The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-05-30
A WARNING ISSUED
ON Use OF SALADS
State Board of Health Says
They Are Mighty Bad
Things to Eat.

The housewife who is preparing to
take lunch on picnic trip to the
park or to the woods, and even the
housewife who is preparing to serve
cold meals to avoid work in the kitch-
en- on the holiday, would do well to
think twice before setting before her
guests some of the salads that have
come to be looked on as the central
features of cold luncheons.
The state board of health. without
wishing to pose as kill-joy, has
through H. E. Barnard, state food and
drug commissioner sounded warning
against salads that contain certain in
gradients. when not properly handled.
The warning was made for hot wealth
er generally. when the refrigerator be-
comes the most important piece of
furniture on the premises.
Ptomaine poisoning is the thing Mr..
Barnard seeks to avert. For many
years, when anybody became afflicted
with ptomaine poisoning, the average
person Immediately jumped to the con-
something that came from the tin in
which the food was contained. Ac-
cording to Mr. Barnard the assump-
ton is wrong. When asked for a
definition of ptomaine Mr.. Barnard
turned to A. Wynter Blythe's treatise
on "Poisons: Their Effect and Detec-
ton" and pointed out the following:
What Ptomaine Really Is.
"A ptomaie may be considered as a
basic chemical substance deriver from
the action of bacteria on heterogeneous
substances. If this definition is ac-
copied. ptomaine is not necessarily
found in dead animal tissue; it may be
produced by the living, and. in all
cases, it is the product of bacterial life.
ptomaine is not necessarily poison
GUS; many are known which are, in
moderate doses. quite innocuous."
1.-The danger from ptomaine poison.
ing in the average household" said
Mr. Barnard, "arises when the refrig-
orator is not kept in sanitary condi'
ton, when the housewife believes it to
be in the pink of condition. To be
kept sanitary, the refrigerator in hot
weather especially, should be thor
oughly cleaned often, the oftener the
better. Then it should be thoroughly
ventilated all the time. Many persons
to save ice, keep their refrigerators
closed all the time, excluding fresh
air and light. Bacteria thrive in dark
ness, and the darkness Of the closed
refrigerator is their best feeding
ground. The cold of the refrigerator
doesn't harm the bacteria that cause
ptomaine poisoning, as they can dc
their work in a temperature as low as
freezing, and no refrigerator is kept
at that temperature.
No Ptomaines in Starchy Foods.
ut is in the foods that contain pro
teids that the housewife must be or
her guard against ptomaines. In the
beginning, if she is careful about hel
buying at the grocery store, she neet
not fear purchasing goods in which
ptomaines have been formed. Wher
the grocer offers her a can of foot
that is swelled in any way, it shoult
be rejected. 1t is bad. With properl,
selected stuff from the grocery, tht
housewife need not fear ptomaines. i
she handles the material properly, ant
if she does not try to make. it go toe
far
"Ptomaines are most likely to b
formed in meats, beans. milk. peas
fish, meat salads. in short, in any foot
that contains proteids. There need b.
no fear where sugar foods, such al
fruits, or starchy foods, such as pc
tatoes, are used. Ptomaines will no
form in them, whatever belief has ex
listed in the lay mind to the contrary
Beware of Salmon Salad.
Salmon salad, one of the most com
mon of the salads, should be handled
with extreme care. 1t should be uset
in a very short time after it is pre-
pared, and what is left should be fet
to the cat Never, under any circum
stances, should it be kept over unit
next day and then eaten. 1t is Away
likely to contain ptomaines the secont
day. Fish is food that is extremel.
susceptible to ptomaines, and it shoult