A^ ^ '^'■" SNNUSL SDDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, Mr. EDGAR RICHARDS, DKIvIVKRED BEJ'ORE the; CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, January 23, 1890. SOME FOOD SUBSTITUTES ATS^D ADULTEMNTS. Reprinted from Bulletin No. 5, Chemical Society of Washington. 1890. 4GRESS -<. ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, Mr. EDGAR RICHARDS. Delivered January 23, 1890. SOME FOOD SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : Li his address before this Society last year our late President, Dr. J. H. Kidder, presented the subject of AIR as one of the " two necessities of life which," he said, "are absolute" and "which we cannot live without," namely : " food (including water) and air." It is more especially to a certain class of foods, whose increasing consumption and sale has of late years attracted public notice, that I wish to call your attention this evening, namely that of cheap and wholesome food substitutes ; which are also frequently used as food adulterants. Our bodies are like a farnace and require fueland air to sustain the heat of combustion, by the constant renewal of fresh material and the elimination of the waste products. The form, whether solid or licjuid, of animal or vegetable origin, in which we suj^ply this fuel depends largely on local circumstances, climate, education, etc., and as long as the food employed goes to furnish the proper amount of fuel material for the maintenance of the body temperature, life is sustained. The extent of the consumption of any new food will evi- dently depend on how it fulfills this requirement as a fuel, and by its pleasing a.ppearance, its palatability, its capacity to appease hunger, its wholesomeness, and its relative cheap- ness attracts public attention. If the new food is a manu- factured product its cheapness will depend upon the possi- BULLETIN OF THE bility of its production on a large scale from relatively cheap materials. From want of reliable information in regard to the ma- CD terials employed in most new food i»roducts there is a general feeling of uncertainty and insecurity on the subject. People as a rule imagine tliat any substance used as an adulterant of, or a substitute for, a food product is to be avoided as it- self being injurious to health, and when they hear that a certain food is adulterated, or is -a food substitute, there is im- mediately a prejudice excited against the article which it takes time and familiarity to allay. A moment's reflection ouglit to show that it ^vould l^e directly contrary to the food manufacturer's interest to add to, or substitute anything for, a food product which would cause injurious symptoms, as in that case his means of gain would be cut off by the refusal of consumers to buy liis product. It is true that the un- scrupulous manufacturer or dealer does not hesitate to cheat his customer in the interest of his own pecuniary profit and gain, but he does not want io poison him. Where through carelessness or ignorance injurious substances, such as the arsenic, copper, aniline, and otlier metallic and organic poisonous salts sometimes used for artificial colours, are added to foods their presence is promptly revealed by the dangerous symptoms which they call forth in the consumer. About a year ago the case of the Philadelphia bakers, who added chromate of lead to colour some of their cakes and thus caused the death of several persons and serious illness in nearly everyone who ate any of these products, will be recalled by many present. The great majority of substances used for food adulterants or substitutes consist of cheap and harmless substances wliich aye not injurious to hea'lth, as the following list of those most commonly met with in the principal food products will show. This list has been compiled from the Reports of the State Boards of Health, the returns of the British Inland Revenue Department, the Reports of the British Local Gov- ernment Board, and tliose of the Paris Municipal Laboratorv. CHEMICAL SOCIETY. Table I. Food Products and their Chief Adulterants. FOOD PRODUCT. ADULTERANTS. Milk- Water, i-emoval of cream, addition of oleo oil or lard to skimmed milk. Butter. .. _- Water, salt, foreign fats, artificial colouring mat- ter. Cheese . Lard, oleo oil, cottonseed oil. Olive Oil* Cottonseed and other vegetable oils.- Beer Artificial glucose, malt and hop substitutes, sod- ium bi-carbonate, salt, antiseptics. Svrup _ _ Artificial glucose. Honey Artificial glucose, cane-sugar. Confectionery Artificial glucose, starch, artificial essences, pois- onous pigments, terra alba, gypsum. Wines, Liquors Water, spirits, artificial colouring matter, fictitious imitations, aromatic ethers, burnt sugar, anti- septics. Vinegar Water, other mineral or organic acid. Flour, Bread Other meals, alum. Baker's Chemicals* Starch, alum. Spices* Flour, starches of various kinds, turmeric. Cocoa and Chocolate Sugar, starch, flour. Coffee* Chicory, peas, beans, rye, corn, wheat, colouring matter. Tea - - Fxhausted tea leaves, foreign leaves, tannin, in- digo, Prussian blue, turmeric, gypsum, soap- stone, sand. Canned Goods*.. Metallic poisons. *" Pickels Salts of copper. * For list of adulterated brands see Report of tlie Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1889, p. 181-1. BULLETIN OF THE WATER. Ovdimvy potahk , vale,- h not generally considered either externally or nrternally "i„juriou.s to health," yet it i. prob abb- the most common adulterant used. We find i , ee nr the Canadian " Adulteration Act " tln,t: " If t « ' ' ax ulterated m a manner injurious to healtii " (Section 15 a ;:.::, ,::f f ""' '' "'-■^"^•■^^'-^ recogni.ed as not onli crime Tb ■ t ?.' f^f '"'■^''«™««""-. if »ot actually i cnnu. Ibis IS the food on wbieb the wliole population ndc. one year old is fed ; and where the n.other canno" I pp y the proi,er nourislnnent for the child she must depend 01 ts lirmgnig up on cow's or other milk. It is .self evident that a pnit of watered milk does not contain the same amount o initrition as the same volume of wliole 11'^ that a child or invalid might be actually starved to death ^f compelled to rely on the former for its" sole sustenance leii Healtli Departments to supervise and as far as possi- ble siipj,re.ss tlieir sale. ' The .skill of the milk adulterator has kept pace with the n aich of improvement and to-day we find centrifugal ma- chines costing over $200, placed on the market lesig^^d 1 u -'il T« T*""' ''■"'" *'™™^'' ""'k -'d oleo oiland of animal fat added, wlueli, it is stated, can be used for all purposes in which the genuine article is employed. A d vo '44 l^-'"V'i""'i"" "■" ''^ f°""" '- Engineering, ^ol. 44, ISh,, p. 4,8, and m the catalogues of the dealers. OLEOMARGARINE. Within the past few years two artificial food productsina,lo Ivom what had hitiiertofore been considered wa.ste pro t of the arge slaughter houses have come promin it ! fo e 'efiaed or compound lard" are now found on sale in CHEMICAL SOCIETY. O most cities of this country and Europe. Against the former there has been a large amount of legislation directed with a view of controlling its production and sale, and with the unexpected result of increasing both. Whatever may have been the production of oleomargarine in this country before the National law went into effect we have no reliable statistics, but since the 1st of November, 1886, we have the monthly statements of the manufacturers, duly attested under oath, of the quantity of oleomargarine made and removed from the factories, tax paid for domestic consumption or in bond for export, each day of the month. These statements also give the quantity and kind of mater- ials employed in the manufacture, and the names and ad- dresses of the parties to w^hom the oleomargarine is sold or consigned. The following table shows the monthly quantity of oleo- margarine produced in this country since Nov. 1, 1886, to Nov. 1, 1889 : Table II. Showing the quantity of OleomcWgarine produced, witlidrown tax paid, for export, and Lost or destroyed in mamofactorles, monthly, from November 1, 1886, to November I, 1889. Month. On hand Nov. 1, 1 November December 1887. January February March* April May -_- June Julyt August September October November December Quantity produced. Pounds. 181,090 3,188,261 3,073,263 2,804,096 2,779,855 3,568,254 2,839.358 1,885,027 1,375,423 1,208,638 2,425,226 2,703,256 3,082,935 3,003,715 3,256,028 Withdrawn Lost or tax paid. destroyed. Pounds. Pounds. 2,986,241 10,878 2,956,827 296 2,720,235 3,056 2,716,759 9,182 3,512,138 12,472 2,780,307 6,866 1,769,954 2,210 1.301,108 6,267 1,170,136 1,191 2,296,238 601 2,568,007 ■ 262 2,915,036 1,979 2,862,321 3,120,393 With- drawn for export. Pounds. 6,747 07,189 144,535 60,500 96,499 149,838 136,523 62,701 33,240 110,990 68.917 92,201 148,899 78,500 * Highest for the year. t Lowest for the year. BULLETIN OF THE Table II — Coiitiinied. Month. January February March*- April May June Julyf August September October . November December* ._ 1889. January ; February March April May-.-. Junef .__ July August September October On hand Oct. 31- Total for 3 years. Total first year.. Total second j'ear Total third year. Quantity produced. Puunds. 3,058,955 3,057,149 3,940,727 3,273,453 3,185,127 2,130,318 2,084,317 2,301,769 2,776,465 3,462,123 3,734,878 4,181,317 3,607,753 3,523,381 3,047,875 3,057,841 2,310,945 1,575,362 1,770,146 1,975,773 2,274,456 4,072.333 429,219 101,786,888 31,114,682 85,530,146 35,132,060 Withdrawn tax paid. Pounds. 2,918,868 3,003,515 3.824,672 3,062,396 2,817,292 1,930,311 1,925,762 2,209,782 2,611,693 3,368,418 3,509,408 4,025,336 3,353,350 3,266,245 3,077,831 2,886,481 2,114,678 1,514,658 1,442,094 1,914,016 2,130,648 3,668,057 96,251,191 29,692,966 33,655,423 32,902,802 Lost or destroyed. 2,998 1,537 995 185 727 10 1,000 70 4,973 ' 688' 68,443 55,260 6,442 0,741 With- drawn for export. Pounds. 117,781 126,168 155,761 251,994 327,726 174,021 155,200 153,285 167,787 80,785 175,965 109,385 137,123 228,191 70,424 285,948 126,223 58,579 95,580 49,222 167,826 190,385 4,662,638 1,029,880 1,937,907 1,694,851 Highest for the year. f Lowest for the year. During this period the number of factories has decreased from 37 to 21, notwithstanding which fact the production and sale has increased steadily. It is produced by expensiye machinery in the large factories in such quantities that it can be sold nearly the whole 3"ear round at a less price than butter, although the high rate of tax paid by both the manufacturers and dealers, which is, of course, ultimately paid by the consumer, necessarily increases the market price. CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 7 In the spring and early summer months the price of dairy- butter is generally cheaper than oleomargarine and conse- quently less of the latter is made and sold during that time. In July the production of oleomargarine reaches its lowest limits for the year, and obtains its highest in March. The system followed by the Internal Revenue Bureau is such that each manufacturer's package can be traced from the time it leaves the factory till it reaches the hands of the retailer or consumer, or leaves the country. The high rate of tax demanded from the manufacturers and dealers was undoubtedly intended to be nearly or quite prohibitory ; when compared to those paid by other special tax payers, rectifiers, brewers, etc., as shown in the following table, the amounts are from 3 to 10 times as high : Table III. Rate of special taxes, per annum. OLEOMAR- GARINE. LIQUORS. TOBACCO Distilled. Malt. TURED. Manufacturer , Wholesale dealer Eetail dealer $600 00 480 00 48 00 $200 00* 100 00 25 00 ^100 OOf 50 00 20 00 $6 00 30 00+ 2 40 * Rectifier of 500 barrels, or more, per annum. t Annual manufacture 500 barrels or more. X Peddler of tobacco, first class. It is undoubtedly a fact that if the retailer's tax was as low as that for tobacco the manufacturers of oleomarg^arine would pay the same to have at least one dealer to handle their goods in every village and town in this country. As it is, in the Chicago district, where there are seven factories, there were 974 retail dealers doing business in April, 1889, compared with 726 the April previous ; in the Boston dis- trict, with its one factory, there were 460 retailers in April last year, and 405 at the corresponding time in 1888 ; in the Connecticut district, with four factories, there were 424 in 1889 and 384 the year previous, and in Michigan, wdth no 8 BULLETIN OF THE factory, there were 200 and 2G7 respectively for the same periods. These four collection districts contain over one-half of tlie total number of retail dealers doing business at the close of the last special tax year (April 30, 1889). This would seem to indicate that where the pul3lic lias been brought in unprejudiced contact with oleomargarine, as sold on its own merits, they have found it palatable and suitable to their wants. I have been in retail stores in the lumber and mining regions of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Boston, Chicago, and elsewhere, where as much as one-half to one ton of oleomargarine is sold per week, in quantities of less than 10 lbs. to any one purchaser at one time, put up in j)ackages duly branded with the word " Oleomargarine,'^ as required by the law and regulations. It may interest you to know that there was consigned to retail dealers and pre- sumably sold in Washington, between January 1, 1889, and December 1, 1889, 130,581: lbs. of oleomargarine, as shown in the following table : Table IV. Showing mo7itJdy shipments of Oleomargarine from five manu- facturers direct to retail dealers in Washington, D. C, from January 1, 1889, to December 1, 1889. Month. Lbs. Oleomargarine. January 10,270 February 28,223 March 6,227 April 8,108 May 12,372 June 6,808 July 6,826 August 8,466 September 18,872 October 12,844 November 16,568 Total 130,584 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 9 The ingredients which enter into tlie manufacture of oleo- margarine are : 1, " Neutral " or leaf lard, used in the pro- portion of from 25 to 60 per cent., made from the leaf fat of freshly-slaughtered hogs ; 2, " Oleo oil," used in the propor- tion of from 20 to 50 per cent., made from the caul and suet fats of freshly-slaughtered beeves ; 3, some liquid vegetable oil, as cottonseed, sesame, peanut, used in the proportion of from 5 to 25 per cent., made by crushing the seeds and ex- tracting the oil by pressure or solvents ; 4, milk or cream, used in the proportion of from 10 to 20 per cent. ; 5, butter, used in the proportion of from 2 to 10 per cent., generally bought from the best creameries for its fine flavour ; 6, salt, and 7, annatto or other colouring matter. Some factories employ no vegetable oils in their oleomargarine, preferring to use a larger proportion of " neutral " lard with a small amount of butter to obtain the desired butter consistency. In the higher grade of " creamery butterine" the proportions of oleo oil are reduced, the vegetable oils are discarded, and butter is used to make up the charge for the churn. The method of manufacture closely resembles that used in ordinary butter making, except that the churn is steam jacketted and the animal fats used are previously melted before being placed in it. From a personal inspection of some of the largest factories I am convinced that the greatest cleanliness is observed throughout all the operations ; that nothing but the freshest animal fats are used ; that machinery is employed as much as possible and large quantities worked at a time to reduce the expense. The factories are as well arranged as the best creameries, and it is to the manufac- turer's interest to produce a palatable and wholesome pro- duct, which is, however, not intended to compete with " gilt- edge " butter. OLEO OIL. Owing to the construction of the Attorney General of section 2 of the oleomargarine law the Internal Revenue officers exercise no control over the production and sale of 2 10 BULLETIN OF THE oleo oil, although the Commissioner has recommended that Congress amend the hiAV in that regard. From inquiries that were made, over a year ago, by the collectors of Internal Revenue there was found to have been produced during the year ended June 30, 1888, 69,623,795 lbs. of oleo oil in nine States. There was used in the manufacture of oleomargarine, as stated in the manufacturers' returns, 12,265,800 lbs. during that period, and 30,146,595 lbs. were ex^iorted, leaving 27,211,400 lbs. used otherwise. As oleo oil is sold at a much higher rate than tallow it is presumable that this large quantity is used in some other food products, as emulsified cream and cheeses. There is a special provision in the law in regard to the use of any unwholesome material or product in the manufacture of oleomargarine, but no sample has ever been submitted to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under it. From the testimony and investigations of the most prominent chemists, both here and in Europe, there is a consensus of opinion tliat oleomargarine Avhen made from fresh fats and in a cleanly manner is a perfectly Avholesome article of food. COMPOUND LARD. In the manufacture of oleo oil there is left behind on the filter presses a hard white or slightly yellow fat, the Ijeef or oleo stearine. This for many years was sold to the candle and soap makers, but is now used in the extensive manufac- ture of "refined" or "compound lard," by being melted and mixed with some cottonseed oil and a little leaf lard until tlie mixture has attained the desired consistency.* From the testimony given before the Congressional Lard Committee, " Prime steam lard " is about as disgusting a mixture as can be imagined. The entrails and other viscera, head, feet, in fact every part of the animal which contains the faintest traces of fat, are dumped into the rendering tanks and live steam turned on until all the fat is thoroughly * My thanks are due to Messrs. Fairbank & Co., of Chicago, for a set of samples illustrating the manufacture of compound lard. CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 11 melted out. The liquid is then allowed to cool, the water containing a highly savoured mass of impurities is run off, and the remaining fat is tierced or canned. If it smells too " loud " it is washed with hot water, allowed to cool, and then repacked. The oleo stearine and cottonseed oil mixture is prepared from clean and wholesome materials and does not suggest any such filthy practices as "prime steam lard." The manu- facturers are generally abandoning the designation of " re- fined " and are now calling such mixtures "compound lards." COTTONSEED OIL. , The enormous and constantly increasing production of cottonseed oil in this country is noteworthy as showing to what an extent it has come to be employed as an article of food both here and abroad. The principal domestic con- sumption of the oil is in the manufacture of " compound lard." It is also used as a substitute for, and an adulterant of, olive oil for cooking and table use, and in medicinal preparations. It is employed instead of the more expensive animal and vegetable oils in the mining regions for the miners' lamps. There are 125 mills in operation, with a capital, invested in the South, estimated at $25,000,000 ; twelve thousand hands, receiving $24,000, are employed per day. The amount of seed crushed last season was 875,000 tons ; yielding on an average 37|- gallons of crude oil per ton.* SOME QUEER PREJUDICES. A large proportion of the articles suitable for food and produced in all countries is wasted annually because of people's prejudice against them. The old saws : " what is one man's meat is another man's poison", and " there is no accounting for taste," are trite but w^arranted by the facts. We do not object to eating a live oyster but prefer all our other meats dead and nndevgoing putrefaction to a slight ex- * This information was kindly furnished me by Mr. A. D. Fulton, Editor of the " Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter," in a letter dated Dec. 28, 1889. 12 BULLETIN OF THE tent in order to rid of the " touglmess," as it is generally called, })roduced by the rigor mortis. Some people like to let the putrefaction proceed further until the meat is "gamey." The Texan cowboy eats goat's meat in preference to that of the cattle and sheep he is herding. Young puppies, rats, and bird's nests are considered delicacies by the Chinese. Frog's legs and snails are among the highest i:)riced dishes served at Delmonico's. Except the bones and hide every part of an animal slaughtered for food is eaten by most civi- lized nations ; the brain ; tongue ; blood in the shape of black }iudding and sausages; the liver; heart; lungs; stomach as tripe ; the pancreas, thyroid and sublingual glands are called sweetbreads and considered a great deli- cacy ; the feet in the way of jellies and pickled ; the intes- tines as sausage covering, etc., etc. In the markets of Paris there is a steady demand for horseflesh as food. The Arabs and other nomadic tribes prefer mare's or camel's to cow's milk. ]\Iany j)eople would as soon eat a snake as an eel, yet the latter commands a higher price than most fish in many parts of the world. Lobsters, who are the scavengers of the sea, are eaten by people who would not touch pork. The Esquimaux, who eats blubber and other solid fats, and the native of the tropics, who " butters " his bread with a liquid vegetable oil, have the same object in view, viz : to supply a concentrated form of fuel. The squirrel is con- sidered a great delicacy in many parts of this country l)ut is not eaten in England. The vain efforts of Prof. Riley some years ago to induce the starving people of Kansas to eat the food they had at their doors ; grasshoppers, sorghum and millet seeds, and scjuirrels, himself setting them the example, will be recalled by many present. COOKING. From experiments made by Jensen, in the laboratory of the University of Tubingen, it appears that raw meat is much sooner digested than cooked meat. Cooking, as far as animal food is concerned, has the effect of making it more CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 13 pleasing to the taste, but is unnecessary ; whereas, with cer- tain vegetables, especially those composed principally of starch, as grain and potatoes, it is required to fit them for use. The proper preparation of food is one that has not re- ceived the attention it demands. A badly cooked meal is more apt to disorganize the system than to prove nutrituous and beneficial. The general teaching of cookery in our schools, both public and private, to girls would undoubtedly result in much improvement in this regard. GLUCOSE. In April, 1882, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue address a letter to the President of the National Academy of Sciences, requesting " the appointment of a committee of the Academy to examine as to the composition, nature, and properties of the article commonly known as ' glucose ' or ' grape-sugar.' ' In the Report on this subject, made in Janu- ary, 1884, the committee, consisting of Professors Barker, Brewer, Gibbs, Chandler, and Remsen, from the results they had obtained, summed up briefly as follows : " 1st. Starch-sugar as found in commerce is a mixture, in varying proportions, of two sugars, called dextrose and mal- tose, and of dextrine, or starch-gum. Dextrose was discovered in grapes by Lowitz, in 1792, and was first prepared from starch by Kirchhoff, in 1811. In 1819, Braconnot prej)ared it from woody fibre. Maltose was first recognized as a dis- tinct sugar by Dubrunfaut, in 1847, in the product of the action of malt on starch. No dextrose is thus produced, according to O'Sullivan." " 2nd. The process of making starch-sugar consists, first, in separating the starch from the corn by soaking, grinding, straining, and settling ; and second, in converting the starch into sugar by the action of dilute suljDhuric acid, this acid being subsequently removed by the action of chalk. To make the solid, ' grape-sugar,' the conversion is carried further than to make the liquid, ' glucose.' After clarifying, the liquid is concentrated in vacuum-pans and is decolorized with bone-black." '' 3rd. The starch-sugar industry in the United States 14 BULLETIN OF THE gives employment to twenty-nine factories, having an esti- mated capital of five millions of dollars, consuming about forty thousand bushels of corn per day, and producing grape- sugar and glucose of the annual value of nearly ten millions of dollars. In Germany, in 1881-'S2, there were thirty-nine factories of this sort, consuming over seventy thousand tons of starch, and producing about forty thousand tons of starch- sugar." Since this Report of the National Academy was printed, the number of starch-sugar factories in the United States has decreased to twelve, with a capital invested estimated at from twelve to fifteen million dollars, consuming about fifty thou- sand bushels of corn per day and having an annual produc- tion of 450,000,000 lbs., valued at ten million five hundred thousand dollars.* "4th. Starch-sugar is chiefly used in making table-sirup, in brewing beer as a substitute for malt, and in adulterating cane-sugar. It is also used to replace cane-sugar in confec- tionery, in canning fruits, in making fruit-jellies, and in cooking. Artificial honey is made with it ; and so, also, is vinegar." " 5th. Starch-sugar represents one distinct class of sugars, as cane-sugar does the other; the former being obtained naturally from the grape, as the latter is from the cane and the beet. Starch-sugar, which is a term chemically synony- mous with dextrose and glucose, when pure, has about two- thirds the sweetening power of cane-sugar. By the action of the dilute acids, both cane-sugar and starch yield dextrose. In the case of starch, however, dextrose constitutes the sole final product." " 0th. The commercial samples of starch-sugar obtained by the committee showed a fairly uniform composition on analysis. The liquid form, or ' glucose,' contains from 34.3 to 42.8 j)er cent, of dextrose ; from to 19.3 per cent, of mal- tose ; from 29.8 to 45.3 per cent, of dextrine, and from 14.2 to 22.6 per cent, of water. The solid form, ' grape-sugar,' gave from 72 to 73.4 per cent, of dextrose ; from to 3.0 per cent, of maltose ; from 4.2 to 9.1 per cent, of dextrine, and from 14 to 17.6 per cent, of water. Three specimens of *This information was kindly furnished me by the American Glucose Co., of J3ut!alo, N. Y., in a recent letter, December, 1889, who also sent samples of liquid and solid glucose. CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 15 especially prepared ' grape-sugar ' contained 87.1, 93.2, and 99.4 per cent, of dextrose, respectively. The last of these was crystalline anhydrous dextrose." " 7th. Of mineral or inorganic constituents, the samples of starch-sugar examined contained only minute quantities. The total ash formed in the ' glucose ' was only from 0.325 to 1.060 per cent., and in the 'grape-sugars', only from 0.335 to 0.750 per cent. No impurities, either organic or inorganic in character, other than those mentioned, were detected in any of the samples examined." " 8th. The elaborate experiments upon the fermentation of starch-sugar would seem to be final on the question of the healthfulness, not only of glucose itself, but also of the substances j)roduced by the action of a ferment upon it. Large quantities of a concentrated extract from the fermen- tation, representing from one-third to one-half a pound of starch-sugar, were taken internally by the experimenter, and this repeatedly, without the slighest observable effect. This result, rigidly applied, holds of course only for those sugars which, like this, are made from the starch of Indian corn, or maize." From the foregoing facts the Committee reached the fol- lowing conclusions : " First, that the manufacture of sugar from starch is a long established industry, scientifically valuable and commercially important ; second, that the processes which it employs at the present time are unobjec- tionable in their character, and leave the product uncon- taminated ; third, that the starch-sugar thus made and sent into commerce is of exceptional purity and uniformity of comjDosition, and contains no injurious substances ; and fourth, that though having at best only about two-thirds the sweetening power of cane-sugar, yet starch-sugar is in no way inferior to cane-sugar in healthfulness, there being no evidence before the Committee that maize-starch sugar, either in its normal condition or fermented, has any deleterious effect upon the system, even when taken in large quan- tities."* * " Eeport on Glucose, prepared by the National Academy of Sciences, in response to a request made by the Commissioner of Internal Kevenue, Washington, 1884." 16 BULLETIN OF THE SOME OTHER ADULTERANTS. The use of flours and starches of various kinds — wiieat, corn, rye, peas, Ijeans, etc. — as food adulterants cannot be considered injurious to health, however much the public may be cheated in the purchase of such adulterated articles of food, as ground spices, coffee, etc., they are not poisoned by their consumption. It is a question how much a pur- chaser is himself to blame, in his endeavor to secure a " bar- gain," when he demands a quantity of any given material at less than it can be purchased at wholesale in tlie market, that he compels the unscrujiulous manufacturer to make a comj)ound which has never more and generally less than the proportion of the genuine material represented by the price asked. Many articles of food spoil in transportation, and under the plea of preventing further fermentation resort is had to antiseptics, such as salicylic acid, sulphite of soda, borax, etc. These deserve mention as being additions to foods of a class of substances used to cloak carelessness in manufacture and otherwise, and producing in many cases deleterious effects on the human economy. In France and Germany the use of such antiseptics as salicylic acid in food products is pro- hibited, although in the latter country such addition is tol- erated when the food product is exported to countries where such use is not forbidden. LEGISLATION ON FOOD ADULTERATION. The adulteration of food, generally l)eing aimed at the pocket and not at the liealth of the consumer, ought to be easily remedied, one would suppose, by legislation. On, however, turning to our different State laws on the subject, I am sorry to say that most of them are drawn up in a fol- low-the-leader style, under the popular but erroneous im- pression that any substance used as an adulterant of or a substitute for a food product is necessarily injurious to health, witli tlie consequence that these laws are, with very CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 17 few exceptions, merely dead letters.* New York and Massa- chusetts have laws nearly identical in wording and whose enforcement is entrusted to their respective Boards of Health. In the former State the law has proved a failure, because in an action brought to obtain " an injunction against the sale of certain Ping Suey teas it was held by the court, in refus- ing to grant the same, that, although the teas in question had been clearly shown to be adulterated with gypsum, Prussian blue, sand, etc., it was likewise necessary to prove that the effect of these admixtures was such as to constitute a serious danger to public health." f In Massachusetts, how- ever, the law has been enforced with vigor by the State Board of Health, and the yearly reports show a diminution in the percentage of adulteration of the samples submitted to analysis. In this country the British " Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875," with all its imperfections, has served as a model for our legislation, and until we have a general law on the sub- ject drawn up with clear definitions of adulteration and ad- equate means for the enforcement, by the co-operation of State and National authorities, of its provisions in regard to this class of fraud, the food sophisticator will pursue the even tenor of his way undisturbed. The European Continental legislation on this subject is much superior to the English act.J Under Continental statutes every dealer is held re- sponsible for the quality of his merchandise, whether of for- eign or domestic origin, and every food material must be sold under its true name; artificial products imitating a natural product must be properly labeled in a conspicuous and legible manner; all unwholesome foods are confiscated and destroyed without compensation to the owner ; and adulterations generally are considered acts of fraud. Suitable * For list of State laws on food adulteration see Keport of the Commis- sioner of Internal Kevenue, 1888, p. CCIX. t Battershall: Food Adulteration and its Detection, p. 8. New York, 1887. j For copies of European laws on food adulteration see Keports of the Commissioner of Internal Kevenue for 1888 and 1889 ; and for a summary of their leading features see Science, 1889, vol. 14, p. 308. 18 BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL f^OCIETY. police supervision and control are })rovide(l for the enforce- ment of these statutes, and although these laws are some- what of a paternal nature they are much more effective than any we have. The average American repudiates the idea of a paternal government supervision over his affairs or anything tainted with the idea. He realizes that he is a full-grown man and a sovereign, and that, therefore, he is perfectly competent to take care of himself and no cheat or swindler can ever get the better of him. He may be willing to support, even to clamor for, a legislative measure to regulate the production or sale of a food product provided it advances his particular business interests. He would, liowever, regard with apathy any general law that would guarantee to the public the lil)- erty of purcliasing pure food, with a reasonable certaint}^ that they were not imposed upon in their purchases, if it was incumbent on him to take the necessary steps to execute its provisions by bringing samples for anal3^sis, etc. It may be, however, that some day he will reach the con- clusion that his individual smartness, great as it ma}^ be, is not sufficient to wage successful warfare against the food sophisticator's combinations, which have made this country for years the choice dumping-ground of the frauds of Europe, Asia, and Africa. When this happens we may hope that the proper laws will be passed to suppress the fraud, and that we, the chemists of the country, will liave opened to us a new field of usefulness; a field in which we ought to j^ut forth our best efforts, with the constant aim to maintain the purity and wholesomeness of the food for suffering humanity. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 420 876 6 f ^ r--\