The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-10-19
POISON IN CHEESE.
The Probable Origin OF the Poisonous Prfn-
cipIe In Dairy Produets-

cfpIe in Dairy Products.
The causes OF poison cheese re-
mained a mystery, in scientific point
of view. until the Investigations OF
Prof. Vaughn, of Michigan, estab-
lished The fact of the presence OF tyro-
toxicon in poison cheese. Since then.
numerous Investigations have served
to confirm the results of the pro-
fessorss experiments. Quite recently,
Dairy Commissioners Ives, of Mime
sofa. has investigated, in his official
capacity, a case OF poisoning by eating
cheese. which has attracted a good
deal OF attention. The thorough anal
ysis of the cheese by the State Chem
ist, Prof. G. w. Drew, showed it to
contain tyrofoxicon. Otherwise the
quality and extraordinarily rich in fat
An analysis of four different samples
OF whole milk cheese. by Prof. Drew.
showed the presence Of fat as follows:
No. IS had II. .46 per cent of fat: No.
40 had 36. 46 per cent; No. SO had
SO. II per cent; and No. 81 had SO. A
per cent. of fat
No. 80 was the sample of poison
cheese and was very rich in fat, as
will be seen. This excess OF fat leads
to a suspicion that portion OF 1t
might be due to peculiar chemical
changes undergone through destruc-
tive fermentation No signs of adul-
teration appeared. There was only
the presence OF the usual quantity of
annatto applied for coloring.
But here let Us remark that anuatto,
as ol1t;sined in market, is not always
the pure vegetable substance that some
suppose. 1t is not only adulterated in
some cases with lead and other ingre-
dients. but is polluted with urine ap-
piled to make it keep and to brighten
the color This accounts for the urin-
Gus odor too often given OF by basket
annatto So annatto is not always the
harmless and clean substance that has
long been popuIarly supposed and
Taught
But. in the case under consideration.
as given US personally by Dairy Com
missioner Ives and Prof Drew, there
docs not appear to be any thing un-
usual in the coIoring matter used So
the poisonous character could not be
reasonably attributed to this cause In
all four samples analyzed the fats were
found to be pure. But the presence OF
tyrotoxicon was unmistakabIe.
Now. whence the presence of this
poison2 1t does not appear to have
been introduced The inference Is
that il was generated It il well
known that deeomposing a1buminous
compounds act as fermenf and a
small portion introduced into the cir
culatory system of a human being be-
comes a very violent poison, often. II
not always, producing death Many
] a surgeon has lost his life BY the intro
| duction. through slight abrasion of
the skin. of a minute portion of de-
composing aIbuminous tissue from a
corpse.
In all probability. the poisonous
principle In cheese has the same origin
from decomposing albuminous mat
ter Through careiessness and un-
/ cleanliness, decomposing matter finds
/ its way into cheese, to there act as a
ferment and develop tyrotoxicon
/ throughout the entire mass Hence ii
is self-evident that too much care can
not be taken in cheese factories to
keep every thing scrupulously clean
! Every thing that touches the milk
should not only be carefully washed in
/ warm water, TO which a little sal-soda
| or other alkali had been added, but
! afterwards thoroughly scalded in boil
! ing water - water at 212 degrees
! Fahrenheit If this were done in all
cases. we do not believe we should so
often hear OF poison cheese. If we did
| at al.
In view of these now known facts.
uneleanIiness in a cheese factory be-
comes criminal; but in view of some OF
our experiences, we should not be sur
prised to find that the germs of des-
tructive and poisonous fermentation
are often introduced through the rem
net tub, which in many cases we have
| found to smell more ike carrion
than any thing fit to be introduced
into human food. For this reason we
call the special attention of officials
having the matter in hand to the rem
net tub. when they next have a case
of poison cheese. It is a fearful source
of off-favor and quickly deeomposine
cheese. and why not of poison cheese:
f-PrafYie Farmer.
|
"A lady has a little eoIored girl IS
a sort of body servant, who is very
much pleased with her place. One