ADULTERATION 



ADULTERATION 



ADULTERATION OF FOODSTUFFS AND 

 CLOTHING. Foods serve two main functions 

 in the human body. In the first place, the 

 body structure, such as bone, muscle, skin. 

 blood, etc., must be built up from the food 

 which is consumed. The food must therefore 

 not only contain all the elements found in the 

 body, but these elements must be present in 

 the food in sufficient quantity to supply the 

 needs of the body. 



Among the peoples subsisting largely on rice 

 i disease known as bcri bcri has been shown to 

 be due to the consumption of polished rather 

 th:m unpolished rice. When the thin outer 

 coating of rice is removed, a considerable per- 

 centage of the nitrogen and especially of the 

 phosphorus present in the grain is removed. 

 The absence of a sufficient quantity of these 

 elements in the diet produces the disease. 

 When unpolished rice or other food, such as 

 fish, containing these elements in abundance, 

 is consumed, health returns. 



There is a great deal of evidence to show 

 that the poor teeth of many people is due to 

 the consumption of refined foods from which 

 the coarser portions containing the nu'neral 

 constituents necessary for the growth of the 

 teeth have been removed. Aenemic conditions 

 are due to the lack of iron compounds which 

 are present in large quantities in green v- 

 tables. 



These elements must also be combined with 

 each other in the food, forming certain definite 

 chemical compounds in order to be available 

 as food for the human system. 



Foods. Energy Furnished by Food. In the 

 second place, the food must furnish the energy 

 \\hich is required by the body to carry on its 

 d activities. This includes not only the 

 external activities, such as walking or physical 

 labor, but also the internal activities, such as 

 breathing, the circulation of the blood, diges- 

 tion, etc. For the average man tin- im.ni.il 

 activities consume about twice as much energy 

 as the external activities. Energy must also 

 be constantly supplied to compensate for tint 

 M out as heat, because it is necessary to 

 th* body temperature at the normal 

 point of 98%. 



During muscular activity of any kind about 



lurds of amount of energy ex- 



- given out as heat and only about 



lurd a> ;il energy. For this 



reason a physically-active person becomes too 



i and the excess of heat must be removed, 



which i- i'TMi!U'li~h'd | iy the evaporation of 



perspiration from the skin. The heat must 

 force the blood to the surface of the body in 

 order to cool it. The energy for all of these 

 activities must be furnished by the food. For 

 adults this is the most important function of 

 food. The nutritive value of food depends 

 therefore upon the amount of energy which it 

 contains as well as upon the presence of con- 

 stituents which serve to build up the tissues 

 of the body. If the nutritive value of food has 

 been reduced in any way the food has been 

 adulterated. Many staple : :it times 



adulterated in this manner. 



Condimental Foods. The flavor and appear- 

 ance of foods are also important because these 

 qualities add to the digestibility of foods. In- 

 deed, many foods are used only for the agree- 

 able odor or taste which they impart to other 

 foods. This is especially true of spices. The 

 flavor of foods is very largely influenced by 

 the climate in which they are grown, as well 

 as the method of cultivation and preparation 

 for the market. For this reason it is illegal 

 to sell a food represented as having been pro- 

 duced in a given country or locality when it 

 has been grown or produced elsewhere. Flavor- 

 ing or coloring an article of food so as to make 

 it appear better is also illegal and fraudulent, 

 unless this fact is stated on the label, that all 

 may read the truth. 



Prescr,(it/i-tx. The addition of a poisonous 

 ingredient to foods, no matter in how small 

 quantity, is also illegal and is classed as adul- 

 teration. It is seldom that highly poisonous 

 substances are added to foods except in minute 

 quantities, but many substances which injure 

 the health have been added in small quanti- 

 ties as preservatives or coloring matter. The 

 addition of preservatives is objectionable, even 

 though the preservative itself is harmless, be- 

 cause in many cases the preserved food is 

 inferior to fresh food in flavor, dm. M ilulity. 

 nutritive value or wholesomeness. While most 

 rvatives have been found to be poisonou> 

 substances, benzoate of soda has been found 

 to have no bad effect when taken with food> 

 in the amounts necessary for their preserva- 

 tion; but under commercial condition.- food- 

 prepared with this or other preservatives are 

 lor to foods to which preservatives have 

 not been added. 



Artificial Coloring oj Foods. Coloring mat- 

 ter, aniline dyes or vegetable coloring matter 

 are frequently added to foods. This is done 

 for two distinct purposes to improve the 

 appearance of natural foods or to enable an 



