The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-05-09
A. iMPORTA NJ FOOD REFORM.


Production of Chemically Pure Cream OF
/ Tartar---TOtll Elimination of all Lime
! ImuurIiics-- New Discoveries in Refining
A Long stride Toward Pure Food.
From Tire New York Tribune
Discoveries of much importance on nc.
count of the relation they bear toward a
Ouently upon the public health, have been
recently made in the process of refining
cream of tartar. Cream of tartar, as is well
| known, is a bitartrate of potasSa purified
! from the crude tartar, or argot, which col
| ects in Il crystalline deposit upon the bot
tom and sides of wine casks during the
fermentation of the wine, This tartar, in
! its crude state, contains lime and other i'm
purtieS, which no process of refining
| known prior to that here described was
able to entirely remove. It has been pos
| sible il is true, to neutral2e the lime to
some extent by the aid of chemicals, and
| this method was reSOrted To in order to pro
cure cream of t"rtar in small quantities for
| pharmaceutical purposes; but it was open
/ to serious objection in view Of the fact that
/ the chemicals employed for this purpose
We're not always washed out but remained
| in quantities that were uncertain and pre-
| judicial to its quality The supposed i'm
possibility of removing the lime has, ac-
COrdingly, caused cream OF tartar 10 he
classed and sold as pure when it did not
contain more than five per mt. of this i'm
purity. The major part however, OF that
used in commerce, or for culinary purposes,
contains the tartrate of lime 70 an extent
much greater than five per cent, not intre-
quently being found, upon analysis de
based to degree equaling Oue.fourth or
more Of its entire weight.
In report upon the subject o! food
adulteration made to the New York state
Board Of Health by Professors Chandler
and Love, it is stated that of - samples of
cream Of tartar bought from dealers as
pure Is were adulterated with various sub
stances from to 90 per cent, while Of the
remainder all contained taItrate OF lime,
some aS high as 1899 per cent
The serious character of this adulteratiOn
is more readily appreciated when II is re
collected how largely cream of tartar enters
into the preparation of the food of every
family, In connection with soda in baking
powder il is the chief agent now employed
for raising and making light and digestible
all our biscuit, cake and other pastry and
is besides, in many communities superSe-
ding the old.fashoned yeast for all leaven-
ing purposes, so that it is employed to some
extent in almost every meal of which we
eat The amount of cream of tartar used
in this country in year in baking powder
ans otherwise in the preparation Of food,
is estimated at ten million pounds. lfthis
We're 80 per cent pure a high estimate
we would consume one million pounds or
more of lime annually as a substitute for
bread. So large a deterioration becomes
appreciate in the deprivation of our food
of n portion of its nutritive elements not
only but if, rs is now supposed, this excess
of lime taken into the system has 4 relation
to the painful affections of the kidneys 50
prevalent in this country, its bearing upon
the health of the entire community is too
important TO be overlooked
The new process 10y which cream of tar
tar is produced 100 per cent. pure-that is,
with the lime Totally eliminated,- by treat
ing the crude material under pressure in
stead of using any chemicals whatever for
the purpose, WAS the discovery originally Of
II German chemist, but has been developed
and perfected by the ROYAL Baking Pow.
der Company OF this city. through whose
efforts 81 few years since in behalf Of high
standard ot purity in food the public was
rid of the poisonous alum baking powders
at that time - prevalent
The determination of this Company to
place upon the market only absolutely !
pure goods and the impoS>ibilty of doing
this from the cream of tartar OF commerce.
made il apparent that some new method
must he sought hv which cream of tartar
could he procured in large quantities. free
from lime and chemically pure The
cream of tartar reiiners of this country and
Europe when approached upon the subject
declared such a result impossible. and lie.
clined 10 incur the expenditure necessary
To make the trial. The Roval Baking
Powder Compaav, accordingly, resolved 10
solve the problem for itself and having
secured the aid of the best chemist. If Eu-
rope and America proceeded with is in.
vestigations and discoverie, until the 70.