The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-10-11
Trade Frauds and Food Authorizations.

The following on this subject Is copied from
the San Francisco NelCS Letter:
In pursuance Of our exposures of food adulter-
alton, we come now to speak of a very simple
article which in this State, above all others,
ought to be obtained in a perfectly pure coudi-
ton. We refer to olive oil. In the many loud
vauntings Of the productions of California, our
writer's are never weary Of telling US that 'this is
the land OF the olive. the pomegranate,' etc, yet
We are now In a position to demonstrate that
there Is but little pure olive oil to be obtained
10 this city. This is an extraordinary fact, and
serves to illustrate our position that fraud per-
meates every business and enters into almost
everything we eat, drink and wear. Now for
the proof. We obtained from different dealers
SIX different samples Of olive oils, with the fol-
lowing results. as ascertained by Professor Thos.
Price
No. l49.-Purcbased Of F. F. Speckman,
northeast corner Fourth and Mission streets.
Sold for pure olive oil was labeled - California
Salad Oil" Put up by c. G. Burr & Co. San
Francisco. Is nothing buI mustard seed OIL.
No. 15O.-Purchased of Fr Bros, II Fourth
street. Sold for olive oil labeled 50 Huile d'OlIve
superfne clarifce. Guillaume ROudolphe, Mar
settles Aim de pouyoir poursouiyre les contre-
facteurs chaque bouteille d'Huile d'Olive por-
terra ma signature, Guillaume Roudolphe. Is
chIS7y cotton seed OIL tcith a hHLe poppy seed OIL.
No. l5l.-Purcbased of A. II. Murphy, 846
Market street. Sold for olive oil of the best
quality. He charged Csc. for a small bottle.
Labeled the anne as $50. IL Was mostly cotton
seed oil.
No. l52.-Purchased of Never & Co., cor
ner of Mission and Twelfth streets. Sold for
olive oil labeled L" Superfne Huile d'Olive, Bor-
deaux." Is cotton seed oil tcHh some poppy seed
OIL.
No. 147.-Purchased of Page & Riseland,
southeast corner Stockton and O'Farrell streets,
FOR olive oil, labeled Extra Super6ne Oil; Huile
Verge Deux fois Clarifcs-J. L. Duret, Bor-
deaux. Contains Uery lille ohUe oil, rs chiefly
cotton seed oil and a lille poppy seed oil.
No. 14S.-Purehased of B. Lake, 739 Mar
ket street, sold for olive oil, labeled Huile
D-Olive SuPerfne; Clarifce Double Put up by
II. Silver, 43 Third street, San Francisco. Prin-
aPaHy cotton seed oil With a MIXTURE Of some other
oils.
The above are all vegetable oils, and. so far as
that goes, are less injurious than oils adultera-
ted with lard or other animal oil. All such as
contain lard oil are unfit fo- ordinary food
especially in any warm climate. Still, there is an
abOmInable fraud in vending cottOn-seed oil, pop
py oil, or rape-seed oil, etc., for olive oil. The
cost of pure olive oil, such as is supplied by Brit
ish firms. like Crosse & Blackwell, is a wholly
different thing from the rubbish described by our
analyst. From time i~mmemOrial, before the
Noachian Deluge, the olive was most probably
in cultivation, and its fruit in esteem by Eastern
people. Wherever in the Scriptures oil is men,
toned, it means = olive OIL The Hebrew race
are noted for the esteem in which they hold
olive oil, and the multitudinous uses to which
they put it in cooking. and it certainly is, when
pure, a mOst wholesome condiment. 1t is, more
over, endowed with properties of a most delicate
nature. Ii is nearly as sensible to sunlight as q
photographers plate, and soon assumes proper
ties that render il unwholesome. 1t has a capa.
bility for easy digestion, a fine relish, and Is al
most a necessity in preparing salads. These
qualities are all its own no other vegetable OF
approaches it. Now. to sell for it as we know
and under It's name, with a flourish of advertis
ing testimonials. this cheap rubbish, Is more thar
a fraud-it is lying, barefaced roguery-and il
our mind ought to be made a cause to go TO a
jury as a crime.
There are several kinds of bitters sold in thil
State, which are bepuhed in all available places
and have a large consumption. In the Sacra'
mento Valley, and other malarial districts, they
are commonly used, because of their supposed
cheapness, as a substitute for quinine. Tba
they are in no beneficial sense a substitute fol-
that most useful Of medicines, is a fact beyond
peradventure. That they are not even a valua.
bic tonic Is also true. For the most part they
ara simply alcohol, colored with burnt sugar
and favored with coriander. If not absolutel,
injurious, they are at least valueless for the pur
poses for which they are sold.