Jesse P. Battershall

“ Of the various branches cognate to chemical research which excite public attention, that of food adulteration doubtless possesses the greatest interest. To the dealer in alimentary substances, the significance of their sophistication is frequently merely one of profit or loss, and even this comparatively unimportant consideration does not always attach. ”

“ It is far easier to substantiate the fact of the adulteration than it is to produce the offender in court and secure his conviction. Numerous cases are on record illustrating the peculiar contingencies which at times arise. Probably with the best intention, a milk vendor labelled his wagon, “Country skimmed milk, sold as adulterated;” an inspector bought a sample, not noticing the label, and the [8] magistrate convicted the vendor, doubtless on the ground that due attention had not been directed to the advertisement. ”

“ The process most frequently involved in the preparation of vinegar is known as the acetous fermentation, and may be induced in various saccharine juices and infusions, such as those of apples, wine, malted grain, etc., when, in presence of a ferment, they are exposed to the action of the air, at a temperature between 24° and 32°. In the oxidation of alcohol, an intermediate compound (aldehyde) is at first formed, which, by the continued action of oxygen, is ultimately converted into acetic acid. A dilute solution of alcohol is, however, not oxidised to acetic acid by simple exposure to the air ”

“ The benefits accruing to the community by reason of the service of our State Boards of Health are so evident and so important, that it is almost incredible that these bodies have not been put in possession of all the facilities necessary for their work. It would appear, however, that, while our legislators have been induced to enact good laws regulating adulteration, they have often signally failed to fulfil all the requirements indispensable to the efficient execution of the same. ”

“ The claim that manufacturers are often forced into adulteration by the necessities of unfair trade competition possesses more weight—an honest dealer cannot as a rule successfully compete with a dishonest one—and has undoubtedly influenced many of the better class to [2] co-operate in attempts to prevent the practice. The general feeling of uncertainty which exists in the public mind concerning the actual extent and importance of food adulteration is probably to be ascribed to two causes. ”

“ It is not possible to decide absolutely upon the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of a drinking water by the mere use of any of the processes examined for the estimation of organic matter or its constituents. ”

“ Now, as a matter of fact, pure cotton-seed oil, as at present found on the market, [9] is less liable to become rancid than the product of the olive, and, for many culinary uses, it is at least quite as serviceable. Absolute cleanliness is a sine qua non in the successful manufacture of oleomargarine, and, as an economical substitute for the inferior kinds of butter often exposed for sale, its discovery cannot justly be regarded a misfortune. The sale of these products, under their true name, should not only be allowed, but under some circumstances even encouraged. ”

“ The most usual excuses advanced by dishonest traders, when a case of adulteration has been successfully brought home to them—guilty knowledge being also established—are, that they are compelled to resort to the misdeed by the public demand for cheap commodities, that the addition is harmless, or actually constitutes an improvement, as is asserted to be the case when chicory is added to coffee, or that it serves as a preservative, as was formerly alleged to be the fact when vinegar was fortified with sulphuric acid. ”

“ In all cases of suspected adulteration with cane sugar or glucose, the determination of the sugar present by means of the polariscope and by Fehling’s method (both before and after inversion) is indispensable. It is commonly stated that unsophisticated honey polarises to the left, and that a sample possessing a dextro-rotary action is necessarily contaminated with glucose or cane sugar; but, while in the great majority of cases this is doubtless the fact, it is equally certain that honey of known purity has been met with which polarised to the right. ”

“ Milk is the secretion of the mammary glands of female mammalia. It is an opaque liquid, possessing a white, bluish-white, or yellowish-white colour, little or no odour, and a somewhat sweetish taste. At times it exhibits an amphigenic reaction, i. e. it turns red litmus blue and blue litmus red. From the examination of nearly one thousand cows in the States of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the minimum specific gravity of milk was found to be 1·0290, the maximum being 1·0394. The opacity of milk is only apparent, and is due to the presence of fatty globules held in suspension ”

“ Whoever by himself or by his servant or agent, or as the servant or agent of any other person, sells, exchanges, or delivers, or has in his custody or possession with intent to sell or exchange, or exposes or offers for sale or exchange, adulterated milk, or milk to which water or any foreign substance has been added, or milk produced from cows fed on the refuse of distilleries or from sick or diseased cows, shall for a first offence be punished by fine of not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars ”

“ The quality of whisky is much affected by the nature of the grain from which it is prepared, and by the care exercised in its manufacture, more particularly in the process of distillation. The most injurious ingredient in distilled spirits is commonly known as “fusel oil,” which term comprises several products of alcoholic fermentation, possessing a higher boiling point than ethylic alcohol, and consisting chiefly of amylic alcohol, accompanied by small proportions of butylic and propylic alcohols. ”

“ It is a notorious fact that large quantities of cotton-seed oil are exported from the United States to France and Italy, much of which returns home under the guise of the genuine product of the olive. ”

“ The fact that the only reliable results of food investigation have, until recently, been confined to purely scientific journals, and therefore not prominently brought to public notice, is another explanation of the lack of creditable information which generally prevails concerning this species of sophistication.
The adulteration of alimentary substances was practised in the civilised countries of Europe at a very remote date, and the early history of the art, mainly collated by Prof. Blyth in his valuable work on food, [1] is replete with interest. ”

“ The plastering of wine is chiefly carried on in Spain, Portugal, and southern France. The ash of pure wine does not exceed 0·3 per cent., but in the samples of sherry usually met with it reaches a proportion of 0·5 per cent., and is almost entirely composed of sulphates. The “sulphuring [164] ” of wines is also extensively practised. It is effected either by burning sulphur in the casks or by conducting sulphurous acid through the wine itself, the object sought being to preserve the product and impart to it the ripeness naturally acquired by age. ”

“ Fortified wine is that wine to which distilled spirits have been added to increase alcoholic strength, for purposes of preservation only, and shall be held to be pure, when the spirits so used are the product of the grape only. Pure champagne or sparkling wine is that which contains carbonic acid gas or effervescence produced only by natural fermentation of saccharine matter of musts, or partially fermented wine in bottle. ”

“ One of the chief objections to which certain inferior varieties of American lager beer are open is that they are not allowed to “age” properly. The apparent gain to the brewer of such beer consists in an economy of time and ice; he is also enabled to turn over his invested capital sooner than the more scrupulous manufacturer, who is thus placed in a disadvantageous position so far as trade competition is concerned. It is stated that some of the beer made in the neighbourhood of New York is sent out for consumption two weeks after its brewing. ”

“ The beer is next separated from the yeast and transferred into clearing-vats, and, later on, into storage casks, where it undergoes a slow after-fermentation, at the completion of which it is ready for consumption. The quality of the water used in the process of mashing and brewing is of great importance, and it is of special moment that it should be free from all organic contaminations. The presence of certain mineral ingredients, notably of calcium sulphate, is believed to exert a beneficial effect on the character of the beer obtained. ”

“ No condensed milk shall be made or offered for sale unless the same is manufactured from pure, clean, healthy, fresh, unadulterated and wholesome milk, from which the cream has not been removed, or unless the proportion of milk solids contained in the condensed milk shall be in amount the equivalent of twelve per centum of milk solids in crude milk, and of such solids twenty-five per centum shall be fat. ”

“ In the United States, the best known and most esteemed kind of vinegar is that obtained by the acetification of apple cider; but by far the largest quantity is manufactured from alcohol and spirituous liquors. Cider vinegar is free from aldehyde but contains malic acid. The usual source of vinegar in Great Britain is a wort prepared from mixtures of malt with other grain; while, in Continental Europe, inferior sorts of new wine (especially white wine) are extensively employed for its production. ”

“ The degree of temperature employed in drying and roasting the barley determines the colour and commercial character of the malt, which may be pale, amber, brown or black. In the United States the light-coloured varieties of malt are chiefly made. An important change which takes place during the malting of barley is the conversion of its albuminous constituents into a peculiar ferment, termed diastase, which, although its proportion in malt does not exceed 0·003 per cent., exerts a very energetic action in transforming starch, first into dextrine, then into sugar (maltose) . ”

“ If, in like manner, 10 c.c. of the vinegar is exactly measured off by the pipette into a small light porcelain dish, and then evaporated fully to dryness over boiling water, the number of grammes weight gained by the dish, when multiplied by ten, gives the percentage of solid residue contained in the vinegar.
There are certain characteristics peculiar to the residue of a pure cider vinegar, the principal of which are the following:—It will be about 3 per cent. in weight, and never less than 2 per cent. It is always soft, viscid, of apple flavour, somewhat acid and astringent in taste. ”

“ When the very delicate article of CORN STARCH, which is so largely used in the family for food, and especially for children and invalids, is adulterated with poisonous and unhealthy substances, it becomes very important that every housekeeper should be cautious and know what kind they use. ”

“ All vinegar shall have an acidity equivalent to the presence of not less than five per cent. by weight of absolute acetic acid, and in the case of cider vinegar shall contain in addition not less than one and one-half per cent. by weight of cider vinegar solids upon full evaporation over boiling water, and if any vinegar contains less than the above amount of acidity, or if any cider vinegar contains less than the above amount of cider vinegar solids, such vinegar shall be deemed to be adulterated within the meaning of this Act. ”

“ Every butter or cheese manufacturer, except those who buy all the milk they use, shall keep a correct account of all the milk daily received, and of the number of packages of butter and cheese made each day, and the number of packages and aggregate weight of cheese and butter disposed of each day, which account shall be open to inspection to any person who delivers milk to such manufacturer. ”

“ For commercial purposes, glucose is prepared by treating grains rich in starch, with dilute acids. In France and Germany, potatoes are used in its manufacture; in the United States, Indian corn or maize is almost exclusively employed. The processes used consist substantially in first separating the starch from the grain by soaking, grinding, and straining, then boiling it, under pressure, with water containing about 3 per cent. of sulphuric acid, neutralising the remaining acid with chalk, decolorising the solution by means of animal charcoal, and concentrating it in vacuum pans. ”

“ Polarised light is a very useful adjunct in the examination of starch granules. In the microscopical investigation, a minute portion of the sample is placed upon the glass slide and well moistened with a solution of 1 part glycerine in 2 parts of water; it is then protected by a thin glass cover, which is put on with gentle pressure. The appearance of various starches, under polarised light, is seen in Plate IX., where the cross lies at the hilum or nucleus of the granule and the form and relative size is visible in outline. ”

“ It would therefore appear that, under normal circumstances, the standard adopted by the New York Board of Health errs on the side of too much leniency toward the milk dealer. Cream being lighter than water, a sample of skimmed milk will possess a greater specific gravity than the pure article, and it is possible to add from 10 to 20 per cent. of water to it and still have the resulting admixture stand at 100° when tested by the lactometer. Vehement attempts have been made in court and elsewhere to impeach the accuracy of the indications afforded by the lactometer. ”

“ Another means of ascertaining the nature of the organic ethers present in spirits is to first remove the ethylic alcohol contained by a partial distillation with an alkaline solution, and then acidulate the remaining liquid with sulphuric acid, and repeat the distillation, when the volatile fatty acids originally contained in the ethers will be found in the distillate; their identity is to be established by means of their characteristic properties. ”

“ Whoever adulterates, for the purpose of sale, any liquor used or intended for drink, with Indian cockle, vitriol, grains of paradise, opium, alum, capsicum, copperas, laurel-water, logwood, Brazil wood, cochineal, sugar of lead, or any other substance which is poisonous or injurious to health, and whoever knowingly sells any such liquor so adulterated, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison not exceeding three years ”

“ Water, Total Solids, and Ash.—Five grammes of the fresh milk are weighed in a tared platinum dish, having a flat bottom, which is placed on a water-bath, where it is allowed to remain for about three hours. It is then transferred to a water-oven, and the dish is subsequently weighed, from time to time, until the weight becomes constant. The loss in weight is the water present; the difference between the weight of the platinum capsule and its weight with the remaining contents gives the amount of total solids, which, in milk of good quality, should not be under 12 per cent. ”