Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-13
MICROSCOPE FOR THE COOK
One Sure Way Of Exposing Certain
Adulteration.
REAL TESTS FOR FOoDsTUFFs
Powdered Rock In celery seed, chic
ory IN Coffee and olive Pits in
spices Disclosed by Lenses
of High Power.


WASHINGTON. March ia powerful
microscope Is recommended by the food
sharps Of the Department Of Agriculture
a very useful and desirable attached |
.-rsil.
a microscope Is useful in the examina-
on Of food and drug products" said 3. j.
Tow ard Of the bureau Of chemistry. "of
course It can be readily understood how /
gross adulterauoh may be detected by
simple magnifier, as for instance when for |
eign seeds, gravel or powdered rock have |
been mixed with whole small spices. The |
adulterant may be Of such character as
easily to escape the notice Of the ordinary
buyer, though with even a small lens or
reading glass the foreign substance may
be seen to be very different from the true
spice
"One case recently brought TO the at
tention of the bureau was sample OF
celery seed adulterated with nearly 20 per
cent Of powdered rock, the color and size
Of the rock particles being such to be
easily overlooked in q casual examination.
A small magnifier, however, made the diff
ference very apparent at once, as you will
SEQ from the samples which, with other
similar ones, have mounted as a speoi-
men, A magnifieation Of only six diane
ters shows the. contrast OF the regular
shaped celery seeds with the angular rock
particles.
The usefulness Of the simple magnlfier
IN examining food and drug materials,
however. Is Of limited application, and for
the examination Of products which are
made up Of small particles, such as flour,
ground spices and powdered drugs, has
little or no value. In such cases recourse
must be had TO the compound microscope
n
10 zoo diamstora.
The use Of this instrument in detecting
Adulteration In various common food
products requires some amount Of expert
knowledge but this Is readily gained with
a little experience. The characteristics of
the different starch products, for instance,
under the microscope are easily learned.
ITO the naked eye all these starches ap-
pear a. q fine white powder. but under the
microscope grains or granules are seen
which vary more or less IN shape, size,
rings. eto In the case Of pots:J starch,
for example the grains are largo with
smooth outlines, while rice starch has
small grains with angular outlines. Here
Is a specimen Of potato starch adulterated
with considerable amount OF cornstRrch.
The grains OF the latter are easily dis
tlnguished by their angular form.
I'm the case Of spices, most of the sub
stances used for adulteraton have a struo-
ture very different from the genuine
articles. For example, although pepper
adulterated with ground peas or beans may
not always be detected even by means Of
the chemical test of the expert. especially
when olive pits or pepper shells have been
added to counteract the excess of starch
present In peas. the microscope will reveal
such adultsration at once by showing the
presence OF the large starch grains char
actertstio OF certain legumes.
Elm pepper the starch is present In angu-
lar masses made up OF small grains. Here
81 9 specimen Of this sort of adulteration
In which the angular masses Of pepper ara
readily distinguished from the nearly
allipsoidal bean starch grains.
ut sometimes occurs that . manufac-
turer has added so large an amount Of
oon meal or foreign ground shells and
fruit stones to a pepper as to mako the
adulteration apparent to the taste by the
lack Of pungency, which IL often corrected
by adding a small amount Of cayenne pep
per. The microscope easily detects trick
Of this kind because the tissues of the
added substances are distinctly different
from normal pepper tissue. Here Is a
semple Of pepper which is grossly adul-
terated with ground olive stones, in which
the differences in size and form or the
Sometimes cayenne pepper is adul-
terated with colored corn flour and ground
wood. IIers is a sample Of suoh an adui-
t.rant composed principally of powdered
sawdust, the fibrous character of the wood
dlfferentlating It clearly from the pepper.
The microscope is thoroughly effic-
lent detector OF adulteration in the cases
OF coffee and chocolate preparations.
In the former, roasted chicory, cereals,
and peas and in the latter starchy mate
rails and cocoa shells are sometimes used
Cor adulteration.
Coffee, being the seed of a plant has
a structure which is very different from
chicory which is a root The cell walls
OF coffee have characteristic beaded
appearance which is present in but few
other seeds. Even after roasting and
grinding these beads can be easily dis
tinguished. while chicory contains saI
vessels by which II can be detected.
Chocolate and cocoa are made from
the seeds OF the cocoa plant. TO which for
eign starches are sometimes added. From
tho best grades OF these products tn,
shells are removed, but in the poorer
grades the shells are left and even add
tonal ones are added. Cocoa beans con
tain naturail q considerable amount
OF starch, but the grains are small in siz'
and are easily distinguished from tn,
starchy adulterants such as corn, ant
wheat flours, or potato. corn, and arrow
root starches. 1 have examined an arti
fetal chocolate coating which was com
posed OF cocoa shells, cornstarch. bee
tallow and some mineral matter, prob
ably used as a eooring substance
Artificial jellies, jams and some kind