DANGER IN FOOD 



435 



are especially dangerous, for germs collect in the tube, and are not 

 easily removed. It is on such details as this that the life of many a 

 baby depends. 



Preservatives. Because chemicals destroy disease 

 germs, many dealers in foods, and, unfortunately, some 

 housekeepers, argue that chemicals may properly be used 

 to destroy the 

 germs in food, 

 and to prevent 

 natural decay. 

 Why not use sul- 

 phur dioxide to 

 preserve dried 

 apples, formalde- 

 hyde to preserve 

 milk and canned 

 corn, salicylic acid 

 to preserve fruit, 

 and borax to pre- 

 serve meat? The 

 answer is that 

 these preserva- 

 tives are, sooner 

 or later, poisons 

 to the body. The 

 least harmful 

 thing they do is 

 to prevent food 



from digesting properly. We eat the food, but the body 

 does not get from it the necessary nutrients. Such food 

 is really wasted. 



5 6 



Fig. 307 



Drinking Cup; made out of a piece of paper about 8 inches 

 square. From suggestion in "Good Housekeeping." 



