The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-05-02
THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD
IMPORTANT REPORT OF THE ST4rE
EXPERIMENT STATION.

Nearly Two-thirds of Fruit JeIIte, Bad
ly Adulterat ted Some A rtfuI SampIes-
Teas Free from Admixtures but Co Offees
and Spices Largely Adu1terated-'Em
baIming" of Sausage and oysters.
THE second part of the annual report
of the Connecticut Agricultural Expert
ment station in this city will be issued
to-day 1t is a very important part of
the stations report and deals with the
examination of foods sold in this state.
The food law requires the station to eX-
anime articles of food as to their purity;
and food according to statute. "shall
include every article used as a food or
drink by man, horses or cattle" Near
ly 1900 samples have been examined at
the station during the year, and the re-
suits are given in detail in this report to
the governor
OF the six-three samples of fruit jelly
examined, nearly two thirds (43 sam
ples) We're adulterated with from one to
five distinct things. The most artful
samples, labeled pure fruit jellies,"
with the name of the special fruit, cur
rant, grape, etc), consisted of starch
paste sweetened with glucose, artificially
favored, colored with an anline dye and
preserved with salcylic acid. Naturally
the prices of these goods are very low.
While pure jellies cost on the average
twenty-five cents per half pound glass,
many of these artificial jellies (sold as
genuine) cost only five cents per pound.
OF the forty-nine samples of jams,
marmalades, etc, examined, only three
were made wholly of fruit and cane
sugar. All the others contained glucose,
cheap-but harmless" sweetener."
Twenty of them contained sali
cylic acid, which is not considered harm
less, and eight were colored with coal
tar dyes Four others were dyed with
cochineal.
Eighty mine samples of tea of all kinds
and grades (mostly, however, of the
cheaper grades) We're examined at the
station without finding any evidence of
the admixture of foreign leaves or of
other adulteration Most green teas are
faced" with chemicals, the amount
used being very small, but in commerce
this is not regarded as an adulteration,
although a senseless practice. This sat
isfactory state of the tea market is due
to the United States act of 1897, which
forbids the importation not only of
adulterated tea, but of that which is
'inferior in purity, quality, or fitness
for consumption" A board of seven tea
experts fixes the standards Of tea and
sees that the law is enforced.
R1yo al
fee. eleven were found to be mixtures of
coffee with roasted peas, chicory, wheat,
pea-hull pellets and limitation coffee
Drown Jumps made from wheat mid
dlings, which closely resemble crushed
roasted coffee.)
There are in market large number |
of coffee substitutes as well as coffee
Compounds" which contain some cof-
fee together with the matters just nam
ed. These are perfectly harmless and |
may be legally sold if so marked as to
plainly show the purchaser that they |
are mixtures or compounds.
OF the ninety-one samples of ginger
examined, twenty -four or more than a
quarter, were variously adulterated with
rice refuse corn meal, or wheat or were
colored with turmeric. One sample con-
tanned nearly 20 per cent of gypsum or
land plaster. OF the samples sold in
packages bearing the name of the manu-
facturer, only II per cent were adul-
terated, while of those sold in bulk, with
no name attached, 20 per cent. were
adulterated.
OF forty samples of beer and seven
of ale examined, eleven samples of beer
and one of ale contained salcylic acide.
In a previous report attention has
been called to the "embalming'' of
sausages and oysters with boric acid.
Examination of nineteen samples of
sausages during the last year shows
that the art Is still practiced. Four
samples of cream out of the eighteen
which were tested contained the same
preservative
vegetables (23 samples and mince
meat g samples) appeared not to con-
tain any chemical preservatives.
One hundred and seventy samples of
ground spices other than ginger, sold
in labeled packages which give the
name of the manufacturer, have been
examined. The makeweights used in
these spices are chiefly flour, buck
wheat, corn meal, mus ard hulls, cocoa
nut Shells sand and dirt, and turmeric
is used for coloring. None of these
things can be classed as poisonous or
even Injurious, but neither are they
pungent or appetizing. The results in
dicate-like those given above under
as a rule spices sold in
packages bearing the name of the man
ufacturer are more likely to be pure
than those sold in bulk. In the last
three year STA samples of spices have
been examined. Forty-one and a half
per cent of those sold in bulk We're
found to be adulterated, but only 211s
per cent of those sold in labeled pack
ages were aduterated. {
For the dairy commissioner the sta
tion has also examined 203 samples of
molasses, 81 of which were found to be
adulterated with glucose and Il sam
Piles of butter" seven of which were
Twenty-Five samples of flour were ex-
amined to learn whether any were mix
I'd with corn starch. In no case was
his or any other adulterant discovered
In this report full details are given of
he names labels or brands and prices
If the various articles of food examin- '