24 



PURE LEAF LARD. 



The commissioner says that the probable amount of pure leaf lard 

 prepared in New Jersey would not reach 1,000 pounds. 



TEA. ^ 



Of tea he observes that : 



The results obtained show that, while there is no adulteration, there is large 

 amount of inferior and debased tea sold in the State. The United States law pre- 

 vents the importation of the adulterated article, but much that comes to this country 

 is of very poor quality, having little of the flaw>r of the true leaf. 



SPICES. 



On the subject of spices he says : 



The following facts are deduced from the results of the investigations : (1) A few 

 dealers put up nothing but absolutely pure spices, and every package examined bear- 

 ng these dealers' names proved to be of excellent quality. (2) Several spice-mills 

 and wholesale dealers put two grades on the market one pure the other adulterated. 

 (3) Many houses selling spices sell nothing but adulterated articles. (4) Spices sold 

 in bulk are almost invariably adulterated. (5) The price paid the retailer is no 

 guaranty of the quality. (C) The retail dealer and the consumer are jointly respon- 

 sible for the adulteration the former by encouraging the sale of cheap and impure 

 articles, the latter in trying to get spices at a less price than will warrant the sale of 

 pure articles. 



BAKING POWDERS. 



On this subject he says : 



The greater number of the inferior grades of bakingpow ders were only to be had 

 at stores patronized by poor people, or those of moderate means, hence we are forced 

 to believe that any fraud in these articles is perpetrated at the expense of those least 

 able to bear it.* 



A baking powder should answer to all of the following requirements: (1) It should 

 generate the maximum amount of gas. (2) It should contain no unhealthful ingre- 

 dients. (3) It should leave in the loaf no unhealthful residue. (4) The elements 

 should be combined in such proportions that the residue is neutral in reaction. t 



BRANDY AND WHISKY. 



Of 43 samples of brandy analyzed 6 only answered to the tests re- 

 quired by the United States Pharmacopea, and 37 were inferior. The 

 report says : 



The difficulty of obtaining p-ure brandy of a proper age for medicinal use is very 

 great. This is especially true of the imported article, while that made in California 

 is, as a rule, of inferior quality and not sufficiently aged and bland to be used in cases 

 of illness. The following statement, made in the United States Consular Reports, 

 November, 1887, page 333, is interesting in this connection : 



" The term ' brandy ' seems to be no longer applied to a spirit produced by the fer- 

 mentation of grapes, but to a complex mixture, the alcohol of which is derived from 

 grain, potatoes, or, worst of all, the refuse of the beet-root refineries. It would seem 

 to be fairly impossible at present to purchase a pure cognac, as each individual pro- 



* Report New Jersey Commissioner, page 54. 

 t Ibid. , page 57. 



