El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-21


market are actually poisonous
they contain arsenic, copper, coal
tar and other drugs that are introduced
| as preservatiYes or dyes, or that may
| present as a result of a method of
preparation. Even raw vegetables may
| BE contaminated by the necessary
! spraying that protects them from in
sect enemies 1t is manifest therefore,
! that extreme care is necessary care
as upon the part of the producer and
| distributor.
Poison on Celery.
| The dangers arising from the use of
| celery which has been sprayed with
| Bordeaux mixture to prevent its de-
| cay have led the department of ag-
! riculture to make a special investi-
| cation recommending them TO wash
| most thoroughly all celery purchased
| in the open market The Bordeaux mix
| ture is composed of a solution of lime
and copper sulphate and it is claimed
that its use is absolutely necessary
! in the celery industry of Florida, as
| without 1t the celery cannot be sent
to market in an unwiIted condition.
The bureau of plant industry of the
/ department has made some experiments
| which indicate that the spraying ap-
| paratus used by many celery growers
! is not operated at a sufficiently high
| pressure to make a fine spray or mist
| which should be confined principally
l to the leaves and nOnedible portion of
, the plant Because of faulty appar-
| atuS, the Bordeaux mixture is ap-
/ piled in a number of fine streams and
| these, instead of settling upon the
| leaves as a mist and destroying the
| insects which cause the celery to wilt
| run down between the stalks of the
| plant. In this way, the poisonous mix
| ture accumulates at the base of the
| plant and is not washed out by the
| rain. Sometimes this gives the celery
| a greenish tint which buyers have at
I tributed to Paris green, but it is due
| stained lime.
| Poison in Most Food.
| The old saying that poison exists
| in everything We eat is doubtless true
/ in a certain sense and always will be.
| The efforts of the department of ag-
riculture for the past few years have
been to reduce the quantity OF poison
! to the minimum.
Arsenic is a substance especially apt
| to be found in all kinds of manufac-
! tUred food products and it has been de-
ciGed by the department that one and
( One-half parts OF arsenic in a million
| shall be sufficient to condemn a food
/ The cases of arsenic poisoning upon
record are OF such grave consequence
I that stringent regulations are essen
tial regarding this matter
Arsenic in GeIatine.
| One Of the foods to which attention
has recently been given is gelatine as,
| owing to the means by which this
! substance is procured from bones and
| other animal matter, the possibilities
! of arsenic poisoning have been great
| During the past two years eight men
| under the direction of the chemical
laboratory of the department of ag-
| riculture have been giving their at
! tentiOn to gelatine and its methods OF
manufacture, including the cOlOring Of
| certain prepared gelatine products
| which are sold under various CONNER
cial names. Several of the articles
! most widely advertised were found to
contain arsenic in poisonous quanti-
! ties. In most cases. little care upon
the part Of the manufacturers, when
they realized that the pure food regu-
| lations were to be enforced, was SUI
ficient to absolutely eliminate the ar
senic, thus making gelatine a desir-
able food product, even when highly
cOlored.
The Increased use of coIoring matter
in prepared foods has given opportunity
for the use of many poisonous sub
| stances. Among the tests made in in
| vestigating highly cOlored candy sold
| to school children was the analysis
of a bright colOred piece sold for a
penny, which contained enough color
ing matter to dye a child's stocking
a bright pink This color was found
to contain arsenic in sufficient quantity
to seriously menace the health Of
| normal child Many of the cOlOrS used
] for tinting foods are derived from an
| iline, a coal tar product which is IN
itself a powerful narcotic poison The
different tints are secured by COM
bining aniline with other chemicals, in
Guiding nitric acid, bichromate Of pot
ash and others
Lead Poisoning Frequent.
| While arsenic pOisOns are the most
frequent in food products, others are
often encountered Lead poisoning has
been known to come from certain
1 kinds of cans in which prepared food
has been stored and the introduction
/ of anthony into food may develop by
/ placing it in cheap enameled ware,
| such as is found in many kitchens. The
| possibility of poisoning from this lat
/ ter source is almost as worthy of con-
/ GidRraflOu is that of rnfCnn-
4 ing which was not infreQuent a gen
! Grafton ago when the copper or brass
| kettle was more frequently used as
! a cooking utensiL While leaden uten-
/ sis are not to be found in many kitch-
/ ems, the action of certain acids upon
| a leaden spoon has been found in ex-
I oning.
| Aside from Arsenic. the coal tar pro-
/ ducts contain the greatest amount of
| danger in food poisoning. The use of
| saccharin as a substitute for sugar has
| been to impair digestion The con-
| tinued use Of uhree-tenthS of a grain
OF saccharin in day may produce
! serious results not easily overcome and
| in large quantities it may produce dan
! gerOuS conditions.
Copper Salts on Vegetables.
| The danger Of eating vegetables
which have been greened with copper
1 salts is still being looked into by the
| government chemists An inYeSti gatiOn
/ has recently been completed consist
| young men volunteering for that pur-
! pose after the method made famous by
Dr. Wiley's famous poison squad sew
\ eral years ago. The detailed report
| upon THE influence of vegetables
| greened with copper salts upon the
/ health of man" is a voluminOus doc
! ument just from press which is in
! itself entirely too technical for the
/ lay mind The conclusion is that veg
/ etables greened with copper salts when
| canned are quite as apt to be injurious
/ to health as when taken raw, since
4 the deposit of copper in the human
/ body is known to be deleterious wheth-
/ eF taken in large quantities or small.
] Most of the canned goods so cOlored
1 are imported and include principally
| peas, asparagus tips and string beans.
] Pending some legal enactment there
will be no immediate attempt to him
der the Importation of these goods or
| to injure the importer by confiscating
those already in this country. The
] American Gamer has already prOfited
by the attention which has been di-
rected to this matter and is putting
/ little if any food upon the market
which has been colored by copper