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FOOD ADULTERATION AND ITS DETECTION.
FOOD ADULTERATION AND ITS DETECTION.
WITH PHOTOMICROGRAPHIC PLATES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. BY JESSE P. BATTERSHALL, Ph.D., F.C.S., CHEMIST, U.S. LABORATORY, NEW YORK CITY. NEW YORK: E. & F. N. SPON, 35, MURRAY STREET , AND 125, STRAND, LONDON. 1887. NEW YORK: E. & F. N. SPON, 35, MURRAY STREET , AND 125, STRAND, LONDON. 1887. [ Copyright, 1887. By Jesse P. Battershall .]...
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
To embody in a condensed form some salient features of the present status of Food Adulteration in the United States is the object of this volume. The importance of the subject, and the apparent need of a book of moderate dimensions relating thereto, must suffice as its raison d’être . The standard works have been freely consulted, and valuable data have been obtained from the recent reports of our State and Civic Boards of Health. The system of nomenclature accepted by the American Chemical Soci
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
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. But to the general community, the subject appeals to interests more vital than a desire to avoid pecuniary damage, and involving, as it necessar
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TEA.
TEA.
The early history of tea is probably contemporary with that of China, although, in that country, the first authentic mention of the plant was as late as A.D. 350; while, in European literature, its earliest notice occurs in the year 1550. The first important consignment of tea into England took place in 1657. Chinese tea made its appearance in the United States in 1711; in 1858, the importation of Japan tea began. During the season of 1883-1884, the importation of tea into this country [4] was—f
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COFFEE.
COFFEE.
Coffee is the seed of the Caffea Arabica , indigenous to Abyssinia and southern Arabia, and since naturalised in the West Indies, Ceylon, Brazil, and other tropical countries. Its importance as an almost universal beverage is only equalled by that of tea. The ancient history of coffee is shrouded in great obscurity. It was unknown to the Romans and Greeks, but its use is said to have been prevalent in Abyssinia from the remotest time, and in Arabia it formed an article of general consumption dur
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COCOA AND CHOCOLATE.
COCOA AND CHOCOLATE.
Cocoa is prepared from the roasted seeds of the tree Theobroma cacao , of the order Byttneriaceæ . It sometimes appears in commerce as “cocoa-nibs” ( i. e. partially ground), but it is more frequently sold in the powdered state, either pure or mixed with sugar and starch, and also often deprived of about one-half of its fat. Chocolate usually consists of cocoa-paste and sugar flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon, or cloves, and commonly mixed with flour or starch. According to Wanklyn, the average c
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MILK.
MILK.
Owing to the very important sanitary relations of milk as a model food, the subject of its sophistication has during the past ten years received particular notice at the hands of the food-chemist. The investigations of our public sanitary authorities have shown that milk adulteration is exceedingly common. It is stated upon good authority that until quite recently (1883) the 120 millions of quarts of milk annually brought into New York city were intentionally diluted with 40 millions of quarts o
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BUTTER.
BUTTER.
Butter is the fat of milk, containing small proportions of caseine, water, and salt (the latter mostly added), and possessing a somewhat granular structure. In its preparation the fat-globules of cream are made to coalesce by the process of churning, and are removed from the residual buttermilk. Its colour, due to lactochrome, varies from white to yellow, according to the breed and food of the cow. The fatty constituents of butter are butyric, caproic, caprylic, capric, myristic, palmitic, stear
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CHEESE.
CHEESE.
Cheese consists essentially of the caseine and albumen of milk, together with water, fat, lactic acid, and mineral salts. It is prepared by the coagulation of milk by means of rennet, and is usually obtained from cow’s milk (either fresh, skimmed, or sour), although the milk of the goat, ewe, and other animals is occasionally used. Its colour is very often due to the addition of annato. The following table exhibits the composition of the best-known varieties of cheese, according to the analysis
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FLOUR AND BREAD.
FLOUR AND BREAD.
Wheat ( Triticum vulgare ) forms the principal bread-stuff of civilized nations, and is by far the most important of all cereal grasses. It has one or more slender, erect and smooth stalks, which, owing to the large proportion of siliceous matter present, possesses the strength necessary for the support of the ears. The grain is imbricated in four rows. The following are the averages of the results obtained by the analyses of 260 samples of American wheat, made by the United States Department of
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BAKERS’ CHEMICALS.
BAKERS’ CHEMICALS.
The substances employed for the artificial production of porosity in bread, as already mentioned, are sodium bicarbonate (now termed “saleratus”), potassium bitartrate, tartaric acid, and calcium diphosphate, the various mixtures of these compounds being known as baking powders. Some of the above chemicals are not always used in the pure state, and, in addition to this source of contamination, baking powders are often excessively diluted with flour or starch, and seriously adulterated with alum.
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SUGAR.
SUGAR.
The sugars of commerce may be conveniently classified into two varieties, viz., sucrose (cane sugar or saccharose) and dextrose (grape sugar or glucose). The former, which is the kind almost exclusively employed for domestic uses, is chiefly obtained from the sugar cane of the West Indies and American Southern States ( Saccharum officinarum ), and, in continental Europe, from the sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris ). A comparatively small quantity is manufactured in the United States from the sugar mapl
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HONEY.
HONEY.
Honey consists of the saccharine substance collected by the bee ( Apis mellifica ) from the nectaries of flowers, and deposited by them in the cells of the comb. “Virgin honey” is the product of hives that have not previously swarmed, which is allowed to drain from the comb; the inferior varieties being obtained by the application of heat and pressure. As a result of the peculiar conditions of its formation, honey constitutes a rather complex mixture of several bodies; indeed, its exact composit
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CONFECTIONERY.
CONFECTIONERY.
Pure white candy should consist entirely of cane sugar with its water of crystallisation, but most of the article commonly met with contains a large proportion of glucose, and in many cases it is wholly composed of this compound (see p. 109). Starch and terra alba ( i. e. gypsum or kaolin), are the other adulterants sometimes employed to fraudulently increase the bulk and weight of candy. The substances used for colouring purposes are more liable to be positively deleterious. While such colourin
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BEER.
BEER.
The name beer is most commonly applied to a fermented infusion of malted barley, flavoured with hops. Its manufacture embraces two distinct operations, viz. , malting and brewing. Briefly considered, the former process consists in first steeping barley (the seed of Hordeum distichon ) in water and allowing it to germinate by arranging it in layers or heaps which are subsequently spread out and repeatedly turned over, the germination being thereby retarded; it is afterwards entirely checked by dr
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WINE.
WINE.
Wine is the fermented juice of the grape of Vitis vinifera . In its preparation, the fully matured grapes are usually (but not always) first separated from the stalks, and then crushed, the marc so obtained being afterwards placed in butts provided with perforated sides, through which the expressed juice or must percolates. It is next introduced into vats, and allowed to undergo a process of fermentation, which is very analogous to that of beer wort. The addition of yeast is, however, in this ca
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LIQUORS.
LIQUORS.
The ordinary forms of liquors (namely, whisky, rum, and gin), are prepared by the distillation of alcoholic infusions. The process of distillation is preceded either by the conversion of the amylaceous constituents of grain, first into sugar, then into alcohol, or by the fermentation of saccharine bodies into alcohol, or, as in the case of brandy, it may be directly applied to a solution containing alcohol. Brandy. —When genuine, brandy is the product of the distillation of various sorts of rich
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WATER.
WATER.
The subject of the purity of potable waters possesses the highest degree of importance in its sanitary relations, and, particular attention has been bestowed upon methods of analysis that would serve to indicate the character and significance of existing impurities. The earlier processes of examination, which chiefly consisted in the determination of the mineral constituents of water, while of use in furnishing an idea of the general nature of the water regarded as an inorganic solution, almost
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VINEGAR.
VINEGAR.
Vinegar is a dilute aqueous solution of acetic acid, containing inconsiderable proportions of alcohol, aldehyde, acetic ether, and extractive matters, which, to some extent, impart a characteristic flavour and aroma. 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 o
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PICKLES.
PICKLES.
The examination of pickles naturally includes a determination of the character of the vinegar used in their preparation. This is made by the methods just described. The practice of imparting a bright green colour to pickles which have become bleached by long preservation in brine or by other means, is doubtless still prevalent, and calls for a brief notice. The greening of pickles is effected either by the direct addition of cupric sulphate to the water in which they are heated, or by introducin
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OLIVE OIL.
OLIVE OIL.
Olive Oil is extracted from the pericarp of the fruit of the Olea Europea . When pure, it exhibits a pale yellow or greenish colour, has a specific gravity of 0·9176, and possesses a faint, pleasant odour and a bland and agreeable taste. It is insoluble in water, very slightly in alcohol, but dissolves in about 1½ parts of ether. Olive oil boils at 315°, and begins to deposit white granules at 10°; at 0°, it solidifies to a solid mass which, by pressure, may be separated into tripalmetine and tr
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MUSTARD.
MUSTARD.
Mustard is the product obtained by crushing and sifting the seeds of Sinapis nigra and Sinapis alba , of the genus Brassicaceæ. In the manufacture of the condiment, both the black and white seeds are used. According to analyses made by Piesse and Stansell, [138] fine grades of the two varieties of mustard possess the following composition:— Clifford Richardson regards the following proportions of the more prominent constituents of pure mustard flour as a basis for detecting adulterations:— The f
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PEPPER.
PEPPER.
Black Pepper is the dried unripe berry of Piper nigrum ; white pepper, which is much less in use, being the same fruit deprived of its outer skin by maceration in water and friction. The more important constituents of pepper are an alkaloid (piperin), the volatile oil, and the resin, and upon these ingredients its value as a condiment depends. The partial composition of genuine pepper, as given by Blyth, is shown below:— The percentages of piperin, resin, extract, and ash are calculated on the s
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SPICES.
SPICES.
As is the case with mustard and pepper, the adulteration of the ordinary spices is exceedingly prevalent in the United States. Probably those most subject to admixture, are cloves, mace, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. The fact that these condiments are frequently offered for sale in a ground state furnishes an opportunity to incorporate with them various cheaper vegetable substances, of which the manufacturer too often makes use. For the detection of these additions the use of the microscope is
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MISCELLANEOUS.
MISCELLANEOUS.
A variety of articles of food, which do not properly come under any of the heads previously treated, have, during the past few years, been found on our markets in an adulterated state. Prominent among these, are the various kinds of canned meats, fruits, and vegetables, which have not unfrequently been the cause of serious cases of illness. This result may be owing to the original bad condition of the goods, or to fermentation having taken place; but, in many instances, the trouble has been trac
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The literature of Food Adulteration has acquired such extensive proportions during the past few years, that a complete list of the memoirs which have been contributed to scientific journals would alone form a moderately sized volume. In the following pages the more important periodicals, official reports, etc., are mentioned, together with a chronological catalogue of the works on Adulteration and allied subjects. Periodicals. Zeitschrift für Untersuchung von Lebensmittel. Eichstat
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LEGISLATION.
LEGISLATION.
The following are the more important and recent laws relating to Food Adulteration, which have been enacted by American State Legislatures, and by the United States Government. The New York State General Law, of 1881, for the prevention of the adulteration of food and drugs, is as follows:— Section 1. No person shall, within this State, manufacture, have, offer for sale, or sell any article of food or drugs which is adulterated within the meaning of this Act, and any person violating this provis
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