APPENDIX. 



PROHIBITION OF SALE OF COPPERED PICKLES IN BROOKLYN.' 



DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER, 



Brooklyn, N. Y., July 16, 1885. 

 To all dealers in pickles: 



You are hereby notified of the following official action taken with regard to the 

 coloring of pickles with copper : 



By virtue of the power conferred upon me by law, I hereby declare the practice 

 of coloring pickles with copper in any form to be dangerous and detrimental to 

 public health, and do hereby prohibit the selling, or having for sale, in Brooklyn, of 

 pickles so colored. 



The above action was taken June 26, 1885. 



J. H. RAYMOND, 

 Commissioner of Health. 



SALE OF CANNED VEGETABLES COLORED WITH THE SALTS OF COPPER. 2 



At the meeting of May 5, 1891 [of the Massachusetts State board of health], the fact 

 was presented that peas, beans, and other vegetables preserved in tin cans and glass 

 jars, and colored with blue vitriol or other salts of copper, are sold in Massachusetts 

 in large quantities. It appears that the manufacture of preserved foods colored by 

 copper is confined to France. The object of this practice is evidently to give to the 

 articles thus sold a fictitious value by .making the canned vegetables appear to the 

 consigner like those which have been freshly gathered, and the demand for them 

 would quickly cease if they should be labeled "canned peas colored with sulphate 

 of copper." 



The practice of putting poisonous substances into food in any quantity whatever 

 is an objectionable one, and the board therefore expressed its opinion upon the sub- 

 ject as follows, and has issued a circular to the same effect : 



In the opinion of the board, the sale of articles of food containing such well-known 

 poisonous substances as the salts of copper is a violation of the statutes relating to 

 the inspection of food and drugs. 



The provision of the statutes specially referred to are the following: 



Chapter 263 of the Acts of 1882, section 3 : 



"An article shall be deemed to le adulterated within the meaning of this act in 

 the case of food (6) if it is colored, coated, polished, or powdered, whereby damage 

 is concealed, or if it is made to appear better or of greater value than it really is ; 

 (7) if it contains any added poisonous ingredient or any ingredient which may ren- 

 der it injurious to the health of a person consuming it." 



In conformity with the foregoing action, the board has had samples of such articles 

 examined. Canned vegetables put up by the following firms and having the following 

 brands have been found to contain the salts of copper as an adulterant. The pub- 



1 Annual Report of Brooklyn Board of Health, 1885. 



" Massachusetts Monthly Bulletin of Food and Drug Inspection, April, 1891. 



1159 



