The daily gazette., 1879-01-14
What Stuff People Eat.

can SOctU ScttHce ISSOctuttOn.
Mr. George T. Angel read paper be- |
fore the American Sucial Science Asso- |
citation in Boston on Wednesday, On
"Pubhc Health Associations" i'll which |
he made some startling assertions about
! the adulteration of food. He said -
Cayenne pepper is adulterated with red
lead, mustard with chromate of lead,
curry powder with red lead, vinegar
with sulphuric acid, arsenic and cOrro-
sive sublimate. IL is stated that probably
half the vinegar now sold in our cities is
rank poison. One Of our Boston chem
lists aLaly zed twelve packages of pickles,
put up by twelve different wholesale
| dealers, and found copper in ten Of them.
Many of our fiavoring oils, syrups, .jel-
| lies and preserved fruits contain pOisons.
| The aduIterations of tea are too numer-
| GUS to mention. Coffee Is not only adui-
terated, but n patent has been taken out
for moulding chicory into the form of
coffee berries, and am told that clay is
an essence, to represent coffee. Cocoa
and chocolate are adulterated with va
rious mineral substances.
Several mills in New England, and
probably many elsewhere, are now EN-
gagged in grinding white stone into
hne powder for purposes of adnlteration.
AT some of these mills they grind three
IRrauts-Soua graue, sugar sraue anu
-four grade. 1t sells for about half q
cent a pound. Flour has been adulterat-
ed in England, and probably here, with
plaster of Paris, bone dust, sand, clay,
chalk, and other articles. ! am told that
large quantities Of damaged and un-
wholesome grain are ground in with
-four, particularly with that kind called
Graham Flour. Certainly hundreds, ,and
probably thousands, of barrels of terra
l al lha MI IN. n n mr.
} cities every year to be mixed with sugars
in confectionery and other white sub
stances. l am told by an eminent physl-
cian that this tends to produce stone,
kidney complaints, and various diseases
of the stomach. A Boston chemist tells
me that he has found 20 per cent. of ter
ra alba" in what was sold as cream OF
tartar used for cooking. large New
York house sells three grades of cream
of tartar. A Boston chemist recently
analyzed a sample of the best grade, and
found 80 per cent of "terra alba IN
that. Much of our confectionery con.
n taiDs 33 per cent. or more OF terra alba
- The cUloring matter of confectionery
frequently contains lead, mercury, ar
senic and copper Baking powders art
!. widely sold which contain IA large per
centage of "terra alba" and alum.
tits not water alone that is mixec
with milk. Thousands of gallons, ant
probably hundreds of thousands, are sol,
in our cities which have passed through
large tins, or watts, in which it has beei
mixed with various substances. Recipe
for the mi xture can be bought by new
1 milkmen from old, on payment of tn
required sum. am assured, upon wha
/ believe to be reliable authority thou
sands of gallons of so-call-d milk hav
been, and probably are, sold in this city
which do not contain one drop of tn
genuine article. Large quantities of tn
meats of animals more or less diseased
y are sold In our markets. Cows in tn
neighborhood of our large cities are fe
: upon material which produces larg
. flow of unwholesome milk. Poultry al
fed upon material which produces III
wholeOme eggs. Meats and fish are mac
unwholesome, frequently poisonous,
r careless and cruel methods OF killing.
California chemist recently analyze
N many samples of whisky. purchased
N di fferent places in San Francisco. II
found them adulterated with creosot
X salts Of copper, alum and other injuriol
substances. He states it, in his publisl
ed report, rs his opinion there Is hard
any pure whiskey sold in that city.
N, gentleman recently purchased from
prominent Boston firm cask of pun
an sherry wine for his sick wife. His vii
grew worse. He had the wine analyze
and found there was not a drop OF II
juiee of the grape in it. An eminei
medical gentleman of Boston sald to IN
"The authorizations of drugs in this cou
try are perfectly abomlnable." l sa
. that laws should be enacted and enfor
y ed prohibiting the manufacture and sa
/ of these poisonous and dangerous ar
cles under severe penalties ,and compe
ing the manufacturers and:sellers ofa,l.
terated articles to tell buyers the preci
character of the adulterations.