of glucose,
nd in such quantities as are found in most
f the refined sugars and syrups of the
resent day, is decidedly injurious to the
uman system, causing affections of the
yer and kidneys-especially diabetes of
le latter organ. We presume every reader
i'll admit that the question raised is, by
lis opinion, fully met and answered.
The second adulterant to which we call =,
ablic attention is a mineral substance l
'own to the chemist as a salt of tin and
called chloride or muriate OIL
J. 1t Island has been for years-used r
tensively by calico printers and dyers for
purposes and as a mordant.
This adufterant is one of the most i'm G
rtant and most valuable that is used bv
e refner. "But" says the surprised. and
rriied lover of sugar. "do you mean to r.
: that | am daily swee'eDing my coffee l.
! tea with sugar containing a percentage
the muriate of tin ?" "YesI do" "But
t that poisonous?" asks the mother, Is
o Is using the nursing. bottle for her in.