The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-07-21
ICE CREAM AND CANDY.
POPULAR FALLAClES CONCERNING
THEIR POISONOUS ADUlTERATlONS.

The Trouble Not in the Freezer Nor the
Flav0ring The Tyrotoxicon Theory.
Terra AHA and GIucose-Ptomaine, In
Canned Meat.
Many people are naturally inclined TO DE-
| lieve the worst, to imagine that they are
being poisoned by the water they drink and
the food they eat II they can find state
ments which seem 20 bear out their theories,
/ they are only too anxious 10 faunt them in
the faces of their more reasonable friends
with triumphant II told you So" The
time is coming, however, when ali this will
| be changed--thanks to the public schools,
where the pupils receive a certain amount of
Instruction in the natural sciences. They
will be better fitted TO Judge of scientific
facts when they go out into life.
During the SUNNI r months persons are
frequently reported as poisoned by eating ice
cream. The statement is still often wrongly
made IN such cases that the trouble was
caused by leaving the cream over night in the
freezer, and that it had absorbed some OF the
zinc or tin Of which the freezer was made.
That is a plausible explanation, and one
which, rs a rule, satisfies the popular mind.
OF course everybody understands that the
metallic salts are poisonous, and, knowing
this, it is only necessary TO show that it is
possible for them to be present, to convince
the average person that they are the actual
cause Of poisoning. To create the violent
symptoms of acute metallic poisoning it would
be Necessary to take into the stomach quite a
large quantity of the harmful agent, enough
to cause ia most cases an unpleasant taste in
the mouth, SO much so as to render any
article oil food unpalatabe. The quantity of
poisonous material which could be dissolved
from freezer by ice cream is very small
and where suspected cream has been analysed
only traces have been found,
When the fact that metallic poison was not
the cause Of these cases had been repeatedly
demonstrated, it was of course, necessary to
look for another probable explanation II
had been noticed that in the majority Of the
cases of the poisoning by ice cream the
fiavoring used was vanilla. That substance
was then suspected. Accurate and minute
investigation by scientific men showed the
fallacy of the theory. however for over two
thirds Of all the ice cream made was favored
with vanilla, or tOnka, a cheaper substitute,
and hence the prevalence Of the substance in
the suspected samples was simply coinci-
dence. Within few years 1t has been demon
strated that, whenever specimens of cream
alleged to have caused poisoning have been
obtained and examined by competent observ-
ers, they have shown the presence of a poi
sonous substance called tyrotoxcon, which
has been extracted from the ere am and
when given to animals caused precisely sim
liar symptoms to those in the persons made
n substance
settled the question, for, by assuming it
to be the cause of poisoning, every objection
raised in the case of the metallic or vanilla
theories could be answered. The same vio-
lent symptoms have often been observed
after eating cream cakes and lemon pies,
both of which, as generally made by bakers,
contain paste made of corn starch. As
is well known. the cheaper kinds of ice cream
with which the greater number of cases of
poisoning occur-are also largely made of
that material This fact is in itself strong
argument in favor of the tyrotoxicon theory.
Tyrotoxicon is the product of an organism
which can he cultivated artiflciRly, and
medium such as corn starch jelly would be
more favorable to its growth than simple
frozen cream.
A few words in regard to the symptoms Of
place, although they have been, some time
since, given in these columns. Soon after
eating anything which contains this sub
stance harsh metallic taste is noticed, and
violent pains in the stomach, vomiting with
much effort, and GOODNESS of the limbs and
body follow. When these symptoms are OBJ
served an emetic of mustard water should at
once DO given and physician summoned.
81 10 .,,oI I,l,n,
to him, as it will greatly aid him in arriving
ut the probable cause of the trouble. Similar
cases of poisoning arise after eating cheese;
that sometimes contains tyrotoxicon, and
it was in cheese the poison was first dis
covered.
The discussion of ice cream naturally calls
up the subject of candy, and here, too the
general public is at fault. No popular writer
on adulterati. n would consider that he had
done his duty unless he had devoted large
part Of his discussion to candy. Quite a har
rowing picture can be drawn Of the tons of
terra alba and glucose used, while the list Of
poisonous chemicals to be found practically
exhausts chemical nomenclature But the
facts are far different from this overdrawn
picture. Beyond the use Of glucose for sugar,
which is, perhaps, allowable, since it is GER
Calnly not more ueleCerlOuS, ana tne use OF
terra alba, which cannot be defended on any
grounds, the candy of the present is fi'eer from
adulteration than almost any common
article of food. Beyond doubt there
are occasionally to be found cases Of
poisoning caused by injurious coloring
materials, but in the vast majority Of
cases the real cause is from eating too large
quantity of the candy. 1t is natural to
attempt to excuse ones neglect, and when
the blame for allowing child to eat too
much can be plausibly placed on the coloring
material, that is the first thing to be done,
and is natural consequence of the popular
fallacy that the majority Of confectioners
use such harmful ingredients. There is,
however, one kind Of cheap candy which
should never be INDUCED in. Many gBocers
and confectioners have for sale gum drops at
from ten to twelve cents per pound. These
are made from kind Of gelatine which is
little better than glue. They are, of course,
nearly insoluble, and scarcely dissolve in the
mouth. Children almost invariably swallow
them without chewing, and, as a conse-
quence, serious trouble is invited.
The poisonous agent in unsound canned