The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-21
hpulTERATioN OF FOOD.

Without doubt there are some things
new under the sun, King Solomon to
the contrary Notwithstanding. The
pure food law, however, is not one of
them. the Literary Digest has an ar
ticle on bread and its authorizations. in
which 1t is stated that France had a
pure food law as far back as 1853,
which prescribed the constituents of
bread and the processes of making it.
over three hundred and fifty years
prior to this, in 1907. a decree in France
ordered that adulterated bread should
be broken up and given to the poor.
The subject still commands attention
in France, and the chief pharmacist of
the French army has written highly
interesting and instructive article on
the subject, which has been translated
for the Digest. This expert writes as
follows;
Bread is adulterated by the addition Of
other kinds of flour than wheat, by the
use OF old -four, and especially by eXces-
sive hydra ton.
The addition of flour made of foreign
substances communicates to the bread the
properties belonging to these fiours-exag-
gerated Wilderness for rice and starch, q
darker tint for rye and buckwheat. a char
acteristic Odor and taste for Indian corn
and beans.
The presence of old hours gives to the
bread an unsatisfactory look. The bread
Is heavier. the form depressed, the crust
bTowner and the crumb soggy- When
eaten it leaves in the mouth an after
taste of acidity, which persists and later
provokes thirst.
The odor is quite different from the
agreeable and aromatic OdOr of bread
made with -four only a month old. A fTag-
ment of Crumb placed between the lips
gives. when the breath is drawn ia. the
sensation of acidity peculiar TO old hours.
Some authorities have recommended
that. to improve the defective appearance
of bread made with bad flour, the -four
should be kneaded with certain salts. such
as alum or the sulphates of zine and cop
per. This is to be condemned even when
very small quantities are used. 1t
may be detected by burning a few ounces
Of the bread. when. besides the common
salt that it contains. we should find nor
mally in the ashes. only the natural min
eral constituents of the wheat
It is probable that the adulteration of
-four is practiced all over the world.
In this country clay is added to make
it heavier and acid used for bleaching
purposes, and the men guilty of the de-
ception have nerve enough to deny that
their products are unhealthy and
harmful. In a country containing such
vast area of land and such a variety
Of climatic conditions as the United
States. it is perfectly natural that
many different grades of wheat should
be raised-good, bad and Indifferent. II
is equally true that there are just as
many grades Of -four and bread. The
! poorer grades of wheat are much
cheaper than No. l hard, and there is
no earthly reason why any deception
/ should be practiced and acid used. ex-
cept to put money into the pockets OF
/ the dishonest miilers.
The pure food law passed by con-
| sress has caused the consumers of the
/ United States to do a whole lot OF
thinking. and the result is that there !.
a universal demand for state law.
along the same lines. under which ar
ticles which DO not enter into inter
state commerce can be inspected and
the manufacturers and dealers be com
| PEELED to take the health of the people
| into consideration. There isn't any ar
gument against the proposition. Homes
men have nothing to fear. and tbs
wishes Of the dishonest ones should
/ not be respected.