Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-06-19
Fraud at the Breakfast Table.

To the average American, coffee is as
essential TO a good break asst. rs is tea
TO the Englishman- The frauds prac-
tieed by the makers of ground coffee,
are n-ny and well known. These may
be REALLY avoided by the purchase Of
coffee that IS not ground Ii has been
supposed that ons who purchased the
raw bean. and roasted and ground il
himself. would have pure coffee. While
this course avoids one set of adul-
teratiOns. those which are only possible
with ground coffee, il may be but q
change of evils. While raw coffee is
free from adulseraton in the proper
sense Of the term-the adding of a
cheaper article 10 reduce its cost to the
seller the purchaser may fall upon what
is still wOrse-pOisOned raw coffee. IL
has recently been discovered by the Of
ficers of the Board Of Health of New
York city. that MaracaibO. Rio and 9TH
e. cheap coffees. are manipulated and
colOred in their unroasted state. to make
them resemble in appearance and color
tho .-Old Government Java" and that
in the process there are used various
co.Oring materials which are Of n poi
sonOus nature. and which one would
not. even in small quantities. willingly
take into his system Among the col
Oring matters are some. which, like UNI
Der. Venetian red. lamp black, sosp-
stone. etc, are no more harmful than
the same quantity of any other kind Of
dirt On the other hand, there are en-
ployed compounds of arsenic and lead.
which one would not care to take with
his coffee in even minute quantities. be-
sides the pruSsiste of potash and
other chemicals not usually regard
ed rs essential to \ good break
fast The cheap cOifees are green,
and the surfa has a dull ap-
pearance. while Java has yellow color.
and the surface OF the bean is smooth
and polished. The articles we have
mentioned are used to change the green
of cheap cOfTees TO yellow. Sprinkling
the coffee with gum-water, adding
powdered sOapstOne. an ! various color |
ing materials, and placing il in hot /
revOl ing iron cylinders. the beans rub I
against one another until they &C ;uire |
the desired color and polish The coffee .
brokers assert that more than half the |
retail grOcers sell cheap coffee that has
fICu LNAtAAA ~ INITIATE a. ~ AANAC 10 i
large establishments for cOloriBg coffee
near New YORK. but they claim that /
their processes are harmless They. /
however do admit that there are some /
wicked men in the same business in
Holland. and il may have been their
cOiecs that were examined BY the
Board Of Health.
First-elass retail grOcers can procure I
their stock from importers. and they
are in no danger Of being served with
the eO'orcd stuff. but il is different with
the average dealer all Ove- the country.
Soaking the susPecie coffee grains in
wafer, frcIuchtly stirring or shaking
them in bottle. then carefully dying
them and compar NJ them with sam
pie not so treated. viii show BY a diff
ference in colo II they have been
Iarpened with Nearly az the eolOrirg
are inSOluble in water. ami il
he water in which the sample of coffee
has been soase 4 Is allowed to stand in
/ wine glass. the eolO-ing matter viii
'ettle as fine powder at the bottom
American AgricHtErisL