The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-08-15

Westneld, Mass., August Most
foods contain alcohol. and II 4 man
could distend his interior worker 20
that he could eat several barrels OF
-four, he could get fine satisfying jag
in the most arid area in this prohibf-
ton republic. according to Prof. Lewis
b. Allyn, resident Of this place.
or course. Prof. Allyn touches his
expressions in professorish phrase
ologyA-but that il his exact mean
ing. Hear him:
, Wherever there is sugar or starch
and there are few articles Of food in
which one or the other is not pres
ent, alcohol Is almost certainty"
said Professor Allyn.
The slightest fermentation pro-
duces alcohol. There is a trace of it
in bread-not enough to intoxicate
unless one were capable OF eating the
at single meal, but still q distinct
trace" The blue eyes Of the noted
food expert twinked as he added.
AS for total abstinence, there amt
no such animal 1t is practically a
physical impossibility.
Professor Allyn holds no brief for
the brewers, nor does he imbibe in
ordinary fntoxicants He has as live
~ repugnance as any man for the
evils existing from alcoholism, and
has even gone SO far as to expose the
sale of liquors manufactured without
grain and containing poisonous mat
ter.
Prohibition Won't Prohibit.
But, viewing the subject as a scien-
tist and with the knowledge that the
production OF alcohol from fermenta-
ton is so easy, he asserts that any
one craving alcoholic drinks is not
likely to be prohibited by prohibition
from INDUCING his tastes. Hard"
liquors may be rather difficult to
make, but the drinker of beer and
light wines is by no means neces-
sarily placed in the camel class
through prohibition.
Professor Allyn, whose fearless ex-
posture of food adulteration in the
years in which he was a member Of
the State Normal school faculty gave
him national reputation. is now en-
gagged in pure food research work, and
with the advent of wartime prohibit
ton his laboratory has been flooded
with non alcoholic substitutes for all
coholic drinks.
Roughly speaking some one in
vents a new substitute every hour. "
said Professor Allyn. He laughed
outright as he continued. The most
promising substitutes for alcoh Ollie
drinks seem to be those which con-
tain liberal percentage of alcohol
due of course to the unfamiliarity Of
the inventors with the law OF fermen-
tation
The presence of alcohol in so many
foods leaves no reasonable doubt that
1t is food. The point to determine
Is this: At wha, point does II cease
to be a food and become injurious.
This point may be the smallest frac-
ton of one per cent. or 1t may he a
larger figure. 1t is something I would
not sttempt to determine myself
Fresh Vegetables Clear.
Concerning the percentage of alco-
hol in everyday articles of food and
drink, Professor Allyn said there is
none in fresh vegetables There is
none in fruit as canned in the aver
age household and Theoretically
sealed. but once can of fruit is
opened fermentation sets in, and II
allowed to stand twenty-four hours a
small quantity OF alcohol is present
In most instances buttermilk contains
more than the one-half of one per
cent of alcohol permissible under the
law. sas.,t-sz Es
The pubic has little idea Of the
number of products which are being
groomed for popular favor, Professor
Allyn says. Some sof the most remark
able connections are offered for sale
in states in which state prohibition
has been in effect. In some cases the
base is dry, powdery substance
which is la belled non-alcoholic' in
conspicuous letters. In more modest
type it is explained that the prepare
ton can be made to produce drink
in most states.
Some of the so-called near beers
are pretty fair beverages" observed
Professor Allyn. The makers are
keeping well within the one-half of
one per cent limit, and contrary to the
somewhat general impression the per-
centage of alcohol in these beers can
not be nerceptibly increased by open
ing and letting stand. In other words
there is no subsequent fermentation"
Professor Allyn is convinced that the
kick" in liquor is to a degree
psychological
Near cordials ought to be Stunned
unless one is sure that they are the
product OF reputable makers the food
expert declared. In many instances
they have kick due to the presence
Of some form of ether and a brilliant
,color for which coal tar dyes are en-