Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1883-01-12
THE AoJLTERaTIoN OF FOOD.

Although the law in France is exceeding
ly strict about the adultcration of food
| nevertheless we find that the municipal
laboratory for the analysis oft the solid, and
liquid food sold in Paris, is issuing !. series
of reports which show that nearly every
article of consumption is more or less adul-
terated. The extensive scale upon which
wine, spirits and beer are adulteratcd, is
already well known. but it is more surpris-
ing still TO find that coffee and even cho-
colate are rarely sold pure Chocolate is,
rs Il rule, adultcrated by the substitution Of
bean meal powdered date stones for the
rich matter which the natural cocoa contains
and out Of seventy-seven specimens Of cho-
colatc brought to the laboratory nearly half
were adultcratcd in this fashion. 1t might
be thought that however much ground coffee
might hc adulteratcd by the admixture of
chicory and other substances, one was safe
in buying it when III the berry; bnt this is {;
great mistake, for there are severa! estah-
lishmcnts in Paris which manufacture Il COM
pound OF ground acorns, burnt wheat and
coffee dregs into berries, which are then
dipped in an alcoholic solution Of colophone
to give the appearance of best Mocha"
Ont of twenty eight specimens OF whole
coffee, twelve were found to he adul-
tcratcd, so that it is not in the east
only that one drinks ;'had coffee"
Even the chcory used TO adntcrate coffee
Is not, as II rule. pure, the most common
form OF adulteration being oxide of iron
and ochre. There is still greater difficulty
is procuring genuine pepper for out of one
hundred and twenty-five specimens ex-
,i,,i, f,,,, I,,l
starch, pulvcrized olive and date stones,
cayenne, plcmcnto, chalk, plaster and dust
from shop floors being among the elements
discovered. Sugar and honey seems TO
have escaped so far the fraudulent devices
of dishonest traders, but syrups-which arc
50 largely consumed III France-and Jam are
very generally adulteratcd. Out of thirty
eight specimens Of syrup twcnty-tour haG
been arti!icially colored, and were not,
therefore, made from the fruits which they
were named after, while nine were COM
posed of substances delctcrious to health.
1t is even worse with jam, for out OF eighteen
specimens fourteen were made principally
from glucose, while much of the red-current
jelly sold in Paris is made without currents.
the jelly being obtained by the use OF
seaweed, the color with iuchsinc. and
the flavor with an essence made from
acctic, tartaric and other acids. Even
bread, the daily consumption Of which in
France is estimated ut sixteen thousand tons
a day, is very much adulteratcd in Paris by
damping the flour so rs To increase its
weight, mixing it with bean meal potato
starch, &c, or adding to it de!cteriors COM
pounds Of lead, copper. zinc, sulphatc of
lime and chalk. Out Of thirty-one specimens
OF bread analyzcd only thirteen were made
Of pure wheat flour, aud in examining the
composition Of flour the spectrum analysis
has been found OF great assistance. as the
presence of chemical componcnts can be de-
tccted at once. Butter is even more gcncr-
ally aduteratcd than bread for out of sixty
two samples only eleven were pure. When
one remembers that the margarine manu-
featured in New York is equivalent to the
quantity Of butter which could be made
from the milk of three hundred thousands
COWS, and that whole shiploads Of ii are ex-
ported from Holland and Normandy. and
sent thence to Paris as "best Normandy
butter" il will be easy to understand why
the report of the analysis is so unfavorablc.