Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-03-24
No Physic With Our Food.

| PHOSPHATE BAKING POWDER THEORY
THAT is DANGEROUS If NOT RIDICULOUS.
That's rather dangerous propo
sition, put forth by the manufactur,
ers of some of the patented or pro
prietary articles of food, that their
products possess q superior whole
someness because they contain a drug
Of some particular medicinal proper
ty. Phosphates, alum, lime, arsenic,
| calomel, etc. have their places as
! specifics for different diseases, and
are invaluable medical remedies, each
in its place. But they are not cure
alls. The physician who should pre-.
scribe either calomel, or strychnine,
or rhubarb three times day to man.
woman and child, sick or well, be
| cause either of such drugs is we'll
| known remedy for some certain dis
| case, would receive but little honor
| from the fraternity and less practice
from the community.
No one will controvert this state
ment; yet we find manufacturers
of baking powders claiming SUI
perior hygienic virtue for their pro
auctions and urging their continu
Gus use because they are alleged to
carry the phosphate used in making
| them Ca cheap substitute for cream
OF tartar, procured from the bones
Of dead animals) into the food, al
though well aware, as they must be,
| of the fact that with the constant use
of such article this drug must pass
into our systems daily, no matter
what may be our physical conditions
or requirements, or whether or not
we may be suffering from some all
ment wherein the use of such drug
would be positively detrimental.
Both alum and phosphates are use
full indictments in certain diseases
but they should no more be taken in
| discriminatory day after day and
without the prescription of q physi-
clan, than arsenic, aconite or Gallo
| mel indeed, there arc conditions of
the system, particularly with women,
when the prudent physician would
be loath to permit the use. of lime
phosphates even as a medicine.
The fallacy of this claim of the
manufacturers of phosphate baking
powders will be apparent to all when
the fact, well known to physicians,
is stated, that in average health and
with ordinary food the body gets
more phosphates than are required
or can be assimilated, as is evidenced
by the fact that they are constantly
being expelled in the excretions, both
solid and liquid; likewise the state
ment that it is necessary TO add phos-
pilates to the baking powder to re-
store to the -four those which have
been lost in the milling, for it is true
that fine flour as at present made act
ually contains q larger percentage OF
phosphates than the grain of wheat
itself.
| The object ofbaking powder is not
to provide the body with a medicine,
but simply to vesiculate or make
light the mixture Of flour, so as to
render it when baked easy of masti-
cation and perfectly digestible. The
most celebrated experts in the bust
ness have worked for the perfection
of an article that should do this me-
chemically, adding to or taking from
the -four nothing, nor in any way eff
fecting change in it's properties or
constituents. When this has been
done the perfect leavening agent has
been discovered. The manufactur-
ers of the Royal Baking Powder
have succeeded in this so far as to
make leavening agent that vesicu-
lates and raises the loaf most per-
fectly, and without changing the
properties of the -four, while the res
iduum from it has been reduced to
minimum. The acid employ ed, how
ever, to produce this result is not
phosphate, bnt the acid OF highly re-
fined cream of tartar, which, the
health authorities agree, renders that
powder perfectly pure and more re-
liable and healthful than any other.
The recent official tests show, on the
other hand, that the best the phos
phatic baking powder makers can do
is to produce an article that is one
third or more residuum or impurity.
We want orr food pure especial
ly do we not wish to take alum, lime
and phosphates with 1T at the die
tum of manufacturers who may find
it cheaper 20 claim virtue for the
impurities than to remove them.
A certain philanthropist buys