Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-10-22
ADULTERATED SPICES.
Pepper, Gloves. and Mustard all Doc
tored for Gain.
n Y. journal.


this CITY are adulterated. Adultera
lion has become an art in which the
knowledge OF science and the ingenu~
jty of the trade are freely exercised.
Pure spices are debased for pecuniary
profit by adding to them inferior or
spurious articles, or by taking from
them one or more of their constitu
ents. The objects OF adulteration are
to increase the bulk or weight Of the
article. to improve it's appearance, to
give it a false strength, and TO rob 1T
Of its most valuable constituents, The
practice has grown with the COMPETE
lion of trade, and in spite Of laws pro
hibiting it.
People know so little about spice
that it can be adulterated with very
slight chance of discovery. An expert
can tell it ct once. The head Of the
spice department Of a grocery firm in
this city said
80 be sure of adulteration, one
needs only to look at the prlce-lists
issued by firms which sell specs. The
price of ground spec is often less
than that of the unground article,
which is absurd on its face. Unground
pepper can not be sold for less than IA
cents a pound, and yet we find ground
pepper offered for and 6 cents per
pound. Ground ginger is offered at 5
cents pound, while the unground is
s cents. This means that the ground
spice has been heavily adulterated
with some cheap material Some firms
90 so far as to advertise adulterated
goods and evade the law by ealing
them compounds
BLACK pepper is adulterated with
substance called pepper dust, made
from cocoanut shells. and also with
buckwheat hulls, charcoal, white
meal, and mustard bran. Cocoanut
shells when ground up very fine, are
used very generally as an adulterant
of spices, as there is no taste to in~
terfere with the flavor of the spice.
Buckwheat hulls, otherwise worthless
are a source OF profit to the milIers, as
they are worth ~ cents pound for
adUllerating purposes. The charcoal
gives a black appearance to the pep
per.
The informant put sample of the
best Malaga pepper beside poor
quality of black pepper. The Malaga
pepper could readily be distinguished
because Of its lighter color Mr. Mil
Ter mixed some white meal with the
common pepper AID 1t became SO like
best pepper that it could hardly be
told apart
you see, he said, chat l have
not only adulterated the pepper, but |
have, to all appearances, improved its
quality
"White pepper is adulterated with
white meal, terra alba, and rice flour
Terra alba is fne marble dust, and
enormous quantities are exported
from Italy TOR purposes of adultera-
ton. Gypsum, sand, starch, mustard,
nusks, and various kinds OF meal are
also used for adUltersting pepper, but
not to so great an extent as the things
| have mentioned Cayenne pepper
is adulterated with white meal, Vene
tian red, and salt, the three being
ground together. The salt giver
brighter color to the red which is
itself a poisonous article. This docs
toung is practiced on African pepper,
a dull red pepper, worth only eight
cents a pound, in order to bring it up
20 the brilliant Colo. of Nathal pepper,
worth 80 cents pound The fraGdu.
lent article can be detected by placing
a small quantity on a sheet of white
paper and rubbing 1t with the finger
The VcEetian red Will make red marks
on the paper.
Ginger is adulterated with meal,
rice flour, starch, cayenne pepper,
and manila rope Ginger root has a
very fac, halr~like fiber running
through it, and this is found in tine
erouad article. County people will
not buy it unless they see the Hbsrs,
and bits of waulla rope are used to
take their place in the false article
The cayenne pepper makes the taste
sharper. a dropof ammonia will ex,
pose this compound by turning it red
Chrome yellow, poisonous substance
is sometimes used for colOring.
Gloves, worth 20 cents a pound,
are adulterated with Glove stems
worth 2 cents a pound. These Glove
stems are the little green twigs from
which the cloves are plucked. Cloves
are also adulterated with pepper dust,
and allspice is also treated in the
same manner.
Considerable ingenuity is shown
in adulterating cinnamon and nut
meg. Oldcrackers or -four are baked
brown in an oven and ground up fine
and this is mixed with the ground
cinnamon and nutmeg, Ia adulterat
ing mace Venetian red is mixed with
the cracker dust.
Mustard is adulterated with sage
flour, starch, rice -four, and wheat
flour, and colorei with anhine color
ings. The fraud eau readily be de,
tec,ed, as the compound becomes blue
when treated with a solution of dine.
The common German and French
mustard is made up OF a compound of
mustard cracker dust, and cayenne
pepper, aud is favored with sugar,
oil, aud vinegar to suit the taste.
Another method of abusing cloves
is by extracting their essential oils.
This is done IN Europe by boiling
them, and iE this country by pressing
out the oil -