The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1893-12-27
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WEDNESDAY. DEC. 81. 1898.
ADULTERATED FOOD.
DEcEPTloNs REsoRTED TO BY THE
GREEDY AND UNScRUPuLoUS.

The adulteration of articles of food
is by no means an invention of modern
times, but was practiced by our classic
al ancestors. During the middle ages
the cunning baker mixed his flour with
lime, sand and gypsum, and on discovery
was thrown into prison cell and COM
PEELED to eat the product OF his entire
bakery, which cured him of the fraudu-
lent habit.
The most important article of food in
every household is the meat. The meat
which comes from healthy animals is
distinguished by g pleasant odor and
fresh color, from a delicate pink to a
deep carmine, according to the animal
from which it comes. 1t must be elias
tic to the touch. The dent which is
caused by pressing finger on it must
disappear when the pressure is removed.
The fatty substance of the meat is q
good indicator of its quality. In healthy
animals the fat is yellow and elastic
and has a pleasant odor. The fat in the
meat from sick animals is pale, gray
and smeary and has an unpleasant
odor.
Sausage offers wide field for adul-
teration Of the most dangerous kind,
and in the pamphlets which vegeta-
rians send broadcast over the land from
time to time they give prominence to
an anecdote which is as terse as it is il
Illustrative of the esteem in which they
hold the sausage. IA man saved the
life of a butcher by endangering his
own. The poor butcher, overcome with
gratitude, cried out in moment OF self
forgetfulness, Never in your life again,
my friend, eat sausage.
The authorizations in this line are
manifold. To produce the fresh red
color, so alluring in sausage, fuchsine is
mixed with the ingredients instead OF
blood. It is very common practice
to put -four in sausage, and while lit
tie of it is harmless, it nevertheless
leads to early fermentation of the ar
ticle in question. The buyer, however,
is very much imposed upon when flour
is added in large quantities, for it en-
ables the sausage makers to add from
go to 10 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 3 per
cent.
Fish are adulterated in the same way
by rubbing their gills with aniline,
which gives them the appearance OF
freshness. The aniline is easily washed
off and the fraud detected In fresl
fish the eyes are full and protruding
while in old fish they are opaque, dull
and sunken. The best way to recog
nize an old fish is to watch the gills
which emit an odor Of decay If the fist
is too old for use.
Crawfish or crabs should always b.
bought alive. Crabs that are sold al
ready cooked have usually been boiled
after they were dead, and soon decay
generating very dangerous poison. A
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 ole
omargarine is to put a piece OF 1t on hot
potato 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 OF
creamery butter.
Lard is frequently adulterated will
water to increase its weight, and mixet
with cornstarch, salt, chalk. etc., tx
bind the water to the fat. This ma.
be discovered by carefully melting tn,
lard and setting it aside In lukewarn
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 il
only necessary to put them in disl
filled with water containing from . t.
10 per cent of salt. Fresh eggs drop t.
the bottom, old ones swim on the sur
face, and those of medium quality sinl
half way down.
All spices suffer more or less adulter
alton, but most of all those which ar,
sold in pulverized state. Ground pep
per is mixed with paprica, millet
bread, powdered olives, almond meal
dust, sand, gypsum, sawdust, spar, ant
almost the same ingredients are used
for the adulteration of cinnamon. Pull
verified ginger fares no better and il
mixed with potato -four, wheat and
cayenne pepper, while the sweet scent
ed anise seed comes in for a share OF
earth, sand and little brown and black
stones. Housekeepers will always be
more or less cheated in buying powder
ed spices, which should be bought in
their natural state and ground at home.
The vanilla bean before the invention
of the artificial vanilline was deprived
of its natural aroma and basted will
balm of Peru.
Coffee is adulterated in all forms ant
in every possible way. Machines hav'
been invented and large factories erect
ed, where artificial coffee beans ar,
made from acorn -four and gum arabic
and these are mixed with the rea
coffee, and even the real beans are GOV
cred with poisonous chemicals If the
have been damaged by sea water Il
transportation or the influence of the su
or time. Ground or roasted coffee offer
the best opportunities, however, fo
fraud.
But all these perpetrators of frau
and deception cannot hold candle
the Chinese, who are masters in the al
of the adulteration of tea, which the
dye, mix and prepare from leaves thi
have but bare resemblance to the rel
tea plart. Louis Post Dispatch.
Helping Her Out.