Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-02
CANNED FOODSARE ADANGER
People Who Eat Them Are in Peril of
Poisoning by Metals
The Copper Employed to Green French
Fease and Beans - The Lead and
Solder From the Cans.

per, lead. tin and zinc con tanned in these
foods.
10 begin with. copper is used to give
green color to the pease and beans which
are imported from France into this country
IN enormous quantities. The employment
OF the metal In question for this purpose
mas long been familiar. Cooks took notice
that the preparation Of such leguraes in
imperfectly cleaned copper pots gave them
deeper and more attractive hue. After
ward 1t was ascertained that the came
effect was produced when the vegetables
were cooked in ordinary vessels. with the
addition OF small quantities of copper salts.
rms method was much more convenient
ana was quickly adopted. Since then
immense industry has grown up in the
greening" of canned beans and pease by
the simple process referred to. Copper is
poison. That it has ever caused
death is disputed. Its salts act on
tne human system as violent emetic.
ally dangerous. But the metal has 4 tend
ency to accumulate in the body. especially
In the liver, and with old and sickly people
1t is likely to cause functional derange-
ments. There is said to be such a COM
plant as copper collie. Workers in the
metal absorb 1t until they become so satur-
ated with 1T that their eyes sometimes turn
gredient.
Copper a Normal Constituent.
Some authorities have claimed that cop
per Is a normal constituent of many foods
More or less Of 1t is found in the bodies of
numerous animals, being originally derived
from plants whose roots absorbed the salts
OF the metal from the soil in which they
grow. A noteworthy instance Is that of
an African bird called the ''turaco," which
feeds on plantains. Its wing feathers are
colored red by a pigment containing about
3 fol 10
eddy derived from plantains. Most OF the
common vegetables reveal on analysis
traces or copper. The metal is usually dis
covered IN minute quantities in the liver
and kidneys Of human beings and Il var
tous domestic animals.
The cook books that were popular In 1890
recommended the cooking Of pickles and
leguminous vegetables together with COP
per pennies to green them. So late as 1890
french firm patented process for col
oring pease by which the copper vessel con-
tanning them was placed in connection
with one wire from a dynamo, while the
other wire was connected with an electrode
hanging in the fluid surrounding the food
The current passing through the mixture
dissolved enough of the metal to green the
pease. There are In Paris two canneries
which impart to their vegetables a bead
tiful green color without the aid of copper
In one OF these establishments the green
ing Is done with chiorophyl extracted from
spinach. In the other the natural green
OF the pease Ii retained by a method involv-
ing the use Of lime, soda and other non
metallic ingredients. 1t is said, by the way,
siderable amount Of copper. as much as
100 milligrammes being found In a dozen
oysters.
However. the danger from copper in can
ned food Is trifling compared with that
from lead poisoning 1t is well known that
lead as a poison is more deadly than auy
otner OF the common metals. 1t has a De-
culiar way of accommodating in the system
orlx
producing symptoms commonly serious
and often fatal. Wrist drop" printers
palsy, painters palsy" and lead collie
are vulgar names for maladies produced
oy ils actlon. During the five years ending
In 1850 there Were 32i deaths from lead moi.
soning recorded in England. This is edual
70 about 20 per cent OF the total number Of
1atai cases from poisons of all kinds But
one was accidental and none was Grim
inal. ~
source of Lead Poisoning.
The source Of lead poisoning i'm canned
1000 is generally solder. In making a can
three lines OF solder are left-one at each
end and third down the side of the can.
More or less Of this finds it's way into the
preserved juices. Jumps of solder are often
dropped into the can during the process
OF sealing: To bite upon one of these small
chunks Of metal is not agreeable as most
persons can testify. The danger from this
source can be imagined when II is con-
sfdered that the solder Is COMPOSED Of two
parts OF lead and one of tin. But the tin
Plate OF which the can is made also con-
tatns certain amount of lead The cheap-
er the tin plate the more lead there Is in
1t, and naturally there is a tendency among
Gamers to use the inexpensive grades Tin
plate is divided commercially into ..br;sbt''
and "terne" plate. the former being COW
cred with more or less pure tin and the
latter with varying mixture Of lead and
tin. Only the bright" plate should be used
for canning ~
In Germany the tin employed for canned
goods Is not permitted to contain more
IMAM per cent of lead. There is no legal
restriction in this country on the suhiect
ana the percentage of lead in the cans is
sometimes as great as IL per cent Most
people Imagine that they render themselves
SCI sucure AGAINST these evils by purchasing
such foods in bottles. often paying double
the price. Unfortunately the percentace
Of lead in the bottles is often, greater than
In the cans. The tops of the bottles are
holds sulphate OF lead. On their VOYAGE
across the ocean the receptacles are as
apt as not to be turned upside down so
that the lead comes directly in contact with
tne contents. With the exception of lead
tin is of all metals the worst poison. II
Is decidedly the most common In every
sample or canned goods which has been mt
| solved '0 uiS-
on the whole 1t would seem that DOOR
peopie should congratulate themselves that
tney are unable to afford to buy canned
iooos, which are not only dangerous to
neaith, but OF small value as nutrinent
Ihis latter point particularly refers to such
vegetables as string beans, asparagus &C
IN canned beans the actual percentage Of
food material Is less than one-twentieth
In buying 100 pounds of such provende. the
consumer purchases more than IS pounds
OF water. He really pays over & n mound
for the food the water being subtracted.
Thus 1t is seen how enormously costly
canned products are. They must be re-
garded in the light of luxuries or condi-
ments rather than as nutrients to supnort
healthy people These facts NAV prove
useful to the poor man by suggesting an
economical avoidance of vegetables put up
In this way. An expenditure of 10 or TX
cents in -four or meal will procure as much
| nourishment for a family as s. or "a spent
| In canned goods.
The process of preserving food by can
| ming dates back to a patent taken out by
Pierre Antoine Angilbert In 1923. His
| method did not differ essentially from that
| in use at present. The food with some
| water was placed in a tin can and a lid
with a small hole in 1t was fastened on.
Heat was then applied, and when the LIQUID
In the can boiled briskly and all air was
expelled the hole was closed with a drop of
solder. Preserving foods in bottles is an
older invention. but the method adopted
for that purpose was the same in prin-
ciple. the filled bottles being exposed to
the action Of boiling water. Pease and beans
| were put into bottles raw. This process
was devised by Frenchman named Ap-
pert in 1910. He received a prize of II. 900
francs for it from his government
Wrong TheOry