The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1910-05-20
HIGH PRICES ARE A FRAUD
Adulteration and Substitution Has Greatly
Reduced the Cost of food
Articles

appointment of congressional investi-
CATION committee and numerous private
and semi-pubic investigations to deter
mine the cause and work out cure, is
now declared to be producing more
frauds of an insiduous nature than have
been heard of in many years. The in
dications are, it is declared, that a
large number of chemists are constantly
at work trying to produce articles of
food that can be substituted for neces-
sites, or working out adulterations to
cheaper the cost of these articles.
The Kansas board Of health, which
has charge of the enforcement of the
pure food laws of the state, is con-
stantly finding adulterated or substituted
articles OF food. Dr.. S. ]. Crumbine,
secretary of the board, is receiving
dozens of copies of letters sent to gro
GERS by alleged chemists, telling how
to make foods cheaper than the use of
the real article permits.
A firm in the east has perfected an
emulsion which, when put into butter,
will cause the butter to absorb its ex-
act weight in water, and the taste of
the butter is not changed. This emul-
sion, when used, will double the
amount Of butter produced. A pound
of butter, a pound of water and tea
spoonful OF this emulsion will make two
pounds Of butter, which experts are
said to be unable to detect from butter
of the highest quality.
DR.. Crumbine bought bottle of the
emulsion and tried the experiment. He
took some of this watered butter to
creamery men, produce dealers and
dairymen and asked them to try it. He
used frst-class butter in the expert
ment, using three pounds of real butter
and getting six pounds Of butter. The
expert butter men were unable to de-
tect the water and pronounced the but
ter of high grade. This emulsion is
being offered to hotel men. Ten min
utes work with it at cost of Q cents
will make ten pounds Of butter from
five pounds Of butter and five pounds
OF water.
A man in Tennessee, it is said, has
worked out a plan by which he can
produce vinegar at an actual cost OF 4
cents per gallon. A trial OF the plan
by a Kansas grocer showed that it
could be done, and that the vinegar
could not be detected from real apple
cider vinegar, except by chemical
test. This same man, it is alleged,
has developed a scheme for making
apple butter without using single
apple, and at a cost Of one-fourth the
real product.
A man in western New York has
worked out a scheme for the treating Of
ordinary sawdust with molasses in diff
ferent ways so that the product can be
used in adulterating ground spices.
The plan is said to permit of the use of
three parts OF the treated sawdust and
one part OF the real spice, and the re-
suit is an article which only careful
chemical test will detect.
Fraudulent favoring extracts and
maple syrup have long been common
on the markets, many of these not
having single drop Of lemon or vanilla
oils or any maple syrup. A Vermont
man has worked out plan to make
maple syrup at IS cents a gallon that
cannot be told from the real syrup ex-
cept by chemical analysis. An Indiana
man offers recipe for making artificial
honey from ordinary cane syrup that
cannot be detected, and which, if sold
at the ordinary price Of real honey, will
treble the profits of the maker.
There are numerous other schemes
to increase the weight Of parched
coffee, adulterating spices and ground
coffee, making mincemeat and tomato
catsup at reduced cost, schemes for
preserving eggs, strawberries and other
fruits and making cheap baking pow
ders. For the last two or three months
there has hardly been a day in which
the state board of health has not re-
ceived letters or circulars from grocers