Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-30
WHAT Is PUT IN CANDY.
MANUFACTURERS TELL HOW THE
SWEETS ARE ADuLTERATED.

oWEE . AHE ADOI EhA EU.
Glucose Proven To BE . Harmless Ingre-
dient-Pulvcrized Marble and Its Uses
Coohineal and Other Colors Other
Secrets of the Confectionery Trade.
"Why, there is not enough of poison in q
barrel of candy to kill q chicken" said
dealer yesterday. "The real fact is, tho
greater portion of candy has no coloring in
it at all as it is nothing but pure crystal
lized syrup. What few tints are given to
the product are merely superficial. You
see this peppermint here with the bright
streaks running around 1t like grape
vine? Well, that Is an outside color, and
Is nothing but the result of water and
slight proportion Of cochinea1.
"As for glucose being hurtful, I am as
tonished at the ignorance Of any man, who
would make the charge. Why, it is simply
the extract of corn and potatoes, and it is
the great principle Of what photographers
call the staff of life.' Some of those fell
lows down at Annapolis have got an idea
in their heads that glucose is a horrible
poison which candymakers are smearing
over all the sweetmeats that go out. II
they would turn their attention to some
of the real grievances Of the country and
stop letting their waggish constituents
impose upon them, they would have more
than enough to do. Moreover, it is not
quite year ago since convention of
chemists and other learned men in Wash
ington decided that glucose was not in
furious to health. A full investigation Of
the matter was made.
GLUCOSE SAID TO BE HARMLESS.
"Glucose is manufactured in large
quantities and is now almost universally
used. Buffalo and Chicago ships thous-
ands of barrels of it every week. We do
not make it here, although Baltimore
ranks as perhaps the second largest candy
manufacturing city in the union. There
Is one house here that turns out a ton Of
candy every day. They have customers in
all parts OF the United States and Europe.
A number of the smaller houses here send
candy to England, but the returns are SO
slow that commerce in that quarter Is not
sought after.
1t may be true that there are some few
abuses in the candy business at present,
but they are not accomplished through
the use of glucose. There is toy manu-
facturer who has recently been flooding
the country with painted gew-gaws, which
were never intended to eat. Among these
is the gaudy Christmas-tree fruit which
has come into such general use of late years
1t might properly be compared to the
tabled Dead Sea fruit, which is said to
turn bitter ashes on the lips. Children put
it in their mouths and suck the paint offit,
when it makes them deadly sick. The
proper remedy for this would be for
parents to exclude it from the household
"In our establishments we use only three
onlprc -cIpor,,a vol
neal-the latter Of whichis is very expensive.
Carmine produces pretty flesh-oolor tint,
and is used only in fancy candies That is
it in those nice cream drops and other
delicate preparations of which schoolgirls
are said to be so fond of. l do not know
that there is anything positive hurtful
about them. AS l said before, the small
proportion in which they are used renders
them altogether innocuous.
''The funniest sell in the whole business,
however is strawberry taffy.' 1t is fixed
up in the most tempting manner, till you
can see the strawberry juice oozing
through the pores. 1t is mainly consumed
by boys, who think they are girdling the
strawberry season around the calendar
equator in one endless streak Of red. It is
a shame to undeceive them, but the stuff
is only aniline, containing q proportion Of
ammonia and arsenic"
Here the dealer took tumbler of pure
water, and dropped the faintest speck of
the compound into the glass. IL an
instant the water was as red as ink.
"Your raspberry drawn from the foun-
tain," he continued, laughing, "is made in
the same way. There is no danger Of it
hurting you, for piece as big as coffee
grain will color hogshead of water.
Hara rn faw othar co r,r,loc In, xrofor
This is cochineal with the dark heavy
color, while the carmine there has bright
purple tint"
THE USE OF TERRA ALBA.
Another dealer said: "The law will not
be able to take hold of this matter at all
except to prevent the use of minerals and
poisonous colors in the preparation Of
candy. The employment Of terra alba, or
crushed marble, in making candy is one of
the worst abuses Of the trade In my
opinion, it amounts to crime. 1t is re-
sorted to simply to save more costly
ingredients. lido not know that it is used
in this city now, but several years ago, in
one of our principal establishments, where
worked as journeyman, they used to
turn it into the soft candy in great pans
full. Before pouring it in it was pulverized,
SO as it could not be easily detected under
the teeth. 1t can be plainly seen in what
is known as pulled goods but not in clear
candy. There are no paints and but few
dyes, so far es I am aware of, used in this
city. Glucose is perfectly harmless. 1t is
nothing but the sugar taken out Of corn.
A good quality of glucose is also taken
from beets, dried grapes and common
starch. Cane Is one of the most prolific
sources of syrup for the manu-
facture Of candy, but its products is not
properly regarded as glucose. 1t
Is much sweeter and more liable to crys-
tallize than the juice Of starch. The great
disadvantage Of using glucose in candy
manufacture is that it will not form into
grains without the introduction of foreign
substances.
Scream of tartar was formerly used, be-
fore glucose came into fashion, but was
done away with on account Of its great
expense. It is still used in the manufac-
ture of costly candy.
"Adulterations are not confined to pull
verised stone in the manufacture of candy.
Corn-meal and even saw-dust are known
to be used in large quantities. The saw
dust poured in In the manner described
and the whole stirred up together until
the Objectionable element is lost among
the mass of sweetness. 1t is coarse-look-
ing and wanting in sweetness, and can be
detected by anybody who is not a child.
"The purest quality entirely is the rock
candy, which is crystallzed in the form in
which it exists 1t contains little of
what candymakers call weakening but