Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-22


meric, and indigo. There is no evidence
That these coloring agents are deleterious
TO health In the quantities in which they
are USED. The further adulteration of teas
Is accomplished by the addition of spent
or exhausted leaves, the addition of for
elSn leaves mot necessarily deleterious) and
the addition of astringents. OF these for
eign astringents a few are soapstone, gyp-
sum, suiphate OF iron. metallic iron, sand,
particles OF brick usually accidentally ad.
ded ia Gathering and copper. There is a
popular belief that most teas are colored
with copper. The authorities, however,
state that the adulteration with copper ts
inconsiderable. The general conclusion
reached by the chemist OF the department
is that the adulterants of teas. as a rule.
are not such as may be considered preju-
cicial to health"
According to the analyses made by the
department. chemists there Is hardly a COM
which Is not adulterated The most fire.
quent form Of adulteration IL the removal
Oh the Tat or cocoa butter, which reduces
.ne nutritive power Of the cocoa. Sugars
ara soarches are used very largely to in
crease the weight and bulk: foreign fats
10 restore the percentage OF fat and COL
orfng matters. such as sand. ferric oxide,
Gay, potassium chromate, copper sulphate
and nickel sulphate. Frequently powdered
TIN Is added to chocolate TO give Il a metal
lie iuster.
Adulterated Candles.
The adulteration Of candies is perhaps
the most important Of the authorizations
considered since there is such an enormous
| consumption OF sweets In this country and
since many Of the adulterants used-and
particularly the coiorings-are very dele
| FERROUS to health The chief adultcrants
Of candy are tartaric acid. which is used
to cut the sugar and prevent granulation;
glucose. which. because OF its cheapness
is used to the extent of 10 or 20 per cent;
chrome yellow. soapstone. terra alba,
baryta and starch.
The most serious Of the adulterants Tex
cept the use Of mineral dyes) Ia the intro
auction OF terra alba, kaoiin and other
mineral substances intended to increase
the weight OF the product. Starches and
gums. which are used very largely, are
necessary to the manufacture Of come can
dies. and, though they are not soluble In
cold water. they are not necessarily inju-
| rious to health. OF the colorfng matter
| that which Is most hurtful 10 sniline col
oring. and II is used in great majority
| of the candies sold Lamp black In a color
| ing matter found In some candy examined
! Grease. copper and gelatine are among the
| ingredients detected IN cheap candles by
| chemical analysis. There II no evidence
that any OF the $50 samples examined were
''licorice candy" Many years ago q man
| who had worked as a laborer In q large
candy establishment In q western city told
me that ncorice was made from the floor
| refuse; that at intervals OF several years
| the floor OF the candy room was wet
down" and the accumulation OF scrap candy
day was taken up with shoveie and made
into ncorice drops. The story may have
been fanciful, but It cured a mild taste for
| licorioe.
Honey Not Mide BY Bees
More than one-haif the honey sold in the
market is adulterated. The chief adulser-
ant Is glucose. Originally the adulterant
was sugar: and the original adulterator
now out of the business) says that when
1 49, k.s.x,. 1xx-ffh Eaaca
in 1865, he found that the public preferred
the adulterated to the pure article Giu-
cose which is made from corn by the use
of sulphuric acid, is sold at about one-hah
| the price OF sugar. and II has taken the
place of sugar in most cases as an adulter-
ant. Dr. W. p. Tony is quoted as saying
of glucose: "A skilled confectioner told me
he Considered glucose in any kind of candy
unnecessary. injurious TO health and un-
questionably an adulterant- So long as
| honey was sold in the comb there was
virtually no adulteration; for, though there
| have been many reports that artificial comb
honey was made. it has never been an
| article OF commerce. The glucose honeys
figure under the names of Pure old Viz
ginia honey" Choice clover honey, Pure
California white clover honey" &C. The
fact that California bee honey is not from
white clover. but from wild sage or orange
blossoms is a sufficient commentary on
the honesty of the manufacturers OF the
last named product.
In baking powders. which are very gen
orally adulterated. the chief of the foreign
constituents is alum. used for cream OF
tartar. Starch in undue quantities and
coarse hominy are frequently used In sew
eral of the states the use Of alum is forbid
den unless the label of the box states
that il is an ingredient. The users OF alum
profess to believe that their powders are
as good as the cream of tartar powders:
end no one will say absolutely that the alum
powders are less healthful. But the Depart
% OIa Inc la
for the regulation of the manufacture OF
these baking powders wants simply to have
each sold or Its merits under a plain label.
In the Investigation OF canned goods the
department chemist has come ID the con-
clusion that the consumers are exposed TO
greater or less dangers. from poisoning from
copper, zinc, tin and lead. This is due TO
the carlessness OF the Gamers. or TO the
use of metal vessels to give a better color
to the vegetables in the cooking. Salicylic
acid is used also very largely for preserv-
ing the canned goods. and Its harmfulness
is hardly to be questioned.
MIX and Cheese.
The adulteration of DAIRY products caused
Congress to pass the oleomargarine law
the only pure food law passed by Congress.
though stronger pressure is being brought
zach year to put a general pure food bin
through. Butter Is adulterated with oleo-
margarine. water In undue proportions lard,
alkalies and rancid butter, cotton OIL beef
suet and olive oil. There are several milk
adulterants. the familiar product of the
pump being the most common. A milk
adulterant which is much used I'm San Fran
cisco ts a mixture composed of common salt.
saltpeter saleratus. a trace of caustic soda
ana a large quantity OF sugar. The color IL
impaired by caramel In Germany. ultrama-
rine In used az an adulterant of milk. What
Is known as filled cheese" is made by TAX
ing all Of the cream out OF the milk and
charging the vat just before IL Is set with
lard. cottonseed oil or other fat. The
cheese curd becomes simply a capsule IN
which to carry the oil. There is no chem
ical assimils ton.
Infant foods sold milk foods. prove. on
examination, to be Din mos: cases. prepara-
ttons OF wheat. containing little or no milk
Lard is very commonly adulterated, usual
ly with cottonseed oil or stearine. The gen
erai belief that decomposed dead hog
grease" or peanut oil is used for adulterat-
ing lard is without foundation.
Pepper is not the only one OF the spices
which is adulterated. In many cases the
essential oils are extracted from the spices
before they are ground. In some cases
cheaper spices are used 10 aduterate those
which are more expensive. Allspice is too
cheap to be adulterated profitably, but Il is
used as an adulterant of other spices We
netian red mixed with baked cracker or
bread dust is said to masquerade as mace
"A