898 FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



practice also enables the admixture of spent leaves with little fear of 

 detection. Faced teas can not be excluded from this country under the 

 United States tea adulteration act, since this law specifies that the 

 addition of chemical and other deleterious substances must be in suffi- 

 cient quantities to render the tea unfit for use. This wording admits 

 of excessive facing, since it has never been shown that the substances 

 usually employed for this purpose are prejudicial to health, even when 

 taken in greater quantities than could be employed in treating teas. 



A few of the samples examined contained magnetic-iron oxide, prob- 

 ably derived from the black-lead facing. Serial number 6079 contained 

 a few fragments of brick and lead. These substances were probably 

 added to increase the weight of the tea and were not accidental. 



A general qualitative examination was made of each sample. The 

 foreign matters detected are given in the table, p. 896. Very few objec- 

 tionable substances were found. A statement of the condition of the 

 leaves is also given in this table. The teas of all grades were largely 

 composed of fragments of leaves. 



CONCLUSION. 



The analytical and other work in connection with this report indi- 

 cates that there are few if any spurious teas on the market. The range 

 in quality is undoubtedly very great, many samples deserving to be 

 termed "tea" simply because they are composed of the leaves of the 

 Thea, and not through the many pleasant qualities which we usually 

 associate with the beverage of this name. 



With the strict enforcement of the United States adulteration act, 

 the consumer is reasonably well protected, so far as securing the genu- 

 ine leaf is concerned, but of course has no protection from the sale of 

 inferior teas. 



