St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-22
DANGER TO MILLIONS
Menacing the Life and Jeop-
ardizing the Health Of
the People.
Startling Revelations by the
Chemist OF the State Food
Commission.
Fraud In the Manufacture Of
Human Food Is Steadily
Increasing.
Turnips and Glucose as Sub
stitutes for Blackberrles
and CurrantS.


Startling as the question may appear.
it is one requiring the close attention Of
all intelligent readers. The question is
wide one and may be answered vari-
ously. Your prohibitionist will rave
about the saloons; your religious fanatic
will raise his eyes TO heaven, than
God he is not as other men are, and en-
large on the rampant immortality broad
cast throughout the land. 1t is not the
nostrums of crank | wish to bring
before the thinking public; it is the
eyeryda and almost bOundleSS research
in analytical chemistry of Prof. w. 5.
Eberman with which L want the minds
of the public to be refreshed and edited.
Prof. Eberman was busily engaged yes
terday in the state laboratory, but, on
my entrance, bid me CHEEKY welcome
and found time to engage in a friendly
chat. Many subjects were brought up
and at last l pr0pounded to the pro-
feSSor the question:
s'Do YOU know what is menacing the
life and jeopardizing the health of the
people?"
Prof. Eberman did not stop to think
for reply. The words were on his
tongue Immediately the question was
put to him.
FOOD adulteration."
'In vigorous style, and with some
eloQuence, he continued: food adulter-
alton is the arch demon, the greatest,
most industrious and constituencies foe
of modern civilization. 10 enumerate
the different adulterated articles which
go to make up our daily food supply
would require several pages OF the
GLOBE. Not only are the staple articles,
nnffpn t1nIr nf a
rious kinds, butter, milk, etc., adulter-
ated, but the delicacieS, entrees and APP
petzers we 50 much desire must
be looked upon with reasona-
BILE degree of suspicion. A very
little more than a score of years
ago l remember hearing people laugh al
the Yankee oats and the famous wooden
nutmegs of Connecticut. Those prod.
ucts were harmless indeed, compared
with foods which are to-day adulterated.
Since the days of the famous wooden
nutmegs, fraud in the manufacture OF
human foods have steadily increased.
Everything susceptible of adulteratIon
is adulterated to a greater or less de-
gree, according to the nature ana value
of the article. At first it was customary
to leave a sufficient quantity of the orig
inal as to indicate the nature OF the artl-
Gle. As competition among tn ise en-
gagged in these practices increased, 1t
was found necessary under the exlgen-
cies of trade to further reduce the orig
inal article, and to substitute in its
place such cheap and worthless combi-
nations as would serve to give about the
same bulk, as we'll as be pleasing in APP
pearance and taste. These cOmblna-
tionS almost invariably contain ingredi-
ents that are most dangerous to the pub.
lie health.
"What do consider detel erious te
h ealth?"
."Well, to pass over butter, milk,
cheese, baking powder, vinegar, ETC.,
which you have already heard me COM
ment upon at various times, will now
mention the average syrup, such as we
get along with our nice hot buckwheat
cakes these cold mornings at nearly all
hotels.
"What objections to these syrup ST
Flf tell you.
SIN a large number of the syrups the
use of chloride of tin is reSOrted to as a
bleaching agent. The manufacturer of
the syrup, or the merchant who sells it
to the consumer, may, with all the non
chala nee imaginable inform you thai
the agents used in the bleaching and
cleansing process are harmless. Adj
hitting that chloride of tin does not
produce any visible sign of poisoning,
except when taken in large doses, but
what | may ask will be, what are the
cumulative effects of this substance
owing to the constant use of this very
general article of diet? Take the me d
ico-legal point of view-it matters lit
tie whether death ensues from the direct
effect of small quantity of strychnine
or from the cumulative effect OF Chloride
of tin. From the humanita rian stand
point the former is greatly to be pre-
ferred. In the mixing of glucose with
sugars, in order to give the manu-
facturer such margin for profit as his
fancy may dictate, fraud alone is perpe-
traUed; but the same refiner, DESTROYS OF
giving to his syrup a pleasing color by
employing a salt of tin, strikes blow
at health and endangerS the life Of mill
ions of people.
swell, how about jellies and jams?"
remarked to the professor. what per
centage of adulteration do you find in
| those dellcacieSW
ut is large / can assure YOU" replied
Prof. Eberman. II have not the exact
data at hand, but it far exceeds all
| spices, honeys, maple syrup, etc. In
| the first place the most inferior grades
| of fruit are used. If small, slightly de-
fective and fruit unpleasing to the eye
was all that entered into this delectaDle
combination it would not be so bad, but
! to that must be added the decayed, rot
ten, wOrm-eaten fruit and glucose as
preserving factor. You have there
| product that would tickle the palate OF
the gods and cause the old Atheniar
| epicure to turn green with envy! The
| manufacturer wishes to place on the
market certain kind of jelly or jam,
| the cost at wholesale not to exceed foul
or five cents per pound. What does he
| do? The component parts of the pr0duct
are about as follows:
"Sachrine, a product derived from
| coal tar, not fit to enter into the list Of
| foods and soon to be ruled out by legis
latlve act in Germany and France.
"Peelings and cores of fruit.
| "Gelatine to give body.
| "Analine or cOchineal to color.
sThere you have modern jelly
| laughingly interpOlated the professor
Continuing his story, he said: ''Bul
recently, and remarkable as it may
seem, one of these preserving estab
| lishments in Chicago made an assign
ment. A gentleman whe had had con
siderable experience in analytical
chemistry was appointed by the cour
to look over the stock of this defunc
producer of preserves. The gentleman
anticipated finding large quantities o.
| fruits, sugars and syrups of variou:
kinds. What disappointment! Upor
investigation he found only empty
syrup cans, labeled pure Vermont
maple syrup few barrels of glucose
about 200 bushels of turnips. Does moi
revelation of that character cal
loudly for laws similar to those In Eur
ope? What are the food laws of France
to-day. They are extremely stringent
A register of all trades is kept, and il
the event of conviction under the adul
teration act, a fine may follow impris0n
ment, loss of citizenship or license ant