Daily Republican., 1885-03-14
What We Eat.
oOMG OF THE ADULTERATIONS
Thai ARE UsED IN ARTl.
CLEa OF HOOD.
BANANA MARMALADE.

There Ia probably no subject that
should have more serious ct tentiOn from
the Legislature ct the present time
than the adulteration Of food and other
articles intended to be eaten. In fact,
to such an extent has the practice OF
aduit@ration and imitation been carried,
that when persons buy an article, they
are not sure whether they are getting
THAT they -art or not.
Fine glasses OF what are called iellies
are sold In the grocery stores, that are
in reality nothing but q mixture Of
starch and glucose, favored with al
exceedingly small quantity of fruit
juice, but in the most Of these SOCIAL
I'd jallies even this formality Ii not
complied with, aud az q general thing
they are favored with patent fav0rs,
which are compounded OF butric acid
and fusil oil. The preserves, of which
20 inuch IL sold, are compounded in
pretty much the same manner ~ the
jeilies, with the addition Of q little fruit
~ assist In binding the purchasers TO
their true character.
The apple-butter that is sold at fve
and six cents n pound IL manufactured
from unsound fruit, and when that is
exhausted, the commonest kinds OF
dried fruit supply its place.
II IN well known that much Of the
stuff that is sold In this city for pure
butter, IL a compound of beef fat and
cotton seed oil. sugars are adulterated
with grape sugar, o substance made
from corn, aud only costing about two
ceuts a pound, but which unfortunately y
does net possess any sacharine quail
ties. Two thirds OF all the milk sold In
the lar &c cities, is not only deprived oi
its cream, but Is also adu iterated In
ways that are only known to the ven.
ders. H. is now stated that most of the
honey offered for sale Is manufactured,
and that the greater part OF 1t does moi
coutain single drop Of the genuine
article.
This spurious honey is usually put up
in little square boxes, which sell ii
twenty-five 70 thirty cents n pound. II
looks like honey, tastes like
honey, aud 1t takes an excel.
lent Judge TO tell that II is q fraud on
the bee. The comb is made of parafine
wax, q product of crude coal oil, and
the imitation honey Ia forced into II by
machinery. Exactly what this spuri.
ous honey ia composed Of is a secret
known only to those who manufacture
IT,, but 1t is generally supposed to be a
mixture of brown sugar, acid and
glucose, with just enough pure honey
TO bring II up 10 the desired flavor and
odOr.
Az this counterfeit article is sold in
the comb, 1t Is better calculated to de.
ceive, and the purchaser is always snre
that he is getting the genuine article.
The greater part Of the ground coffee
that Ii put up In packages is not more
than about one-tnird the genuine article
Chicory, roasted rye and other like sub
stances have been used for this purpose
and recently IL WAS stated in the Phila-
delpbia papers that a shre~ d old Ger
man in that city had made arrange
ments with the janitors q the places Of
amusement to purchase all the peanut
shells they could collect at 30 m much per
bushel, and that II was found that he
roasted and ground them, Tor the pur.
pose of adulterating coffee.
An snterprising Italian has opened q
marmalade factory on Carpen,er street,
Philadelphia. and has about twenty
boys and girls employed, who roam the
streets, gathering banana akins from
the sidewalks and cutters, or wherever
they may be thrown by tie consumer.
These skins are then carried To the
factory, where they are washed and
ground up, after which they are rubbed
through seive that separates the pulp
from the outside skin, which is throw u
away. The pulp 10 cooked with q
small quantity of sugar, and when
done is put in tuInblers. her metically
sealed, and labeled Banana Marina
lade." IL is retailed at II cents glass,
and although but recently introduced,
is becoming very popular.
Mustard in adulterated with corn
meal. black pepper with cracker dust,
and in fact the practice of adulteration
is carried ON 10 such aD extent, that
Dut few purchasers expect to get pure
articles, even when paying the highest
prices. lu England, manufacturers
are allowed to adulterate their products
with harmless substances, but are com.
pelled by law to plainly state on the
label the ingredients and amonnt of
adulteration, and also the quantity of
ths pure article there is In the package.
A law of tins nature might prove more
beneficial in this State than the pro-
posed proprietary medicine act.