Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1884-02-09
The Can Poisoning.

The roll of more or less serious casu.
alities resulting from the use of canned
food products is added to week by
week; and unmistakable symptoms of
metallic poisoning in many cases indi-
cate a radical evil in this method of
preserving goods. Careful analysis re
Gently made in England revealed the
presence Of TIN in solution of canned
pineapples to the amount Of one and
three.tenths grains per pound, and the
metal was also found in apples, aspa>
ragus, pears, tomatoes, peaches, cher.
ries, marmalade, corned beef, Give
brands) ox'tongue, (three brands) tripe,
oysters, HOLSTERS, salmon, shrimps, sar-
dimes, Gin OiD, rabbit, mutton, chicken,
turkey, soup and condensed milk (three
brands. The official investigation has
detected the presence of tin in solution
in apricots, tomatoes, pineapples and
cranberries, to the extent of from one
and nine-tenths to fourteen and three
tenths grains per pound. Probably a
dose of two hundred grains of this tin
solution would be required to cause the
immediate death Of an average adult,
and to swallow this quantity one would
have to eat at meal about fourteen
pounds OF the most contaminated goods
mentioned above. But the impossi.
bility of such performance makes the
danger none the less actual. Smaller
doses frequently repeated may gradu-
ally undermine the constitution; or they
may remain apparently innoeuous in
the system until able to act with cumu.
lative and deadly force.
The amount of metallic poison taken
into solution depends upon the nature
OF the goods, the length of time they
have to be in the can, and above all
the quality of the tin. The last con.
dition is one in which an evil can most
etfectually be suppressed by law. If
all the tin plate used in can factories
were submitted to careful official in
spection, the cans might cost triAe
more than they do now, but house.
keepers would not SO often find the in.
ner surface of the tin corroded when
the goods are removed. And what
cOrrosion means may be estimated
from the fact that even in the worst
samples examined by the Engli.h in.
spectors its presence was scarcely per.
ceived. Ii an uncorroded can taints its
contents with FIVE or ten grains
Of tin per pound, what must be the
condition of goods in a can entirely
lined with corrosion?
1t would be well could glass or earth.
enware jars be substituted for tin cans
as receptacles for preserved articles Of
food. The best thing would be to make
sure that only the best quality of tin
is used. But until one or the other Of
these ends is attained, housekeepers
may materially lessen the risks to life
and health incurred in the use Of
canned goods by observing two simple
rules. The first is to discard as dan.
gerous the contents of any can if on
opening, the inner surface of the tin be
found in any measure correded; and the
second, to remove all the contents Of
the can Immediately upon opening,
placing them in glass or china dish il
not needed at once for consumption.
This is of great Importance, since cor
rosiOn of the metal and consequent
contamination of the food quickly fol
low their exposure to the air, and al
the inquest of one of the latest vic,
tins Of tin poisoning the fact wa,
brought out that she had eaten the sal
mon after it had been standing in the
open tin a day or two, while others,
who had partaken of it Immediately
after opening, had experienced no un,
Pleasantconsequences. N. Y. Tribune.