Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-09
Ingenufties of Adulterated Food.

From the st. Louis Post Dispatch.
The adulteration of articles of food is by
no means an Invention of modern times,
but was practiced by our classical ances-
tors. During the middle ages the cunning
baker mixed his -four with lime, sand and
gypsum, and on discovery was thrown into
prison cell and compelled to eat the prod
uct of his entire bakery which cured him Of
the fraudulent habit.
The most important article of food in ev-
cry household is the meat. The meat which
comes from healthy animals is distinguish
ed by pleasant odor and fresh color, from
delicate pink to a deep carmine, accord
ing to the animal from which 1t comes. 1t
must be elastic to the touch. The dent
which is caused by pressing a finger on 1t
must disappear when the pressure is re-
moved. The fatty substance of the meat Is
good indicator of its quality In healthy
animals the fat is yellow and elastic and
has pleasant odor. The fat in the meat
from sick animals is pale, gray and smeary
and has an unpleasant odor.
Sausage offers a wide field for adultera-
ton of the most dangerous kind, and in the
pamphlets which vegetarians send broad
cast over the land from time to time they
give prominence to an anecdote which is as
IL
which they hold the sausage. "A man
saved the life of butcher by endangering
his own. The poor butcher, overcome with
gratitude, cried out in a moment of self
forgetfulness: Never in your life again, my
friend, eat sausage"
The authorizations in this line are mani
fold To produce the fresh red color so al
Turing in sausage. fuchsine Is mixed with
the ingredients instead of blood 1t is a
cOmmOn tn mn hntr in
sage, and, while a little of ii is harmless, 1t
nevertheless leads to early fermentation OF
the article In question. The buyer how
ever, Is very much imposed upon when flour
is added in large quantities. for il enables
the sausage makers to add from sixty to
seventy per cent of water which is paid for
at the rate of meat. France has lately put
stop to this fraud by limiting the addition
of flour to three per cent.
Fish are adulterated in the same way by
rubbing their gills with aniine. which gives
! them the appearance of freshness. The AMI
line is easily washed off and the fraud de-
tected. In fresh fish the eyes are full and
protruding. while in old fish they are
opaque, dull and sunken. The best way to
recognizes an old fish is to watch the gills,
which emit an odor of decay if the fish is
too old for use.
Crawfish or crabs should always be bought
alive Crabs that are sold already cooked
have usually been boiled after they were
dead, and soon decay, generating very
dangerous poison. crawfish that has been
boiled alive will show curled and twisted
tail, while on the other hand, one that was
cooked after death has the tail perfectly
straight.
The best way to tell butter from oleomar-
garine is to put piece of it on a hot DO
tato which has been boiled in the Jacket
and freshly peeled. The taste of butter is
more pronounced when eaten in this way
than any other, and the fraud is detected
1t is also the safest way to discover the age
of dairy or creamery butter.
Lard is frequently adulterated with water
to increase its weight and mixed with corn
starch, salt, chalk, &c, to bind the water
to the fat This may be discovered by care
fully melting the lard and setting it aside
in lukewarm place. The fat not only
separates from the water. but collects at
the bottom of the dish with all the other
foreign ingredients.
To tell good eggs from bad ones it is only
necessary to put them in a dish filled with
water containing from five to ten per cent
of salt. Fresh eggs drop to the bottom old
ones swim on the surface, and those of me-
dunn quality sink half way down.
All spices suffer E.ore or less adulterat ton
but most of all those which are sold in a
pulverized state. Ground pepper is mixed
with paprica, millet bread, powdered olives
almond meal. dust. sand. gypsum. sawdust
spar, and almost the same ingredients are
used for the adulteration of cinnamon Pull
verified ginger fares no better and is mixed
with potato flour, wheat and cayenne pep
per, while the sweet-scented anise seed
tie bI own and black stones. Housekeepers
will always be more or less cheated in buy
ing powdered spices which should be bought
in their natural state and ground al home
The vanilla bean before the invention of
the artificial vanilline was deprived of it's
natural aroma and basted with balm of
Peru.
Coffee is adulterated in all forms and in
every possible way. Machines have been
invented and large factories erected, where
artificial coffee beans are made from acorn
flour and gum arabic, and these are mixed
with the real coffee; and even the real
beans are covered with poisonous chemicals
II they have been damaged by sea water in
transportation the influence of the sun
or time. Ground or roasted coffee offer the
best opportunities. however, for fraud.
But all these perpetrators of fraud and
deception cannot hold candle to the Chi
nese, who are masters IN the art O. the
adulteration of tea, which they dye mix
and prepare from leaves that have but a
bare resemblance to the real tea plant.
Boiling Water Not Always Hot.