The San Francisco call., 1910-08-02
Use of Deadly Napthol Yellow in
Coloring Dough Is Forbid
den by the City
Authorities
chill LDREN'S DISEASES
TRACED TO SWEETMEAT
Chemical Tests Disclose the
Presence of Aniline Dyes
in Ice Cream
Cones
LEGAL STEPS MAY BE
TAKEN AS PUNISHMENT

~ [@ II AAOL vCiloWs q ucddty
/ VI aniiine dye. whieh is q by-prod-
uct Of coal tar ana is poison
GUS chemical. has been found, after a
four days test m the chemical labora-
tory Of the city health department, IN
The innocent appearing ice cream cor
nucopias sold by the tens of thousands
through the candy stores and hawkers
of the city. 4 crusade, directed bv-
Health Officer DR.. w. 4. McNutt
jr.. among the Creck and japanese
cone factories has developed the fact
that the dangerous compound is daily
employed IN coloring The dough used
IN making the cornucopias. As re-
suit the department inspectors uester-
dap notified the places to discontinue
the cotorng process. and it is highly
probable that steps nil be tdken 10
prosecute those Dho have been guiItv
Of the gldring disregard of the Nc
CARNEY pure food lam of the STATE.
Many cases of infantiIe sickness.
which have attracted the attention of
the physicians of the city. have been
traced directly TO the confection.
Naphthol yellow poisoning has been
discovered in number of instances
and the chemically colored cone is
declared to be the cause of the trouble.
Last week cones were purchased by
the inspectors in five different fac
tories, and the laboratory tests were
made under the personal supervision
Of City Chemist DIR. A c. Bottle. As
sistant Chemists Frank West and
George Ahlers have completed the
actual demonstrations and their re-
ports, now on file with Doctor Nc
Mutt, contain the results of series
of experiments showing that the dye
extracted from the colored cones
colors wool and other materials used
by the health department.
Coloring Under Ban
These reports will be forwarded to
the state health officers, while chemi-
cal coloring processes in the city will
be put under the ban by the city au-
thorities. The factories of Hague &
Krone at 37S Guerrero street and F. H.
Yiba, Japanese, at 1870 Post street,
are two places where the yellow coal
tar dye has been used, and tests are
now in progress on materials taken
from the factories of H. Oellrich at
so Shotweu street, the California spe-
cialty company at 334 Polk street and
T. Toninye. Japanese establishment,
at 1853 Geary street. In the last three
instances the tests so far have failed
to disclose any chemical coloring. and
it is possible that their products are
within the law. Vegetable coloring,
which they appear to have used, is
the municipal ordinance
The principal victims of the ice cream
cornucopias have been the children of
the city numbers of whom have been
stricken with more or less serious at
tacks of poisoning. The symptoms. as
traced by the medical men. consist of
an asthmatic breathing and a steadily
increasing temperature. Owing 10 the
fact that naphthol yellow is an irritant.
the delicate tissues of a chiid's stomach
are easily attacked and some have ex-
pressed the opinion that infantfle
paralysis can be directly traced to the
red. yellow and pink cones. The poison.
if enough gets into the system. may
cause death in a short time. While
the chemical as used by the men now
under observation is greatly diluted.
1t is strong enough to dye wooIens and
other materials after a most rigid
process of boiling and draining
No Harm Intended
1t is admitted that this latest food
stuff fraud is mainly commercial and
not intarded to harm, the rr1r~ha zors -