The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1882-07-06

A New Baking Powder Alleged to
lfshed Reputation the Best Guar
antee.
Pioneer Press.
A prominent newspaper recently al
legged that the ''Snow Flake" baking pow
der, made In st; Paul, and offered for
sale throughout the Northwest, contained
alum. It is not our present purpose to
inquire whether these charges are trt1e
or not, as that is a question for the chem
lists to. determine; and the
investigations that are likely to fol:
low will undoubtedly show whether this
drug is, as charged, a component part OF
the 'Snow Flake powder. We cite the
case rather for the purpose of calling at
tention to the interest that has been
awakened by the circumstance, as Indie
alive, of the increased sen sibi!ty of the
public upon the question Of danger aris-
ing from the use of alum baking powders
in the preparation of food. This is asub-
ject for every day thought and discus
sion
While it may. be question whether
or not it is used in the "Snow Flake" it
lisa well-known fact that alum is, on ac-
count Of its cheapness, largely employed
IN the compromising of many
Of the new brands of baking powders.
Unscrupulous manufacturers who desire
to reap all the profits possible from
these powders for the short period dur
ing which they know they can be foisted
upon the public, will naturally use the
cheapest materials they can procure.
Alum costs but 3 cents a pound, while
cream of tarter costs from 80 to 40. The
In1y,po,nn,,f tn %l,n t>,,ci Il ~,
who has no reputation to maintain and
is looking only for the present profit,
when he finds that he can with this stiff
make a powder at one-eighth the
cost of q reputable article, is
too great TO- beresisted. These powders
are constantly springing up In every city
and town, and are the source Ofimmense
danger to the public. When they are
discovered their proprietors are very apt
to fight those who have exposed them
with the desperation of baffled burglar
who suddenly finds his hopes of prospec-
tive swag vanish into thin air.
1t is hardly necessary to recapitulate
the evil effects of alum upon the human
system. 1t is we'll understood to be in
furious in high degree. DR.. Waller of
the New York board of health, in
warning to the public against the use
of these alum baking powders, stated
that the action of the alum in the stom-
ach was precisely the same as in the
mouth; it draws and Fuckers it up pro-
ducing unpleasant and dangerous disor-
ders, dyspepsia, constipation, heartburn,
ETC.. Through the exposure
made by the Royal Baking Powder
company of New York, which originally
brought to light this practice of. substi-
tuting, alum for cream of tartar, the
business wassfor'a time largely che cked,
particularly in the east, where the high
est medical and sanitary authorities con-
demned the practice in the strongest Ian
guage and earnestly seconded the efforts
of the Royal Baking 8owder company to
suppress it. 1t now seems to be cropping
out again in some section of the west.
At the time of the original exposure,
forty-two different samples of baking
powder for the government. He found
more than one-6alf of them to- contain
alum or other injurious ingredients; and
it is only fair to say, in passing, he found
also that the Royal Baking Powder stood
sthe,test, and in his report, TO the govern
,ment phcedit at the head 5sof the listSssfor
sspnrityand strength. The ct. Paul, Snow
'Flake,n" being then n, existance,
did not undergo this conical
test of the government chemist, and
therefore we are without this valuable
testimony as to whether it is an alum
powder. There can be no doubt but that
if what the newspaper charges is true,
and that ;''Snow Flake" is only a, guise
for "Alum Flake, ," the fact will BE re-
vealed when the government chemist
again takes up the subject of bslxing
powders. In the meantime the safety
Of the public lies in the use only of
those baking powders of highest charac-
ter and old established reDutatiOn