Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-03-01

In order that the people of the country
may fully understand the causes of the
present excitement as to the use OF alum
in baking powders, history of the agita-
ton is necessary;
In the Scientific american of Nov. l6.
appeared an article by an eminent chemist
OF New York, showing the presence OF
alum IN large quantities in a number of ba-
king powders.
This article was copied into many news
papers, creating great excit9nent in every
household where baking powder was used.
The popular feeling grew so strong that in
the early part of December, at a meeting
of the Brooklyn Board of Heath. on mos
ton of President Crane, the Sanitary Su-
perlntendent was directed to procure
samples of the various kinds of baking
powders sold In Brooklyn, have them ana
lyzedl and make report thereon to the
board.
Sanitary Superintendent Raymond, NJ.
ID. has presented to the Board of Health
king powders and cream Of tartar, and the
effects of alum on the human system:
The digestibility of bread depends in great
measure upon Its being porous Ii it IS compost
and heavy, the digestive juices are unable to act
upon it, and II remains in the alimentary canal
undlgested giving rise to those disqgreeabIe sen
satloDs all know as indg estion. his porosity is
given to bread by the carbon;c acid gas liberated
out the 10 af little vesicles OF gas which are held
By the gluten OF the fl Jur until thu baking has
solidlted me mass and made permanent The
spaces original ~ Produced by the carbonic acid
Gas. This gas is Incorporated with the dough in
various ways. 1t may be forced in as is done in
the = serated breaG;" or the gas may be formed
by fermentation. For this purpc yeast, a me
OF minute vegetable cells. is employed; this acts
upon the sugar of the flour, COM ertlng it into
carbonic acid gas and alcohol; or again, the car
boLi acid gas may be liberated from some salt
holding IT in combination; This is the principle
involved in the use OF baking powders.
Without going in detail into the constitution
of baking powders it will onlS be nee, ssary -
say that LHeE are made with bIcarb onate of oda,
or carbonate of ammonia and cream of tar N,
chemical known as the bitartrate of potassa,
These lWders are especially used in making bis
cult and cakes. Before the days of baking pow
of tartar and bicArbOnate OF soda were purchased
from the grocer. ana a baking DOW der
extemporizsd in each kitchen; but the Iacx of
skill, resulting IN Jumps OF sCd4 in the product,
led manufactures to ascertain the proper pro-
portion OF these two salts and to mix them, sell
ling the compound as a baking powder. These
sold IN the shops Is verS variable and that moth
ing short ofchemical analysis will determine the
amount of cream of tartar in each sample; that
this the householder can not do himself and
therefore is unable to combine With IL the proptr
proportion of soda.
This variability in the quality Of crelm Of tar
tar needs the chemist to detect it, and the ex ten
sive use of bakin powders would seem to indi-
cate that there is a popular demand for them,
ler biscuits and cakes successfully when she he
Jelf mix thu cream of tartar and the soda. We
nave been uuaoie to fad in any drug store or
grocery good cream of tartar sold at retail for
ess than o. csnts pound while In some places
{ was as LiGh as IS cents. Some of the manufac-
urers, in order to supply cheap baking powder,
ave introduced alum ;. an ingredit MT, and this
GEMS TO be the only satisfactory reason FIR is
se that can be giren. Bi:arbUnate of soda is
sed in these alum powders, as in the others, and
IrbOnic acid gas is similarly produced.
In many countries alum has long besn used by
akers in bread m lkiIg, 1t Is claimed that the
re. d is whittier. and that an inferior quality of
ur can by i-7 use be paimed off on the pu bic |
) OF the first qualify. 1he effects IF alum on |
he human hody are well known, and are bey ond |
II in small quantities often repeated Ali au
hOrities agree IN this and there is NO room for
discussion.
The report of the Brooklyn Board c. n
dudes as follows:
From a careful examination, I am sati fed |
h the weight of evidence is inst the USe OF |
lum In baking powders, and that ,he risks in. |
urred in its use are too great 60 be Incurred for
he sake OF cheapness alone: Ike Mucous mem |
rane of the stomach and the in testinai canal is
delicate structure, and materials which would |
'roduce no effect on the outside skin might |
n. tate and iufl lme these organs.
The n. I. EUenlng Post has been giving |
his subject some attention, and has pub |
ished the result of some remarkable inves-
igatiOns, which are worthy the close atten-
ion of thoughtful people.
From its recent exposure of the use of |
trHt alum in some brands of baking pow
ers, in place of cream of tartar, the fol-
owing extracts are mainly taken:
Pursuing the investigation of the quality
the food sold in this city, the represen-
alive of the EUe1ling Post took up baking
owder as one of the articles in most gen.
raj use in our households. 1t is used by
early every family in the city, and it is
sturally of great importance to those who
1t the food made with it 10 know whether
contains anything injurious to health.
There are certain constituents of good
aking powder which may be regarded as
ntirely free from danger. They consist
pure grape cream of tartar, bicarbonate
soda, and carbonate of ammonia. The
,eam of tartar unites with the other two
gredients, and carbonic acid gas Is thrown
D, producing the same effect as yeast in a
Iuch shorter time. It has been found,
owever, that alum will also unite with the
her two articles, and carbonic acid gas
i'll be produced. As alum costs less than
Tree cents, while cream of tartar costs
ore than thirty cents pound, it is easy
see why alum is substituted for the latter
? some baking powder manufacturers
is admitted by all medical autho critics [
at cream of tartar leaves 10 injurious /
distance in the bread; alum, on the other J
md, is Ia itself an astringent, and there
wide and deep-seated prejudice against
use. In England and other countries {
g adulteration of food with alum is for q
dden by law under heavy penalties. The
emical effect of alum used in bread to :
hiten it is to form two salts of alumina-
e sulphate and the phosphate of alumina. 4
hen used in baking powder, the alum |
7 ms third salt, the ydrate of alumina, t
well as the other two. This hydrate of I
umina is far more easily soluble than the r
her twoi hence any objection that may q
list as to the use of alum alone in bread 8
plies with greater force to its use in q
king powder. This fact can be proven +
, the following named authorities:
Parke is the leader of the new school of n
-giene in England. In his Treatise on n
ygiene," he says: 4
Looking then to the positive evidence, and the
of that evidence, it seems 10 me II
es produce the injurious effects ascribed to it.
ese effects, SIS he previously states, are indi- y
stlOE, gripping, constipation, sld kindred o
'ubles resulting from irritation of the mucous O
m brsne, produced by the astrinEent proper =
2 of alum.
Persons who have not strong constitu- a
ms, growing girls, young children, and "
rising mothers, are particularly liable to b
3 evil effects produced by this use of "
I'm. Heartburn and the prevalent forms "a
indigestion are often solely traceable to ?
D action of alum on the delicate coats of II
3 stomach. q
To make sure of knowing the action of p
I'm, the Euening Posts representative
tanned the following expressions of opin- b
i as to its effect when used in baking 4
WIDER from some physicians ofNew York il
the highest reputation and ability: q
Dr.. William A. Hammond, formerly Surgeon r
neral United States, of 43 West Fifty fourth p
eet, expressed himself as perfectly certain of il
injurious effects of alum, whether used alone G,
Whlten bread. or as an adulterant of baking :,
wder. Abiding to the claim advanced that =
, alum was neutraized and changed into an III
oiuoie salt, he said that this was wholly i'm n