Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-24
Why AduIteratiOn Pays.

Why AdulteratfOn Pays.
When the men who want to adulterate
their flour find that wheat costs 81 and
corn twenty-five cents bushel, 1t is a very
natural thing, following the bent of a
crooked mind, to mix the corn starch with
the -four starch. Ths two are of precisely
the same character as to appearance, etc.
But the detective is there, too, and, aided
by that chief of all detectives, Mother Ma
ture, the scientific chemist takes the adul-
terated -four washes ii in cold water so
that every part of the gluten of the flour is
cleared out, and then, placing a tiny por-
ton of the -four or, it now stands.
starch, in d little tube, he puts Ii in sou-
ton, colors 1t with iodine a beautiful pur-
pie, puts drop between the thin pieces of
glass for his slide. tucks it under the
microscope, and there, swimming together,
side by side, as purple as sunset in the
land of thu midnight sun, are the two types
of starch grains, hundreds of them, the
one round, the other angular. the one hav-
ing concentric rings its interior, the
other with lines as jagged as the greenish
radiations from fractured pane of glass.
1t isn't question of theory, but one of
very cold. hard fact. The scientific chem
iSt, especially the agricultural chemist, such
a one as Professor Harry Snyder of the
state experiment station of the College of
Agriculture in the University of Minnesota,
doesn't have TO depend upon any theories.
He takes a sample of perfectly pure wheat
flour, tests 1t. finds the grains of starch of
the one type. He takes a sample of pure
corn starch flour; the grains are all of one
typo and wholly different. He takes sam
pie of flour adulterated with corn starch,
and the two types appear. There is nothing
left to chance.
But the aduterator knows his business
He has invented mac hinery which so rolls
and powders the corn starch that in some
cases, the cell walls are broken down and
the corn starch blends into the wheat flour
starch. This would seem to be blending
hay nrn6 fhh
is not. Professor Snyder has been carving
on experiments which show that he will. in
the future-and, in fact, has already reach
ed some decidedly satisfactory results-be
able to detect the fraud even here for by
an iodine test he can tell the difference be-
tween flour composed OF mixed corn and
wheat starch grains even after the call
walls of the grains are broken down. BY far
the greater proportion of all the adultera-
ton. however, is quickly discernble by the
other test.
Is Adulterated Flour HARMFUL
A good many people have asked this aues-
tton, but the answers have been, in MANY
cases, quite vague-just such indefinite an
swers as would be apt to suit the man who
is adulterating
There are three main elements In the
wheat flour which make it the staff of Nfe
when 1t becomes bread-ash, for the forma
tton of bono; starch for the heat of the
body; gluten, or, in another word protein
for the production of muscle. The gluten
Is made up of two substances, gluten and |
gliadtn. The gHadan binds the -four togeth-
er and makes 1t dough. the gluten prevents
the dough from becoming soft and sticky
me gluten as a whole is the life-giving
part of the bread. Now suppose the man
VINO gets his corn for 25 cents a bushe4 nuts
40 per cent more starch into his -four than
he ought to, corn starch. The man who
eats bread made from this adulterated -four |
Is robbed of 40 per cent of the Hfe-giving |
powers of the bread, for the incoming
starch drives out the gluten Very MANY
Americans use bread as the staple of their
diet Prof Snyder has demonstrated bysI
experiments upon men in feeding them for [
days at a time certain lines of food to ar
rive at what rs a reasonable ration for a 1
man at work. that a man must have where
ne has but little meat and not many vege-
tables, at least two pounds of bread per 4
day.
This must be honest bread. made from
the very best of flour, containing not less
than IL per cent of gluten. In case any |
per cent of this gluten is driven out to that /
extent the mans dietary is impaired. Sup /
pose you We're living on largely a bread i
diet, as so many American laborers are, |
they and their families. If suddenly and /
without any knowledge of the factor the |
adulterated flour cannot be told by its APP
pearance from the pur'e-your bread became |
from 10 TO 40 per cent, or even in some !
cases 80 per cent impoverished, how long |
before your strength and the strength of /
your family would show the effects? And /
whether you are laboring man not, a |
very large part of your food is made I'D 4
from bread other articles of diet in /
which -four is used, and to the extent that |
this -four is adulterated with this corn
starch to that extent You are robbed.
A Practical Test.
There is no theory here, it is plain fact;
any one who wants to test it can go from
a diet of two pounds of rich, nutritious
bread, made from honest -four per diem. /
with the few vegetables and the infreouent /