198 



The World's Commercial Products 



COFFEE SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS 



Various substances have been used as adulterants of, or substitutes for, coffee. In most 



instances the object is to increase the profits by selling at the price of coffee a much cheaper 



article. r 



Chicory 



It is difficult to know whether chicory should be described as a coffee adulterant in all 

 cases, because there are many people who prefer the addition of chicory. 



, Ghicory is prepared from the fleshy roots of Cichorium Intybus, a plant closely related to 

 the lettuce, and found wild throughout a great portion. of Europe, North Africa, Siberia, and 

 Northern India. In parts of the United Kingdom it is a conspicuous wayside plant with 

 cornflower blue flowers. Chicory was formerly the basis of an industry of some importance 

 in England, and at one time about half the chicory used in this country was produced at home. 

 About 1860 over 1,500 acres were devoted to this crop in Yorkshire alone. Various circum- 

 stances, however, have effected a great reduction in the crop. The removal of protective 

 duties in 1854, coupled with the imposition of excise duties from 1860 onwards, had much to 

 do in bringing about this result. The total area under chicory in the United Kingdom is 

 now only some forty acres, and the preparation of the roots is only practised at York and 

 St. Ives. At the present time the home-grown article contributes merely about two per cent, 

 to the annual consumption, the great bulk of the imports coming from Belgium. 



In addition to its legitimate use, chicory is often employed to adulterate coffee, and some- 

 times as much as ninety per cent: of chicory has been detected in ground " coffee." It 

 must be remembered that whereas coffee is worth, say, about Is. 6d. per lb., chicory costs 

 only 4d. per lb. A simple test whereby to detect the presence of chicory is to put a little cf 

 the ground material in a glass of water. Coffee remains hard and floats on the surface for a 

 long time ; chicory soon softens, and sinks, colouring the water more or less brown. 



Other Substitutes and Adulterants 



The substances which have been found as adulterants in ground " coffee " are very varied, 

 including cereals, sawdust, bark, cacao husks, acorns, figs, lupine, peas, beans and other pulses, 

 and even baked liver. Colouring materials are also used to improve the appearance of poor 

 and damaged beans. Artificial beans composed of such ingredients as flour, chicory and coffee, 

 or bran and molasses have been manufactured, the mixture being ground up, made into a 

 paste, and moulded into the form of the genuine article. 



A few seeds make a palatable infusion with water and are used to some extent as substi- 

 tutes for coffee, although they lack its stimulating properties. One of the best known is Negro 

 Coffee, or Mogdad Coffee, the seeds of Cassia occidentalis. The seeds of a species of Ipomea, 

 the ochro (Hibiscus esculentus), and the soja bean are also employed for the same purpose. 



TOBACCO 



Tobacco is prepared from the leaves of 

 several species of Nicotiana, a genus of 

 plants belonging to the natural order 

 Solanaceae, a family which includes the 

 tomato, potato, egg-plant, deadly night- 

 shade, and many other well-known 

 plants. 



The species of Nicotiana are nume- 

 rous, but those of which the leaves are 

 used as tobacco are very few. The 

 great bulk of the world's supply of 

 tobacco is derived from N. Tabacum, 



PACKING CIGARETTES IN HOLLAND 



