PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



" What a Man Eats He Is." 



Edited by C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D. 

 Author of 'On Citraconic, Itaconic and Mesaconic Acids," "Fish as Food,'' etc. 



CANNING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 



"The art of preserving foodstuffs in air- 

 tight glass and tin vessels was invented by 

 a Frenchman, M. Appert, in 1810," says 

 Professor McCarthy in a recent bulletin of 

 the North Carolina Board of Agriculture. 

 "Appert was a cook in a wealthy family. 

 His culinary experience taught him the 

 great value of such a process. The can- 

 ning process is based on the scientific prin- 

 ciple that fermentation is due to living 

 germs or bacteria. When the foodstuff is 

 enclosed in an air-tight vessel and heated 

 enough to kill these germs there can be no 

 fermentation until the can is opened. 



"The canning industry of the United 

 States has increased year by year. The 

 census of 1890 showed the annual output to 

 be 600,000,000 cans, worth about $48,000,- 

 000. About 1,000,000 persons were em- 

 ployed in handling the goods and 1,500,000 

 acres of land in growing the raw material. 

 Since 1890, the canning industry has in- 

 creased at least 50 per cent. There is 

 among the general public a belief that there 

 is something mysterious in the commercial 

 canning process. Canners themselves try 

 to conceal their methods under fanciful or 

 ambiguous names. But the principles of 

 canning are simple and are known and 

 practiced by every housewife who puts up 

 a few jars of fruit from her own garden. 



"Some germs are difficult to kill in the 

 spore stage. Those should be heated to not 

 less than 240 deg. Fahr. one time, or to 212 

 deg. Fahr. 3 successive times. All the 

 common berry fruits, peaches, apples and 

 tomatoes are successfully sterilized in tin 

 cans by one heating, or process, at 212 deg. 

 Fahr. But green peas, corn and all animal 

 products require 240 deg. Fahr. to insure 

 safe keeping. The use of temperature 

 above 212 deg. Fahr. requires a strong 

 closed kettle or boiler. Of late years chem- 

 ical manufacturers have been urging can- 

 ners to use salicylic acid, borax and other 

 poisonous chemicals, sold under fancy and 

 misleading names, for preventing fer- 

 mentation in canned foods. Their use in 

 canned food is wholly unnecessary, and 

 in many States such use is illegal. The 

 uncontrolled use of antiseptics in food is 

 always dangerous to health. Cleanliness, 

 proper attention to sealing the cans and ex- 

 posure to sufficient heat will preserve 

 canned foods without the addition of any 

 chemicals whatsoever. Not even sugar is 

 essential to preservation of properly 

 canned food. 



"In practical canning it is found that the 



open-kettle process, which can not give a 

 temperature over 212 deg. Fahr., is the eas- 

 iest to manage and turns out the best 

 quality of goods. But the closed-kettle 

 process, which will give any desired tem- 

 perature, is more rapid and certain in its 

 results. When quantity is of more impor- 

 tance than quality, the closed kettle is pre- 

 ferred. In practically all large commer- 

 cial canneries the heat is applied by means 

 of steam. The usual plan is to have a coil 

 of perforated steam pipe in the bottom of 

 the kettle -or tank. Still many old fash- 

 ioned canning houses and small farm can- 

 neries use heavy iron kettles set in brick 

 and heated directly by coal or wood fire. 

 The furnace process and outfit is much 

 cheaper than the steam heat outfit. W r e 

 recommend steam heat and open-kettle 

 process for berries, fruits and tomatoes. 

 All other vegetables, as well as meats and 

 fish, require the closed-kettle process." 



DRIED BANANAS. 



Bananas cut in slices and dried or evap- 

 orated are now offered for sale in consid- 

 erable quantities. They are used for mak- 

 ing cakes, puddings, etc. A recent num- 

 ber of the Journal of the Jamaica Agricul- 

 tural Society makes the following state- 

 ments regarding dried bananas which are 

 exported in considerable quantity to the 

 London markets : 



"Of all these new products being pushed 

 successfully on the market, none deserves 

 to meet with a readier demand than the 

 banana. It compares favorably with the 

 fig, date, and raisin, to which as an article 

 of food it is most closely allied. It can 

 be eaten as bought, just as the dried date 

 or fig can, or cooked in a great variety of 

 ways ; this proving a welcome change, es- 

 pecially during the winter months. The 

 price is within the reach of all, the best 

 quality being sold at 6d. a box of 15 

 to 20 bananas, while cheaper sorts .are 

 about 4d., and are packed in large wooden 

 boxes like dates. Enterprising hawkers 

 are often met selling them from their 

 handcarts. Those sold in the cardboard 

 packages are well worth the extra money, 

 as they are always fresh and clean. The 

 dried banana offers one advantage over the 

 fig: it contains no seeds to irritate the 

 teeth. In fact, the whole of it is food, 

 there being no skin, stalk, stone, or seed 

 to waste. 



"Some years ago I stayed with a friend 

 at liis home in the Transvaal, South Af- 



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