Il6 BACTERIA AND FOOD 



Carefully canned and properly sealed foods contain no bac- 

 teria and remain in good condition indefinitely. Carelessly 

 canned foods contain bacteria and spoil quickly unless protected 

 against the telltale bacteria by preservatives. Unscrupulous 

 dealers add to poorly made catsups and chowchows, chemicals 

 such as alum, salicylic acid, and benzoate of soda. So effec- 

 tive are these chemicals in preventing bacterial growth, that 

 catsup may be left exposed in warm rooms for weeks and months 

 without spoiling. Homemade catsup, however carefully made, 

 spoils quickly if opened and left standing in a warm room, be- 

 cause there are no preservatives in it to prevent the growth of 

 the bacteria which drift from the air. 



Stale meat is protected against decay and given a bright 

 fresh color by sulphurous acid. Old and partly decayed meat is 

 sometimes chopped and mixed with sulphites and made into 

 attractive looking but really bad sausage. Boric and benzoic 

 acids are also used to disguise poor meats or to take the place of 

 ice in preserving meats. Most of the chemicals which destroy 

 bacteria in food are injurious to man. Some cause immediate 

 illness by poisoning, others work more slowly, but cause serious 

 illness in time by interfering with digestion and the proper 

 discharge of waste matter from the body. 



The safest preservatives are those long known and used by 

 our ancestors, salt, sugar, vinegar, spices. Salted mackerel, 

 vinegar beets, and pickles are preserved foods, but they are none 

 the less wholesome. Practically all preservatives other than 

 salt, sugar, vinegar, and spices interfere earlier or later with 

 appetite, digestion, and excretion, and should be entirely for- 

 bidden by law. Many states allow dangerous preservatives 

 because the manufacturers claim that the amount used is 

 too small to injure the health. But even the smallest amount 

 becomes dangerous when eaten in many different foods. The 

 quantity of preservative in an individual helping of catsup or 



