New-York tribune., 1901-12-23
FOOD PERSONALITIES
SOME FEATURES OF A BRITISH CoMMIs
SION'S REPORT

From Nature,
In fact. if an inquirer turns the five hundred
oesi instances @ Of injury to health from preserv-
atives or indeed coioring matters in food he will
some difficulty in fastening definite injury upon SO
TTesenoe of preservatives has not even been de
clared. Yet. nevertheless. for the last two years
practically the whole medical profession has been
well alive 10 preservatives in food being pos
sihe OF injury to health, and yet no definite
" ascertained case. or practically none. has been
Upon such data 1t is obvious that the prohibition
az pTeservatives en- masse was out of the ques-
7ion, and the recommendations Of the committee
and control rather than the prohibition of preserv
atves. There are. however. two exceptions TO this
formaIine or formic aldehyde is prohibited alto
gether and all preseryatives and colortng matters
fornic aldehyde might strike the casual observer
In that nowhere in the report is it directly stated
that this substance in the quantities necessary is
Injurious TO health peculiar diflcuity a1 however.
sgS % %n ~ 5egara 10 II nfzoI 'hf M obyio1s hat
substance OF such potency in unlimited quantity
could not be sanctioned in food.
The other exception milk. is obviously also upon
dtet Of nvaids and children renders it especially
important that II should be pure as possible
that the mix supply 6f London could be ade-
atey 5 msnteined Without PRESET an ss a1 mo-
cleanly da!rying. For the prohibition OF coloring
is admittedly harmless and if the recommendations
OF the milk standardiZing committee be adopted
Ssd T 6cn, mo longer De at 9 Which tmnroves the
appearance Of food, Without fl is harmful or done
with direct intent to defraud in the physiological
sense, that is, TO mask an actual nutr1tve deh-
the senses we often help the digestion and;
further. often actual waste, as people viii
not eat what does not look nice
This brings Us to one point upon which apparently
the committee do not agree, viz, the use OF copper
sulphate for rendering preserved vegetables and
fruits permanently green Three members or the
tice but Professor Tunnclie is of the opinion that
the Of copper should be restricted half a
grain pound and declared The difference seems
10 be or general principle versus Specllc iacI
the committee regard the addition OF a substance
food which IN certain quantities is undoubtedly
poisonous TO be undesirable in any quantity II
whether the copper compound actually present IN
the green peas is poisonous. Professor Tunniclire
experiments show clearly that only a relatively
small noIety or the copper Is ABSORBED, or al any
rate remains in the human system, when ii is in
gested in the form in which il occurs in preserved
peas. 80
obtained by Brandt in the German Gesuhdheitsarnt
People have taken peas greened with copper for
elrnost half a century. and no case CT chronlc or
acute copper poisoning has so far been traced &c
This We cannot agree that evidence OF the
Injurious effect Of copper would be difficult to OBJ
tain: copper chemically is one of the easiest sub
wei! marked and fairly characteristic symptoms
Had copper poisoning from coppered peas occurred
think il would not have escaped detection 1t Is
al any rate be hoped that we shall not be con-
signed everlsstngly TO brown peas without further
investigation.
some surprise may perhaps be felt that salicylic
acid was not prohibited. this substance is un-
dor.bte6y possessed of active medicinal properties
Il is however stringently controlled, only grain
a pound or a pint being allowed. This substance is
G very active anttseptic. and Is especially useful
tn lam making and temperate beverages. The com
7ste sterilization OF jam Is very apt TO break VI
delicate fruits which il Is certainly pleasure Ic
with salicylic acid, and in the quantities recon-
rended by the committee it seems quite harmless.