CHAPTER XIV 



DANGERS FROM FOOD ADULTERATION, ALCOHOL, 



AND DRUGS 



Problems : To learn what adulterations are and how to avoid them 

 To learn the effect of stimulants and of narcotics in the body. 

 To find out whether alcohol is a food or a poison. 

 To learn the dangers connected with patent medicines and drugs. 



Laboratory Suggestions 



Laboratory demonstration. Some adulterations detected under the micro- 

 scope. 



Exercise. Some adulterations detected with chemicals. 



Demonstration. The effect of alcohol on white of egg. 



Demonstration. The effect of nicotine on living protozoa or living fish. 



Demonstration. Some patent medicines and their dangers. Use charts 

 prepared by American Medical Association. 



Pure Food Law. — In 1906 Congress passed a Pure Food and 

 Drug Act that defined adulteration and to some extent remedied 

 conditions in the preparation of foods that enter into interstate 

 commerce. Before the passage of this act, about half of nearly 

 2000 samples of food examined were shown to be adulterated. 

 To-day both adulteration and misbranding of food are forbidden 

 under severe penalties. 



What is Adulteration ? — The addition of some cheaper sub- 

 stance to a food, the subtraction of some valuable substance from 

 a food, or the addition of poisonous or decomposed substances to a 

 food, with a view to cheating the purchaser, is known as adul- 

 teration. Many foods which are artificially manufactured have in 

 the past been adulterated to such an extent as to be almost unfit 

 to eat, or even harmful. One of the commonest substitutions is 

 cheap grape sugar (glucose) for the more expensive cane sugar. 

 Glucose, manufactured from corn, is a good food and is not a 

 harmful adulterant. It is used largely in candy making. Alum is 



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