ALUM IN FOODS. 



Alum, as such, is not present in the food when eaten. In the 

 process of baking, the alum and soda in baking powder break up and 

 recombine into several compounds. One product is the carbonic acid 

 gas, which does the work of leavening. This gas passes off, leaving 

 in the bread an aluminum compound and a compound called sodium 

 sulphate. Dr. Long concludes that the cathartic action of large resi- 

 dues from the alum and soda combination — for instance, the residue 

 left when the large dose of alum, 4 grams 1 (61.732 grains), was used — 

 must be considered objectionable when administered daily. But this 

 is much above the consumption in actual practice, and amounts of 

 alum not above 2 grams 2 (30.866 grains) a day — a liberal allowance — 

 do not appear to be harmful in any practical sense. Since the quan- 

 tities of aluminum compounds consumed with other foods are insig- 

 nificant compared with the quantities consumed in foods prepared 

 with baking powder, the findings from the study of baking powder 

 residues must be held to cover all cases. Keeping in mind that the 

 aluminum compounds actually in the food when consumed are com- 

 paratively inert, Dr. Long declares that "it can not be said that, 

 when mixed with foods in the small quantities actually considered 

 necessary, they add a poisonous or deleterious substance, or injur- 

 iously affect the quality of the food with which they are used." 



Dr. Taylor's conclusions agree in effect with those of his associates. 

 He says, "We have had, unquestionably, evidences of the catharsis 

 caused by the administration of large doses of baking powder." 

 With the large doses used in his experiments, the stools are increased 

 in weight and frequency, the movements are loose, and colic is apt 

 to attend the evacuations. This condition is the result of sodium 

 sulphate, which, though not an aluminum compound, is a residue of 

 the alum baking powder. But with very large doses of aluminum 

 compounds occasional dry colic may also be noted. 



"I personally," says Dr. Taylor, "do not believe that it would be 

 healthful for anyone, in camp or out of camp, to live upon a diet of 

 baking powder biscuits. I do not believe that the regular ingestion 

 of sodium sulphate in doses of from 3.5 to 5 grams 3 (54 to 77 grains) 

 per day, with the normal diet, resulting in distinct looseness of the 

 bowels, is a procedure to be recommended. Prolonged administra- 

 tion of saline cathartics even in small dose tends to leave behind a 

 condition of constipation; and it is certainly the experience of the 

 medical profession that the practice of the regular administration of 

 saline cathartics is not to be recommended. This aspect of the ques- 

 tion is of course not peculiar to aluminum baking powder, but applies 

 to all baking powders, since to a greater or less extent a saline cathartic 

 remains as the residue of the reactions of all known baking powders, 



1 Approximately equivalent to 4| level teaspoonfuls of alum baking powder. 



2 Approximately equivalent to 2J level teaspoonfuls of alum baking powder. 



3 One-eighth to one-sixth ounce of Glauber's salt. 



