The Adulteration of Jams and Jellies. 169 



more expensive fruit, with perhaps a little added color, to give 

 the appearance of genuineness. Such preparations are, as a 

 matter of fact, imitations, and should be labeled as puch. 



The chief form of adulteration in the past — a form which 

 obtains at present — has been and is the use of apple stock in 

 the manufacture of all kinds of jams and jellies. Apples con- 

 tain a large number of pectose bodies which favor jellification. 

 A common method of making jellies and jams is the use of an 

 apple stock, consisting of cider, the pressings from apple trim- 

 mings, such as cores, skins and rejected portions, or the press- 

 ings from rejected apples or from the pomace of rider mills. 

 All these products contain more or less pectin and are used as 

 a common base for the manufacture of jams and jellies of all 

 kinds. Whenever apple stock, even though clean and whole- 

 some, enters into the composition of jams and jellies made 

 from any other fruit than the apple it becomes an adulteration. 

 If the apple stock used is prepared from rejected portions of 

 apples the form of adulteration becomes all the more serious. 



As a case in hand, let us consider the following : 



A brand of goods on the Kansas market, of which there ap- 

 pears to be a very large quantity, is labeled, without qualifica- 

 tion, as follows : "Strawberry preserves." Analysis of the 

 product shows that it contains a trace of starch, that 50 per- 

 cent of the ash is phosphate, that the color is partly artificial, 

 and that some product high in bacterial, yeast and mold con- 

 tent has been used. Physical examination shows a gelatinous 

 product containing in suspension portions of strawberries. 

 The conclusion as to the nature of the material used as base 

 for this product may be reached in the following manner : 



The trace of starch is not supplied by strawberries or sugar, 

 since neither strawberries nor sugar contain a trace of starch. 



The presence of added phosphates indicates that the sub- 

 stance used as a base is deficient in fruit acids, that the acidity 

 of the product had to be increased in order to insure proper 

 thickening in the final product. 



The presence of artificial color shows that the manufacturers 

 could not depend upon the natural color of the strawberries 

 used to give the tint desired. Now, as a matter of fact, straw- 

 l)erry preserves require no improvement of their color, nor 

 do they require the addition of acids to insure gelatinization or 

 thickening. 



