New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-20
THE STAFF OF LIFE.
IT SEEMS TO BE AS TRUSTWORTHY NOW
AS EVER.

CATION INTO ADULTERATIoNs OF CEREALS
AND CEREAL PRODUCTS SHOWS
SURPRISINGLY CHEERING
RESULTS
To the man who. for the sake OF his family,
takes care Of his health by denying himself daily
many Of those pleasing qualifications Of the
flesh such as late hours rich food strong drink
and plenty OF tobacco which the doctors tell
him will shorten his life and impair his earning
capacity there is hardly anything more exas-
perating than the thought that the plain foods
and soft" beverages TO which he confines him
self may be aduIterated by greedy manufact-
urers with ingredients that have as deadly an
effect as the forbidden luxures which his soul
longs for. IF man must be poisoned ne
cries out in his despair. 'let him at least be
poisoned by connection Of his own selection
and get some fun out OF the process"
This perplexed creature-and there are great
many OF him-is seldom allowed to dull his fears
by forgetfulness. for nothing delights certain
class OF newspapers more than to discover and
illustrate some terror in the food he eats
and the liquids he drinks. and their JOY rises to
a perfect frenzy II they show a never before
suspected danger lurking in one OF the very
necessaries OF life.
These prosecuted men will find In Part TX Of
Bulletin No 13 of the United States Department
OF Agriculture. which is entitled Foods and
Food Aduterants" and has just been issued,
surprisingly grateful alienation for the worst
OF their fears. The volume is decidedly forbid
ding in its aspect TO the ordinary layman, being
plentifuy supplied with rows and rows Of care
fully tabulated figures. giving the results Of
elaborate chemical analyses. but little study Of
h
stances used in this country to adulterate those
cereals and cereal products which form so large
and important part Of the Nations food, while
they cheat the pocket To a considerable extent,
do not cheat the stomach TO any degree worth
making a fuss about.
NUTRITIOUS ADULTERANTs.
Take, for instance. bread. the most important,
the cheapest the most complete Of all nutrients
In this country the common adulterants Of whea;
-four are corn -four, rice -four. oats barley,
potatoes. sorghum seed and wheat refuse from
which the starch has been extracted. Now, while
these articles are somewhat cheaper than wheat
and afford the dishonest miller who uses them
larger profit than he ought to make on his flour
chemical analysis shows that they are rich in
all those ingredients which nourish the body
and build up the system. and so long as they
are not used in such large proportions as 70
offend the taste. no outrage except moral
one "a perpetrated upon the consumer
European bread eaters stand in more danger
than Americans IL appears, for the adultera-
ton OF wheat -four there with pea and bean
meal chalk white clay. gypsum, soap and even
powdered wood is not unknown; but the price OF
cereals in this country is so low as 10 make IL
OF little object TO resort TO such extremes mere.
Passing from wheat to other cereals investi-
CATION shows that corn meal Is almost never
adulterated. but that buckwheat -four is ex-
tensiveIy tempered with. However. as the adui-
terants used in buckwheat are wheat rye or
corn -four. which are cheaper, the same result
follows. and the eater Of buckwheat pancakes
has no reason 10 fear, even II. as is often the
case. his supposed maple syrup Is not maple
syrup at all, but plain sugar cane syrup ma
vored with the extract Of hickory bark Extract
OF hickory bark is not harmful in small guam
titles and he would not eat the syrup at all II
too much hickory were put in II by mistake.
Oats are too cheap 70 be aduterated at all
Rice -four is little used. The same Is true OF
harley and OF rye -four in America, although
careless millers sometimes allow II 70 become
mixed in the mill with ergot which Is a danger
GUS substance, dizziness. commissions and even
gangrene following its continuous consumption
PAINsTAKING ANALYSES
As already intimated, the publication confines /
itself 10 cereals, and cereal products. The IN
vestigations were made under the direction OF
H w Wiley. chief chemist OF the Agricultural
Department. and the object in view was TO
establish a standard OF composition for typical
cereal foods. not only as contribution 10 our
chemical knowledge OF these bodies, but espe-
~ art
ing point for the study OF the nutritive prop
cries q, III. bodies in question. as a basis for
detecting authorizations" and the data thus fur
r,shad will be Of great value TO physicians,
nhvsiologists and physiological chemists as a
ca % basis for deductions in respect 10 the char
acter Of cereal foods
The number OF cereal products whose exact
chen1ical constituents are shown is In itself as
tonishing. and the labor involved in analyzing
them must have been very great Take the
work done on wheat alone Few persons are
aware that the modern methods used in the mill
ing OF wheat produce 80 different products from
the grain. Every one OF these Is separately
analyzed and its constituents set down with
minutest accuracy OF wheat four no less thah
lO7 samples were analysed, OF baked breads ~,
of the so called breakfast foods ~ OF biscuits
or crackers As. of rolls II and II cakes OIL These
samples we're bought haphazard In the open
market and the results or their Analyses are'
with few exceptions. most COMFORTING
There is even bright side 70 the bread made
Of wheat refuse. from which the starch mas
been extracted for other commercial purposes
FOR II is largely recommended by physicians tor'
persons suffering from diabetes
CORN AS GOOD AS WHEAT FLOUR.
with regard to cornmeal in wheat -four The
report makes the positive assertion: There is
q widespread opinion that the products OF IND
ian corn are less digestible and less nutritious
than those from wheat This opinion II appears,
has no justification. either from the cnemical
composition OF the two bodies or from recorded
digestive and nutritive experiments a STUDY Oh
the analytical data OF the "hoie gram S"o"s
- nnnnerned