The Adulteration Of Food, 1901 Observations

THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD AS WAS OBSERVED IN 1901 HOME ECONOMICS GUIDEBOOK

"SMILEY'S COOK BOOK AND UNIVERSAL GUIDE" STARTS THE NEW CENTURY WITH CONCERNS ABOUT FOOD QUALITY

     Have you ever wondered, while sitting at your office desk, bored stiff, if, what happens today with the adulteration of food, is really a modern era phenomenon of the industry? Might you have pondered, in that same hiatus, with hour head resting on the desk top, when, for example, food manufacturers first started screwing with what you ancestors were in the habit of eating? Ever wondered what contaminates your ancestors were consuming, having, say, that bowl of steaming hot gruel at hearthside, as was enjoyed nightly by the Dicken's character, Ebenezer Scrooge? But what the heck was in it? Dirt? In some cases, you bet! Well, you should think about this kind of thing, and how potentially, and medically, ill-health was a direct result of food contamination, otherwise under the guise of being "adulterated". Has this layering contamination garnered-over centuries, and through all past generations, been passed on to successive offspring? Thus increasing health complications for the modern generation? What ingested toxin can cause a cell to mutate? What does poison do, over long, long, layering exposure, to the cells of the body? Over centuries? Is this passed on to the offspring of those who were contaminated by unsavoury, unhealthy additives, to bulk-up, dress-up, or preserve products? Arsenic? Alum? Copper? And so much more. Even the pickles canned by grandma, were likely contaminated by store-bought vinegar. Pickles produced for commercial gain? You'll be surprised to find out, they were also jazzed-up to look better in their jars. History is pretty relevant when looking at situations like food contamination for commercial gain. This has been going-on throughout the better part of history. I found an old book that tells us stuff we may not want to know. The revelations are 114 years old. Published in a book by the firm, "Smileys." We like to keep books like this, with an emphasis on home economy, because we can call on it when we're working on broader homestead histories. This section of the book floored me this morning. I've had the book for a couple of years, but it wasn't until today that I found this most important reference to the early adulteration of food. So here goes:
     "Every one knows that it is of the utmost importance to the health and well being of a family that the food which it consumes shall be pure. The adulteration of food has received much attention in recent years (late Victorian era), and scientific chemists can now readily detect the various adulterations used in foods. The average housewife cannot, of course, be expected to perform the delicate tests for detecting adulterations, which are employed by the scientific analyst; but it is well for her to understand what the principal adulterations are, and there are a few tests which she can easily perform, and which it will often be an advantage for her to know. The following article explains what foods are most often adulterated, what they are adulterated with, and gives such tests as are adapted for those not possessing the delicate apparatus, or special knowledge of the scientific chemist.
     "There are three principal ways of adultering foods. 1. By replacing a superior article or ingredient by an inferior or cheaper substitute. 2. By adding foreign matters capable of giving an appearance of superiority. 3. By adding water to materials which absorb much water, though perhaps otherwise harmless. So extensively are these various forms of adulteration practiced, that the United States Department of Agriculture, in its official report, estimates that fifteen percent of the whole food supply of the country is adulterated, which shows the importance of the subject to the mass of people."
     It might be of interest to readers, to know then, that as we still suffer from adulteration of our food, in processing, we now also have Genetically Modified Organisms to add into our diets, whether we wish this or not. Consider that the book warning of general adulteration was published by the Smiley Company in the year 1901, and it was as much, a warning, contained in the back section of the book, aimed at home cooks, which at that time, also meant housewives. The advisory continues thusly:
     "Bread and flour are not often adulterated in the United States, but their adulteration is more common in Europe. The principal adulterations are the use of inferior grains or mashed potatoes, which lessens its nutritive value, and alum which improves the appearance of bread made from inferior flour, and enables it to hold much more water. The logwood test is used to detect alum, which consists of soaking crumbs of bread for six or seven minutes, in an alcoholic solution of logwood, containing an excess of carbonate of ammonia, and then squeezing it; a more or less deep blue color is produced if alum is present.
     "Tea - The 4 principal adulterations consist in 1. Mixing in spent or exhausted leaves which have been redried, gummed, curled, and faced with color matter. A most extensive system of this adulteration is practiced in China. 2. Tea is sometimes mixed with the leaves of other trees, like those of the sloe tree, ash tree, elder, beach and willow. 3. Astringents and foreign substances are added, designed to increase the apparent strength and quality. 4. Facing is practiced, which consists in using various coloring matters designed to impart some favorite color or gloss to the leaf. Some growers give what they call 'a bloom,' to green teas, by shaking them up with a little calcined magnesia, or finely powdered French chalk; black teas are faced with finely powdered black lead.
     "Many of these substances can be detected by simply stirring the tea in a little cold water, when they will become detached and either make the water turbid or sink to the bottom. An inferior article, dyed with sulphate of iron, is often sold for pure green tea; to test it, make an infusion and put in a bit of fall-nut; if pure, the color will not change, but if sulphate of iron is present, it will turn a deep black. To test for the presence of the other leaves mentioned above, steep a little tea, and drop in one and a half grains of sulphate of copper or sulphate of iron; if a genuine green tea it will then present a fine blue tint when exposed to a good light; if a genuine black tea, it will turn a dark blue, almost black; if adulterated, yellow, blue, and green colors will appear. Tea when fresh gathered, is sometimes dyed with Japan earth, giving it the color of black tea; to test for this, steep a little and add a little sulphate of iron (copperas); if not dyed it will turn nearly a blue black; if dyed it will be a light blue. Also when milk is added, instead of turning a blackish brown it takes a reddish hue. In cheap teas there is often a considerable proportion of mineral matter, i.e. added dirt. It can be detected by chewing a small quantity of the leaf, which dirt will be felt in the mouth. The best teas sometimes have inferior varieties mixed in with them, and the mixture is then sold as the best quality. The adulterations of teas are not, as a rule, detrimental to health."
     In the case of adulteration, I'm sure all you coffee drinkers are wondering what might have been going on a hundred and fourteen years ago, as relates to the beans of your favorite hot beverage. I'm drinking one right now, by the way.
     "Coffee - The readiest safeguard is to buy only the green berries, and roast and grind them at home; they are less commonly adulterated than the ground coffee, but a machine has been made to press flour, chicory, etc., into the form of coffee berries, so that even this precaution is not an absolute protection. Ground coffee is almost universally adulterated with chicory, etc., and the chicory, is itself often largely mixed with various rubbish, which, by roasting, gives a brown color to water. The presence of adulterants may be readily detected in roasted coffee as follows: Place a spoonful of the roasted berry gently on the surface of a glass of water; if pure it will float some time, and scarcely color it; if adulterated it will rapidly absorb the water and sink to the bottom of the glass, giving a reddish brown tint as it falls. Or, shake a spoonful of coffee with a wine glass of cold water, and then place the glass on the table; if pure the coffee will rise to the surface, and scarcely color the water; if not, it will sink to the bottom and tinge the water red. To test ground coffee throw a little on cold water; coffee will float, while cereals if present will sink; chicory, if present, will quickly color the water, while coffee will not. Most of the adulteration of coffee are not deleterious.
     "Cocoa - This is never sold in pure state, and no two preparations are alike. The only safe way is to buy that which is put up in packages bearing the name of some well known maker whose preparations are wholesome and adapted to the demands of the palate.
     "Baking Powders - The principal adulteration to look out for are alum and ammonia. Alum is injurious to the health. It unites with the phosphates in the bread, rendering them insoluble, and preventing their absorption and digestion, thus diminishing the nutritive value of the bread. As a test for alum, make a fresh decoction of logwood, dissolve a little of the baking powder in it, and add a little acetic acid; if it turns bluish or purplish red, there is more or less alum, according to the color; if it is yellow there is no alum. To test for ammonia, make a strong solution of the baking powder in water, add a little piece of potassium hydrate, and beat till it steams; if ammonia is present the steam will turn red litmus paper blue. A certain amount of starch is need in baking powders to keep them dry, but they are sometimes loaded with an excessive amount, and it becomes an adulteration, though not injurious. On dissolving the baking powder in water, if the starch is excessive it may form a paste. It may be said without hesitation that all of the cheap baking powders are adulterated.
     "Cream of Tartar - The more common adulteration is with the terra alba of gypsam, the amount introduced varying from five percent to seventy-five percent. To test, take a half teaspoonful and pour on one cup of hot water; good cream of tartar will almost immediately dissolve, and the water will be almost transparent, but terra alba or gypsum is insoluable in hot water.
     "Pickles - The common adulteration of pickles are the sue of alum, and coloring the highly with copper. The presence of copper, even in very small quantities may be easily and quickly detected by putting a piece of bright iron or steel, like a knife blade or knitting needle, into the jar of pickles for a short time, when, if copper is present, it will coat the metal. Another evil in cheap pickles is the use of adulterated vinegar.
     "Vinegar - This is adulterated with burnt sugar to give it color, and with sulphuric and other acids, generally sulphuric, that being one of the cheapest. To test for the latter, put a few drops of barium chloride in some of the vinegar; it should turn a little cloudy, but if there is a marked precipitate too much sulphuric acid is present. A further risk in vinegar containing sulphuric acid is that the acid has been made of pyrites and is contaminated with arsenic.
     "Pepper - Pepper corns may readily be judged by tasting; they cannot easily be replaced by other seeds, but may have been damaged by sea water and retain but little pungency. Ground pepper is often adulterated with mustard husks, roast ship-bread and Indian meal. Their presence may be detected by the microscope, but there is no simpler test adapted to the housewife's use. These adulterations are not injurious to the health, but they reduce the strength of the pepper. The pure article is rarely found in the market in the ground state.
     "Cayenne Pepper - This is sometimes adulterated with read lead, vermillion, red ochre, brick dust, turmeric etc. Pure cayenne pepper when burnt, leaves a very small quantity of white ash; if a red colored ash remains it shows the presence of red ochre, brick dust, or other earthy coloring matter; if a dark-colored powder, or a small metallic globule is left behinde, red lead has been introduced. The poisonous adulterations are not very common in this country, however, though English writers speak of them, and flour, etc., is added less commonly than in black pepper. A very good cayenne pepper can be made by grinding the pods of the red peppers which are so frequently cultivated for pickles.
     "Sugar - The inferior kinds are often adulterated with rice flour, gum, etc. Mites are common in moist sugar, but less so in crystallized; if a little is dropped in perfectly pure water, the mites will float and the sugar will sink; the sugar will soon dissolve, and if there is any sediment it may be safely be taken for sand or other adulterant. The hard and white or coarse granulated are the best to buy, as they are purer and less commonly adulterated than the fine powdered and moist sugars. The most common adulteration at present, however, is the mixture of glucose with sugar. This reduces the sweetening power of the sugar, but it is not at all injurious to the health, glucose being itself a form of sugar. It is difficult to detect its presence in brown sugar, although it an be detected in white sugar by experts. If a mixed sugar is shaken in cold water, the cane sugar will dissolve first, and the glucose, being less soluble, will remain for some time undissolved. Pulverized sugar is sometimes adulterated with starch, terra alba, or chalk. To test it, put a teaspoonful in a glass of pure water; if sediment is deposited, or the water becomes milky, the sugar is adulterated.
     "Canned Goods - Recent tests to these goods show to be quite generally adulterated. They are often colored with salts of copper; its presence may be detected as explained for pickles. Lead and zinc from the solder and tin can, often taints the contents to a dangerous extent. In buying canned goods the cans should be examined and only those purchased which are concave in the heads; this shows that they were hot when sealed. If the heads are convex it shows that decomposition has begun in the can, and gas is being generated. Also press up the bottom of the can; it will be solid if the goods are sound; if decomposition has begun, it will rattle like the bottom of an oil can. Observing these rules may save some of our readers or their families from being sickened from canned goods. Salicylic acid and sulphites are often added for their antiseptic properties. If not positively injurious, their use is objectionabale, although not easily detected by the average buyer."
     This is an interesting overview, considering, that in contemporary times, it was proven that the ill-fated Franklin Expedition, in quest of the Northwest Passage, was adversely influenced by this solder contamination of the canned food, taken as provisions for the multi-month exploration. When the near-perfect, frozen remains of several crewmen, were excavated from the permafrost in the Arctic, testing on their hair revealed that there was lead contamination. Not only was the expedition doomed by ice and stormy weather, but by the fact the early canning of food, had some serious flaws; particularly the leaching of the lead into the contents of these cans. When it was reported to readers in the late 1980's, via a new book about the doomed expedition, "Frozen in Time," this had been the case for the 1840's Franklin crew; they had been poisoned by their provisions. At the time, it seemed to be an almost startling reality. Yet, here is the case, that in 1901, and obviously earlier than this book's publication, food was still being contaminated by the contents of the solder. Even today, there are warnings about buying dinted cans of food, if the damage has affected the seam. Apparently this can initiate leaching once again.
     Tomorrow, we've got some more surprises as related by this amazing 1901 book on home economy.