8 FOOD ADULTERATION AND METHODS FOR DETECTION. 



untrue. Deleterious substances are doubtless sometimes added to 

 foods. At the same time the word "poison" has a very strong and 

 distinct significance and should not be applied to any of the substances 

 ordinarily added to foods, except in the sense that they are harmful. 

 The word " poisoner" signifies a person who intentionally and delib- 

 erately administers an article intended to result fatally, or at least very 

 disastrously to health. 



We do not for a moment admit that any manufacturer of foods adds 

 to his products sii^st^ces which he believes will be injurious to health. 

 There is no reason for attributing such motives to so large and impor- 

 tant aclass of our -citizens, and their business sagacity in other directions 

 precludes the possibility of shortsightedness of so serious a nature. 

 We can not do less than assume that manufacturers who depend for 

 their success upon the reputation of their brands will add nothing 

 which the} 7 believe will make their products seriously detrimental to 

 health. It is not to their interest to shorten the lives of their customers 

 nor to impair their appetites. We must assume that they honestly 

 believe the products they employ to be wholesome. Therefore, in 

 judging of the wholesomeness of preservatives and other substances 

 added in the preparation of foods, the subject must be treated in a con- 

 servative manner and no criminal or even dishonest motives attributed 

 to those who differ with us on the subject. 



"ADULTERATION" DEFINED. 



During recent years there has been a tendency to confuse the minds 

 of many by an incorrect use of certain words frequently used in the 

 discussion of foods. It is the policy of some manufacturers to limit 

 the word "adulterated" to foods to which have been added substances 

 of lower value than the foods themselves with the intention of increas- 

 ing the weight or volume. This limitation is certainly not justified by 

 the English language nor by the facts, and such a restriction of the 

 term is entirely unwarranted. The word "adulterated" properly 

 describes a food to which any noncondimontal foreign substance, not 

 properly constituting a portion of the food, has been added. The fact 

 that the added substance may be at times of a greater commercial value 

 than the food itself has no bearing on the question. Conversely, the 

 word "pure" is properly applicable to foods that are unmixed with 

 any foreign substance. It may be wholesome or unwholesome, but 

 this property is not indicated by the word " pure" or "adulterated." 

 This definition is not, of course, complete. According to the laws of 

 many of the State* ;l food is declared to be adulterated under the fol- 

 lowing condition.-*: 



First, if any substance or substaixvs hav- UTM mixed with it, so as to lower or 

 depreciate or injuriously afiWt it> quality, strvnrth. or purity; si-mud, if any infe- 

 rior or cheaper substance or substances have been substituted wholly or in part for 



