Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-06-27
mod 1DjADULTER !
-, soME FLAGRANT CASES
~" MAY BE DETECTED.
.~,,.ot,ons of Healthy Meat-Sausage
IT, Fish Adulteration-To Tell
Good Butter, Lard and Eggs
Fraud in Spices.

IN food IS by no meauS I'LL IL
IA vention" of modern times,
~ but was practiced by our
.,,s.s;cal ancestors. During the mid
e ~ aces the cunning baker mixed his
s A. with lime, sand and gypsum, and
~ D01 discovery was thrown into q prison
y. vii land and compelled to eat the product
y III his entire bakery, which cured him
1.-THE fraudulent habit.
1.-THE most important article OF food
h every household is the meat. The
~sat which comes from healthy ami
msIs is distinguished by a pleasant
I n and fresh color, from a delicate
oink to o deep carmine, according to
he animal from which it comes. 1t
mnst be elastic to the touch. The
dsnt which is caused by pressing o
Amer on it must disappear when the
nressure is removed. The fatty sub
rance Of the meat is q good indicator
# its quality. In healthy animals the
NJ is yellow and elastic and has
nleasant odor. The fat in the meat
trom sick animals is pale, gray and
meary and has an unpleasant odor.
wSsusage offers wide field for adul-
tsration of the most dangerous kind,
and in the pamphlets which vegetar-
;aus send broadcast over the land from
fine to time they give prominence to
an anecdote which is as terse as it is
illustrative of the esteem in which
tbey hold the sausage. "a man saved
tbs life of butcher by endangering
bis own. The poor butcher, overcome
NTH gratitude, cried out in moment
Of self forgetfulness: ''Never in your
lSssgain, my friend, eat sausage"
Wine authorizations in this line are
manifold. To produce the fresh red
color, so alluring in sausage, fuchsine
nmixed with the ingredients instead
Of blood. 1t is very common prac-
lice to put -four in sausage, and, while
slittle of it is harmless, it neverthe-
less leads to early fermentation Of the
article in question. The buyer, how
ever, is very much imposed upon when
-four is added in large quantities, for
it 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 a stop to
this fraud by limiting the addition Of
-four to three per cent.
b Fish are adulterated in the same way
by rubbing their gills with aniline,
which gives them the appearance Of
freshness The aniline iseasily washed
of and the fraud detected. In fresh
fish the eyes are full and protruding,
while in old fish they are Opaque, dull
and sunken. The best way to recog-
niEe 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 al.
ready cooked have usually been boiled
after they were dead, and soon decay,
generating a very dangerous poison.
A crawfsh that has been boiled alive
will show curious and twisted tail,
while, on the other hand, one that was
cooked after death has the tail per
fectly straight.
y The best way to tell butter from
oleomargarine is to put q piece of it OF
ahot potato which has been boiled il
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 O.
dairy or creamery butter.
Lard is frequently sdulterated with
water to increase its weight, and
mixed with corn-starch, salt, chalk,
etc., to bind the water to the fat.
This may be discovered by carefully
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
ealthe other foreign ingredients.
nTo tell good eggs from bad ones il
Is only necessary to put them in 8
aish filled with water containing from
I'VE to ten per cent. Of salt. Fresh
eggs drop to the bottom, old ones
swim on the surface, and those Of
medium quality sink half way down.
ALI spices suffer more or less adul
'eration, but most of all those which
@e sold in a pulverized state. Grount
pepper is mixed with paprica, millet
bread, powdered olives, almond meal
aust, sand, gypsum, sawdust, spar
aud almost the same ingredients ar
used for the adulteration of cinnamon
iulyerlzed ginger fares no better, AM
mixed with potato -four, wheat AM
cayenne pepper, while the sweet-scent
u anise seed comes in for a share Q
earth, sand and little brown and blacl
stones. Housekeepers will always b
more or less cheated in buying pow
eered spices, which should be bough
~ their natural state and ground q
aome. The vanilla bean, before tn
invention of the artificial vanilline,
was deprived of its natural aroma and
oasted with balm Of Peru.
Coffee is adulterated in all form'
snd In every possible way Machine
nave been invented and large factor
,es erected, where artificial COTE
pesns are made from acorn -four an,
gum aroh,o al 49,. - x~,;va1 xu;f1