The sun., 1905-12-31
OUR RAINBOW TINTED FOOD.
DYES PEOPLE ARE EATING WITH
orr kNOWING IT.
4 Scientists Menu That Provides Three
Meals and Forty Doses Of Chemicals
n Day Discoveries or Miss Lakey in
Working on the Pure Food Question.


n dozen tiny squares OF flannel dyed in
brilliant hues Of green, red, pink and other
colors
IAN dyed with the anline and coal tar
dives that came out Of eatables and drink
ables, said Miss Lnkey, who is the chairman
of the food Investigating committee OF the
National Consumers League, Its a won
der" she continued placidly, "that our
insides are not dyed all the colors OF tho
rainbow. Do you see that green cloth?"
1t was the greenest green imaginable,
bright gorgeous emerald
THAT was dyed with creme de menthe,'
said Miss Lakey. THE dye stuff in that
other piece came from cheap soda water
fountain. the kind that sells drinks at
cents glass, That bit was colored with
dye from one piece Of candy.
"The cheap things are undoubtedly the
worst, for the poor are at the mercy OF the
small local dealers, but we are all of us
eating and drinking dye stufts by the quart
OF ffty-fve samples of canned tomatoes
analyzad by Government experts twenty
five were found to contain preservatives
Eosin, a red dye, is used to color inferior
| tomatoes.
"Eighty-six out Of ninety eight samples
of French peas contained copper, and SO
did twenty-nine out of forty-three cans Of
American peas. String beans are even
worse. Canned corn is whtened with
. acids. out Of forty-one cans examined
| wenty-four contained prcserratlNes o'
/ 3gi samples of molasses l8I contained
/ glucose and one-third of them Dwed the
presence Of tin. OF maple sugar samples,
69 were adulterated with glucose.
"One sample of honey, labelled IS per cent.
4 Il
honey, was found on analysis to contain no
! honey at all, but "a per cent. Of glucose.
coored with coal tar dyes
Two hundred samples of candy pur-
chased in New York stores were found to
contain parnftin. Candle grease is par
ticularIy prevalent in caramels, chocolates
and molaSSes candy.
Did you ever hear that story Of the
kind hearted New York woman who invited
company of Italian girls who worked in a
candy factory to Christmas party? She
had an entertainment and Christmas tree
for them, and among other things was a
box of fine chocolate creams for each one.
When they went away every child left her
boN of candy on the chair behind her
Why, aren't you going to take your
chocolatcs} said the surprised hostess.
"Oh, no, said they in a chorus; we make
those
They vanish chocolate creams to give
them that nice, glossy coating, went on
Miss Lakey, and color gumdrors and stick
candy with red and hro aniIne dyes.
"Our buttr gets it's rice yellow color
from coal tar dyes, to say nothing of the
oeomargarine in it, NEety-tivc per cent.
of all sampled of butter submitted were
adulterated We are eating Practically
no pure butter
Most of the jams and iellies Of com
merce are adulterated with glucose and
colored with coal tar dyes. Eighty FER cent.
of the cream of tsrtar examined by the
Government contained alum, starch and
calcium sulphate. Coffee is made of all
sorts of things, eIen from the sweepinGs
of bakeshops A hrEe quantity Of coffee
was held up lately because it contained
large proportion of common clay. / should
saw that coffee would probably be muddy.
Il know manufacturer of mustard
who has yellow ochre sent to his factory
bv .he ton. Mustard is dyed with a
poisonous form of coal tar dyes.
Il know a pepper factory where one man
had nothing to do but wheel dirt, that
being the cheap and convenient form OF
adulterant used there fer ground pepper.
NO Ilull can say Mlu' is II tdtIuB Wieu
he eats pepper.
The variety OF things foun1 in it make
the head swim. They include red sandal
wood wheat, corn, buckwheat, anine
dye, grain hulls, rice, pea and lean shells.
cornmeal, sago. cocoanut sh'lls, o.
stones. linseed meal, sawdust md $
You think to get around them bp bu
pepper whole, and you get tapitoa dycI
with lampblack.
"The same adulterants, with the addition
of gypsum, tumeric, charcoal, bark and
few other things, are found in spices.
There is ground rock in our baking p,wder,
and husbands complain because the BISCUITS
are heavy!
There is formaldehyde in the milk,
and we speak of an inscrutable Providence
which removes the babies One of the
meanest forms of adulteration know ii Of
blackberry brandy, because that is bought
for invalds aged and delicate person.
who hope to get little strength and appetlt'
from it. Out OF 600 samples examined,
400 contained no trace Of blaokberries.
They were made OF crude spirits colored
with coal tar dyes.
Here is little menu made out on the
plan of those published by women's maya
zines to assist housewives in catering for
families DR.. Shepard State Chemist OF
South Dakota, framed it to show how any
family in the United States might reason
ably take forty doses of chemical prescrva-
tives and coal tar dyes in one day:
BHFAhFAST.
SauSagcs containing coal tar dye and horaJ
Bakers bread containing alum.
Butter containing coal tar dye.
Canned cherries containing coal tar dye ana
SallCyllc acid
Pancakes containing alum.
Syrup containing sodium Suphatc
This is fairly typical breakfast and it
gives eight doses Of chemicals and dvo4.
Here is the dinner menu:
Tomato soup with coal tar dye and hcnloIc aclt
C2hhacc and COrncd beef with Saltpctcr.
Corn SCalopS with sulDhurouS acid and
fOrmAldehydc
Canned peas with salicyliC acid
CAlSup with coal tar dye and bcn21ir acid
Vine gar with coal tar dye.
Bread and butter with Hlum and coal tar d."
MinCc pie with boraCc acid
Pickles with copperaS, sodium suphAtc and Sa''rF'
acid.
Lemon ice cream with mothyl alcohol
Here are sixteen doses of chemicals for
dinner. Now for a supper:
Bread and butter with alum and coal tar d'"
Canned beef with .horaN.
Canned peaches with sodium Sulphitc coal "a ''
and Sallrylc acid
Pickles with copperaS. sodium sulphatc and MrwAi-
dehyde.
CatSup with coal tar dye and hen 'o' H.'l