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. 



THE PRESERVATION OF FOODS. 



According to a recent report of the Ken- 

 tucky Experiment Station, the question of 

 most importance in the manufacture and 

 sale of foods is that of preservation, and 

 this problem presents the most tempting 

 field for adulteration to the otherwise hon- 

 est food manufacturer and producer. 



"As soon as the spark of life leaves the 

 animal, putrefaction begins ; as soon as 

 milk is exposed to a warm atmosphere it 

 commences to sour ; and when ripened 

 fruits or grains become bruised or exposed 

 to a moulding atmosphere decay sets in. 

 The best established theory is that the dis- 

 organization and decay of animal and vege- 

 table tissues and of milk and its products 

 are due to the action of ferments, or of 

 fermenting bacteria. The preservation of 

 food products depends on the suspension 

 of these decomposing bacteria or the coun- 

 teraction of their influence, and is accom- 

 plished in 4 general ways : cold storage, 

 sterilization, ripening and the preserving 

 influence of salt, sugar, vinegar or smoke. 

 Thus ice in the refrigerator and cold stor- 

 age system causes a low temperature, which 

 delays the decay of meat and souring of 

 milk ; meats, vegetables and fruit are ster- 

 ilized or heated to a degree hot enough to 

 kill these organisms and then canned; the 

 the fats and caseins of milk are ripened 

 into butter and cheese; fruits are pre- 

 served with sugar ; vegetables are pickled 

 with vinegar and salt ; hams and bacon are 

 cured with salt and smoke. Often 2 or 

 more of these methods are employed to 

 preserve a single article of food, and when 

 combined with clean systems they are rec- 

 ognized as the healthful and ideal methods 

 for preservation of food products. Salt 

 and vinegar, besides being used to pre- 

 serve the food, are relishes and stimulate 

 the flow of the digestive juices; their taste 

 makes them easily detected and when not 

 desired they can be declined. 



"These methods require skill and care to 

 execute, proper sanitation and cleanliness 

 in shipping and storage. Manufactured 

 goods sometimes remain on the shelf for 

 years before all the stock is sold. Foods 

 are often produced in unclean surround- 

 ings and handled caretessly. Such reasons, 

 with the tendency to imitate and to put on 

 the market articles of food without regard 

 to their quality, purity or food properties, 

 cause the use of antiseptics. 



"The antiseptics found in the foods re- 



cently analyzed at the Kentucky Experi- 

 ment Station were salicylic acid, benzoic 

 acid, boracic acid, saccharin and formalde- 

 hyde. These antiseptics act as a strong 

 paralyzant to the ferments in foods and 

 their lasting embalming properties make 

 them the surest method for food preserva- 

 tion, as well as the cheapest plan. 



"The more honest manufacturers make 

 use of them in small quantities ; others use 

 them without regard to quantity. These 

 antiseptics, varying in effect, have a dele- 

 terious influence on the human system and 

 their harmful effect in large quantities is 

 not honestly denied. 



It is claimed by the manufacturers who 

 use them, and also stated by some authori- 

 ties, that the use of antiseptics in small 

 quantities in foods is not harmful. There 

 is an overwhelming testimony from scient- 

 ists that these antiseptics are for various 

 reasons and in different degrees harmful 

 when taken into the system. Even those 

 who favor their use in small quantities agree 

 that their use should be made known to the 

 consumer. Whatever questions concerning 

 the use of antiseptics in foods are unsettled, 

 they supplant to some degree the cleanli- 

 ness and care necessary to produce whole- 

 some foods, cover deficiencies and cause 

 the use of many food articles of an un- 

 healthful character. The use of the more 

 harmful should be prohibited ; the use of 

 small quantities of those less harmful 

 should be rigidly restricted and only per- 

 mitted when the fact of their use is made 

 known to the actual consumer.. 



"Watching the various food products 

 with regard to antiseptics alone is a large 

 task, so extensively and recklessly are they 

 used in the numberless articles of food on 

 the market. Many food industries are 

 built on this principle of preserving foods 

 entirely with antiseptics. It is a wrong 

 principle and should be discouraged. The 

 representatives of such food factories pre- 

 sent many arguments and schemes to pro- 

 tect the profits which accrue from the sub- 

 stitution of a pinch of some antiseptic for 

 the more costly methods of ice, sugar, 

 cleanliness and care employed by the manu- 

 facturers of the best food articles. To cite 

 a fact, axiomatic of all drugs, that the sin- 

 gle instance of a mild antiseptic in the 

 minutest quantities has little effect in the 

 system, does not defend the reckless use 

 of antiseptics, a practice dangerous to the 

 public health." 



