14 FOOD .ADULTERATION AND METHODS FOR DETECTION. 



For instance, in the preparation of canned tomatoes a product having 

 a certain brightness of color may be obtained if the tomatoes are per- 

 fect, full} 7 ripe, and of certain varieties. Often, however, the toma- 

 toes delivered to the canner do not yield a product of the desired color. 

 For this reason some canners make a practice of adding coloring 

 matter to their product, thus giving it an appearance which they say 

 is more acceptable to their customers. 



Again, in the case of meat the color disappears after considerable 

 time, the meat losing its bright, fresh color before the process of decay 

 is evident. Therefore, the coloring matter is not usually applied to 

 fresh meat held at low temperature, but to chopped meat, Hamburg 

 steak, and sausage, the addition of coloring matter to this product thus 

 giving it the fictitious appearance of fresh meat. 



FORMS OF ADULTERATION OF SPECIFIC FOODS. 



In the following pages are given under each class of foods treated 

 the results of the examination of foods in a number of laboratories in 

 the United States. These tables give usually the number of samples 

 of each product examined in the various laboratories and the number 

 found not to comply with the laws of the States in which they were 

 examined. The figures given in these tables, however, must not be 

 understood to represent the percentage of the various classes of foods 

 in the United States that are adulterated, but rather the kinds of adul- 

 teration practiced and in a general way whether such forms of adulter- 

 ation are more or less frequent. 



The samples submitted to analysis were not usually representative 

 samples. The inspectors in the various States are trained men, and are 

 always instructed to select especially those samples which they have 

 reason to believe are likely to be adulterated. Brands of foods which 

 they know from previous experience are pure are, therefore, not com- 

 monly taken by these inspectors, and products whose purity for any 

 reason they are inclined to suspect are sampled. In the report of each 

 laboratory, therefore, the percentage of adulterated samples is stated, 

 not in terms of the average foods of the State, but in terms of the foods 

 which experienced inspectors have regarded with suspicion. 



BAKING POWDERS AND BAKING CHEMICALS. 



Baking powders consist of a mixture of bicarbonate of soda with 

 some acid ingredient. When the powders are moistened, these two 

 substances unite and liberate carbon dioxid gas. To prevent the two 

 substances mentioned above uniting prematurely while the baking 

 powder is still in the package, owing to moisture in the atmosphere, 

 starch is usually employed as a filler. Some brands are claimed by 

 the manufacturers to contain no filler, but to consist exclusively of 

 sodium bicarbonate and the acid ingredient employed. 



