The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-10-26
{ Wilmington Star.)


Investigations pursued by chemists
in the service of the United States
Government have revealed the fact
that at least ninety per cent. of the
prepared foods and liquids, used as
beverages sold in this country are
more or less adulterated. some with
harmless adulterants. others with in
furious aud sometimes absolutely
poisonous ones. AS rule the cheaper
articles are nearly all adulterated.
Flour is an article that offers fine OPP
portunities to the dishonest seller,
and Investigations show that an i'm
mense amount of that is adulterated.
Special investigations have been made
in Chicago with the flours that come
to that market, by an expert chemist
the result of whose discoveries is thus
summed up by the Louisville Courier
Journal:
He says i white clay !oun! near
| Greensboro. \. c., has been extern
sively used. the manufacturing COM
panv which introduced it advertising
| that $400 to 5000 could be saved on Il
| carload of flour in which this eco
| nomical ingredient had been judi
ciously introduced. For while a
white rock was ground and put in the
! flour with much success, but as on
long shipments the adulterant would
1 sift to the bottom they had to be
abandoned. a glucose by product
1 containing SO per cent. of pure starch
d, became so popular with millers that
!. the price has advanced from Sl.22 a
! bag to $3.50. 1t contained decided
/ percentage of sulphuric acid and was
J: so devoid of nutriment that it would
i require consumption of l50 pounds
a day to keep man able to work.
Samples of the flour containing this
! ingredient in the proportion of 40 per
/ cent. were discovered on the general
. market. The adulterant most in favor
is corn flour, which is difficult Of de-
{ lection, but so very profitable that
! 5 per cent. mixture in barrel OF
| SO. so wheat flour with a corn flour at
$500 will yield the miller a profit
| of seven and half cents. The Gov
| ernment experts at Washington can
| not detect this precentage of adulter-
l
| cent. of corn flour cannot be detected
by ordinary chemists"
| This chemist SAYS they have the
art down so fine that housekeepcrs
and grocers cannot detect the frauds,
which are sometimes very difficult
for even expert chemists to do.
l When the circulars were first made
/ public in this State, setting forth the
| advantages Of this Guilford clay and
what bonanza it would prove to the
| flour mixer. the hustler who was run
ming the scheme was reminded that
he was violating the law and laying
| himself liable to prosecution and to
] mprisonment, when he said that he
| had sent out but few of the circulars
and that he would quit the business;
but it is said that the shop is still
running in Greensboro, where samples
| of the stuff may be seen. Whether
much OF it is being shipped or not we
| do not know, but we do know some
thing about that clay, and have no
hesitation in saying that if man ate
| bread doetored with this stuff for
about six months and fell overheard,
a raft OF life preservers couldn't keep
him afioat. and yet this stuff is harm
/ less compared with some of the vile
| decoctions used in food and drink
adulteration.
There are laws. both State and
national, to protect the people from
this imposition, but it goes on and
for all the good the laws do they
might as well have never been passed.
1t is not the fault of the law but the
fault of those whose duty it is to see
] the law enforced but don't do il.