The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-03
MAKERS OF IMPURE FOOD.
STATE FooD COMMISSION REPORTS
ADULTERATIoN LARGELY ON
THE fNGRRA SIC
MUCH INGENUITY DISPLAYED
Vendors of DOctored Food Are Most
INSCRIPTIONS in Their Meth
o,lS--Gre4,f Danger to
Health.

oJlS-GreAlt Danger to
Health.
Major j. NJ Bowler, state dairy and
food commissioner, yesterday completed
that part of his annual report which re-
late to food adulteratlon;. white lead
and linseed oil. The. subs lance of, it fol-
lows:
FOOD ADUETERApION
The subject OF the -adulteration Of
foods has of late received considerable
attention all over the country but net
nearly as much as, its Importance de-
manus. The great problem for every ma
ton to solve has been and always Will
be, a supply of wholesome food. This
is of the highest Importance to the health
of people and it is we'll that Il strong
sentiment against food authorization has
been awakened. However the field for
tended every year and even In our state
where laws have been enacted, and for
the last two years at least, strictly in
forced, the percentage of aduIterat ton
is much higher stlan!it ought to-. be- In
regard to the character of food adulter-
ant we may for convenience form two
classes: one III which the adulterant is
IN itself INJURIOUS and another in which
aduiterant is in itself not injurious, but
is cheaper article Or. is sold for what
II is not. The various forms of chetni-
III
mineral colors are the most important
in the first class There is now no doubt
but that the chemical preservatiVes W 1len
used. in human foods: are; generally IN
curious. They are used solely to pre-
vent fermentations2a and since. che proc
esses of digestion are fermentation proc
esSes, the chemical :, pGeseEyatiXes must
work an injury. Their use in milk ought
especially to. be condemned in the Sc
verest terms, for milk is such a universal
iood ana Is used to so large IN extent
Nv. y, til
cases they must prove particularly in
furious The more common forms Of
chemical preServatives now used are
eoraX, boric- acid, salicylic acid, salts
OIL benzolc acid and formalin. They are
used IN a great variety of foods such as
cutter, milk and cream; jellies, preserves,
meats, oysters fish, canned vegetables,
catSupS, pickles.. etc. .as,a
OF the coal tar colors some. are now
known that are not injurious, but since
some are yirulent poisons the use of all
oCsh L TO b prohibited. They are used
IN 8ll'of the cheap and highly colored
cand5eS and of course here are. eaten
prlnetpa Ay- by children. They are also
used IN sausages, in all catsups, IN most
preserves anu jellies, and in butter and
cheese. Most zof the highly celored fruit
syrups. and crushed fruits of our soda
FOUNTAINS contain these dangerous colors
as do also many of the bottled caroonat-
ed beverages. In this class come also
the poisonous salts of zinc and copper
which are. used in canned vegetables.
not so much to impart a color but TO
preserve the original green color of the
vegetable.
The adulterants coming under the sec
cha class are very numerous and are
many OF our common foods Milk is
SKINNED and wafered in the 'old-fashion-
ed way. In Minnesota the law fixes the
standard Of quality for milk, requiring
is being strictly fnforced Cream. is also
SUBJECT to adulteration, especially by be-
ing diluted with milk, and to. guard
against this -the state has fixed % Der
cent fat as the minimum.
- Inc Yalue- OF cheese is sometimes low
cred by using partly SKINNED milk in
the making Or even by using milk from
which all the fat has been removed
IN tpls case, however, foreign fats 81,
mllar to those used in oleomargarine
are incorporated with. the milk, produe-
ing what is known as filled cheeses?.r4
Oisomargarine colored in Imitation of
butter is frequently sold to the unsns
PeG Gt customer for the genuine ar
boarders in hotels, restaurants. h69rdl
ing houses and lumber camps. 'WitSo,It
nelng printed upon the bill of fare or
listed u on the walls of dining room or
car as required by law. 80.
Process butter is. comparative new
product and has already become a very
1orIIlloap pie enemy of honest butter ir is
mace from butter which through age or
Iaulty manufacture is unfit for eafi7lr
Ihls butter usually comes from CountIv
merchants, who buy it up at very low
R Prize ana store it in barrels or boxes in
HIthy cellars until enough has been. ac
cumuI2tsd for shipment to the lie ev., ting
plant. The butter by this time has be
some some very rancid and is in partial
state OF decomposition, but in The ewes
or the renoVator it has not Inst IFS re-,
fulness. It's ''9-
Lard is frequently adulterated with tai
low or cotton seed oil. Ingredients not
harmtuf in any way, but cheaper articIts
SOLO for a hfgher-priced one
Cider vinegar has for a long time Of
| Tered an enticlng field for the dishonest
manufacturers Formerly much wbiIe
VINE vinegar, cheap article made from
corn or barley malt chiefly; was colnre1
| with burnt sugar and sod for pure annie
clQer vinegar. 10 prevent this the lesjs-
nature some years ago passed a law re-
CURING al cider vinegar to co1taia at
| least 2 per cent of cider vinegar solids
which would remain after evaporation
| over boiling water. This brought ahont a
new process for adufteratfon .Sryarr
| cider, which contains a large amount Of
soild matter, mostly sugar is evapura ted
Go"n 70 d tnlck syrup, Which is aided to
the white wine vinegar in an amount SUI
ncient to make 2 per cent Of solids in
| the vinegar. This kind of vinegar can
| pc very readily detected because It coz.
talnS Such a small amount of ash Re-
| Gently the adulterators have attemnted
| to add ash artiffcialiy to this class Of
Nlnesars; there seems to be no limit To
S 9;anKes ingenuity in this kind OF wrrk.
4 d.
lent TO 4.50 per cent Of acetic acti the
| adulteration of vinegar with Wat 10
seldom practice5, but If done it IL read
| lily detected in the laboratory
strained and extracted honey also
Gome5 in for its share of aduIteration.
The principal adulterants are glue ose an
| cane sugar. Some samples have bee, re-
celVeG which contained no honey 1T :, /
| being pure glucose; others We're glucose
| with bit of comb honey; others again
were mixtures of honey and glucose or
| cane sugar Twenty-Five per cent IF
| the honey brought to the laboratory YVES
| found to be adulterated.
ProbaDiy there is no pure maple syrup
| sold in the state; we have no law regu-
! hating it's manufacture or sale and even
! detect the imitation. 1t is made from
! cane sugar which is exactly the same
| In chemical composition and properties
rs the sugar from the maple and is
| Favored artiftcially. The artificial tlavors
| are made in various ways, chiefly from
| an extract obtained from the bark of a
! species of hickory. The writer recently
tasted sample of syrup which pos
! sessed very fine maple flavor, and was
! very much surprised to learn that it
i Havored with an extract obtained from
| dry red corn cObS, not a bit of maple in
| 1t. This was a homemade product, but
| probably much of the maple syrup on
| the market is made in the saHerway
| Inc grinder of spices need NOT 10 nix
far for suitable adulterants for his good !
! since variety of cheap material is at
hand. Corn meal, and the huslS of the
| peanut is used in ginger. Wheat flour
| rice flour and corn starch, coIored " III
| turmeric Ca vegetable colorl are found
| i'll mustard AS "a substitute for CHINA
mon and caSsia, cracker crumbs, ground
| cocoanut shells and other dark colored
nut shells are used Pepper shells, corn