Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-05-23

rooD That IS MADE FALSE.
Some Surprising statements by tho De
partment of Agriculture on the Subject.
From recent exhaustive Investigations
of the subject the Department of Agri-
culture estimates that Is per cent of the
total food supply of this country is
adulteration, representing an actual loss
to the people of $675, 100000.
A reporter was informed at the De-
partment that many packages of "cof-
fee" contain but little genuine coffee.
They are mainly composed of peas,
chiccory, and rye, roasted and ground.
The small "chefus" nut occasionally
found in the market is used for the same
purpose, as well as almond shells, which,
treated with molasses and ground, mako
a fair imitation. A process is also APP
piled to coffee which reminds one of the
plan by which, when Jumbo died, two
elephants were made out of his remains,
one being the skeleton and the other the
stuffed skin. The coffee is submitted to
processes by which the essential oils and
the essences are extracted from the
beans, which are then sold as coffee,
while the essences are manufac ctured
into extracts and sold as such. A very
usual method is to take the coffee beans
thus shriveled by the extraction of the
oils and essences and soak them in sea
water which "plumps up" the berries
and conveys pleasing deception to the
public. If you want good coffee it is a
fairly good rule to avoid the highly pol
ished, colored, and plump grains, and
purchase the poorest looking article you
can find.
Bologna sausage has always been re.
garded as mystery, but no one would
readily suspect adulteration in it. And
yet not only is the mixture of which it
is composed commonly more or less de-
composed, tainted meat being cheaper
than fresh, but the condition of the ma
teral is effeclually diguised to the pur-
chaser by what is known as a "coloring,
made of salt, saltpeter, borax, alum,
and Venetian red. Colorings play an
important part in the business of the
adulterator Three small "greened"
pickles contain the full medicinal dose
of sulphate of copper, two grains. Ver-
micelli manufacturers use poor flour
whitened with pipe clay and supply the
absence of eggs with saffron and chro-
mate of lead. Straw berry ice cream
commonly is made by dispensing with
the fruit, using aniline red and amyl
ethers instead. Persons who are addicted
to that very popular drink called whisky
ordinarily regard the fusel oil, which it
is apt to contain when too new, as detri-
mental to their health, but the Govern
ment chemists say that one plate of ice
cream or a single glass of soda water
frequently contains more of this deadly
product than five glasses of poor whisky.
Brandy, nowadays, instead of being
produced by the fermentation of grapes,
is complex mixture derived by distila-
tion from grain, potatoes, and the refuse
of beet root retineries. Potato spirits
and beet alcohols, most deleterious of all
varieties of spirits, are sent from Ger
many into France in vast quantities to
be favored, colored, and labeled to meet
the wishes of American connoisseurs il
cognac Cider vinegar is almost never
made from apple juice, and an article
claimed to be pure orange juice and
found on sale as "orange cider" proved
upon analysis to be only sweetened
water, sharpened up with citric and
tartaric acids and favored with the oil
derived from orange peel. Practically
all of the flavoring extracts used more
or less in every family are mixtures of
acids and drugs, the manufacturer of a
pure article having no chance in the
market
From 40 to so per cent of the drugs
sold in arothecary shops are adulterated.
Quinine pills usually contain less qu-
nine than is pretended. Candies of all
sorts are sophisticated with prussic acid
and other poisons. Paris green is en-
ployed to color the ornamental leaves
with which cakes are adorned. The lie
orice drops given to children for colds
are made from candy factory sweepings,
fair quantity of dirt being included.
Artificial jellies are composed of gela-
tine, sugar, artificial flavoring extracts,
and cochineaL Two. thirds of all teas
from China and Japan are colored with
Prussian blue and other chemicals.
Cheap fish are packed and sold under
the names of superior kinds. Honey is
adulterated with glucose. White and
black pepper are falsified with wheat,
rice, corn, and ginger. Most farina-
ceous substances which have become
damaged and unstable are rendered
serviceable by the "spice mixer, being
transformed by roasting and grinding
into products closely resembling the
various spices in appearance, lacking
only little seasoning with the real az
ticle to give the characteristic odor and
fit them for market Il Washington Star.