The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-05-04
ADULTERATED FOODS.
Dr.. Wiley's Testimony Before the
Pure Food Investigators.
ONLY TEN PER CENT PURE.

The Balance OF Our Food and Drink,
Declares the Agricultural Depart.
ment's Chemist, Ia Mixed with For
eign Substances.
Chicago, May According to DR..
Fl. w. Wiley, chief chemist of the Uni
ted States department of agriculture,
who was called to the stand yesterday
to testify before the senatorial pure
food investigating committee, now In
session, fully 80 per cent Of the articles
Of food and drinking manufactured and
used in this country are frauds. All
kinds Of dairy products, he said, as
we'll as nearly every variety of con-
berry, were adulterated. Senator Will
lam e. Mason, chairman, was the only
member present, and conducted the
examination. Senator Harris did not
arrive until today, and Senator Wet
more is i'll.
In his testimony DR.. Wiley gave in
detail the methods Of manufactures in
adulterating different articles of food
In milk, according to his testimony,
the most common practice Is the alb
straction of the fatty substance In
taking away the cream. A common
practice among the dealers. he said,
was the adulteration with water, and
in addition to this preservatives are
used to no small extent to prevent the
liquid from souring.
In butter the common way of de-
frauding the public, according to the
testimony, was the Substitution of
other fats, both animal and vegetable,
for the natural fat of the milk Both
oottonseed oil and high grades of lard
were employed in the work. Honey,
DR.. Wiley said, probably was a more
used article in the line of adulteration
than any other.
The principal methods Of adulter-
ating lard Is the mixing Of vegetable
oils with the natural fat Of the hog.
Fats and oils, he said, instead of being
injurious to the health, are wholesome
to great degree. All kinds of pure
oils, he said, were heating to the sys-
TEN as we'll as great aids to digestion.
Another fraud which is carried on
to very great extent is the selling Of
cottonBeed oil for cotton oils.
Probably among all the foods mem
toned by DR.. Wiley none attracted
greater attention than the adulteration
of coffee, even in the berry. Accord
ing to the witness. in recent inves-
legations he has found molasses and
flour moulded into berries, colored,
mixed with the genuine and sold as
high grade coffee.
According to DR.. Wiley there Is very
little pure beer made In this country.
Fully 70 per cent of the beer which
is sold in this country is made of soma
other article other than malt In re-
gard to the extensive use of glucose,
witness said that was not objection
able for food purposes, if used in mod
Grafton.
Very little pure jelly is manufac-
tured, according to witness. There also
is a great amount Of adulteration in |
the manufacture of vinegar.
DR.. Wiley said Vermont maple sugar
was manufactured in Davenport, Ia,
out of brown sugar and an extract of
hickory bark, and 1t was not deleteri-
ous In fact, he said, it was impossible
for chemists to distinguish the two.
The sugar was the same and the ma
tural ether that gave the maple sugar
its flavor and the distinctive quality
was too inflnitesimal to segregate in
an analysis. The extract of hickory,
he said. was about the same as the
maple flavor.
Spices, he said, were adulterated,
and peanut shells were palmed off as
ground cinnamon.