Nov.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
3i7 
Beef  tea  was  once  considered  to  be  a very 
concentrated  and  easily  digested  food,  and  was 
given  to  invalids  in  small  quantities  with  full 
confidence  in  its  great,  almost  miraculous,  nourish- 
ing power.  It  has  long  since  been  degraded  very 
nearly  to  the  rank  of  a mere  stimulant  and  is 
never  intelligently  administered  except  when  accom- 
panied by  an  ample  amount  of  nourishing  food.  As 
a concentrated  and  easily  digestible  food  for  in- 
valids cocoa  preparations  are  already  beginning  to 
share  the  same  fate ; as  material  for  the  prepa- 
ration of  pleasant,  exhilarating  and  slightly  nutritive 
beverages  for  both  weak  and  strong,  the  career  of 
cocoa  preparations  is  just  begun.  Moreover,  their 
progress  in  popular  favor  will  keep  pace  with  the 
manufacturers’  appreciation  of  this  fact. 
The  results  of  these  investigations  emphasize  in 
many  ways  the  many  pleas  that  have  been  made 
for  the  establishment  of  standards  of  purity,  strength 
and  quality  for  foods — for  some  certain  means  of 
enabling  the  public  to  know  the  strength,  quality  and 
degree  of  purity  of  the  food  materials  on  the 
market. — Oil,  Faint  and  Drug  Reporter. 
TEA,  COFFEE  AND  COCOA  ADULTERATIONS. 
The  Chemical  Division  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture has  for  some  time  been  engaged  in  making 
analyses  of  tea,  coffee  and  cocoa  preparations  as 
sold  by  retailers  in  leading  cities.  There  were  sixty- 
three  analyses  of  tea  bought  in  Washington,  New 
York  and  Baltimore,  covering  all  grades,  including 
India  and  Ceylon  tea  of  special  brands.  The  report 
says  of 
TEA. 
As  nearly  as  possible  all  the  grades  of  tea  on  the 
market  are  represented  in  this  work. 
Many  of  these  samples  are  of  very  inferior  qual- 
ity, but  neither  the  analytical  nor  microscopical  data 
give  positive  evidence  of  the  addition  of  spent  or 
foreign  leaves. 
A large  number  of  the  samples  examined  by  the 
writer  were  faced.  With  the  present  ideas  in  re- 
gard to  this  practice,  it  cannot  be  considered  a 
form  of  adulteration,  but  facing  should  be  condemned 
On  account  of  its  use  in  making  inferior  teas  appear 
to  be  of  a superior  quality. 
The  analytical  and  other  work  indicates  that  there 
are  few  if  ally  spurious  teas  on  the  market.  The 
range  in  quality  is  undoubtedly  very  great,  many 
samples  deserving  to  be  termed  “tea”  simply  because 
they  are  composed  of  the  leaves  of  the  The  a,  and 
not  through  the  many  pleasant  qualities  which  we 
usually  associate  with  the  beverage  of  this  name. 
With  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  United  States 
adulteration  act,  the  consumer  is  reasonably  well 
protected,  so  far  as  securing  the  genuine  leaf  is 
concerned,  but  of  course  has  no  protection  from  the 
sale  of  inferior  teas. 
COFFEE. 
Of  course,  112  samples  were  analyzed,  of  v,  ’ Lh 
thirty  were  ground,  sixty  of  whole  roasted  beans, 
three  coffee  extracts,  eighteen  of  green  coffee,  one 
coffee  substitute. 
But  three  of  the  samples  of  whole  roasted  coffees 
were  adulterated.  Knowing  the  large  amount  of 
imitation  coffee  that  is  on  the  markets,  this  result 
was  unexpected.  Three  samples  each  contained  imita- 
tion coffee. 
The  imitation  coffee  in  one  case  was  introduced  by 
the  roaster.  It  is  very  probable  that  roasted  coffees 
■are  adulterated  to  a very  much  greater  extent  for 
sale  in  packages  in  districts  not  readily  accessible  to 
a roaster.  Large  quantities  of  package  coffees  are 
sold  in  Kansas.  One  sample  was  roasted  with  a large 
amount  of  a glazing  material. 
Coffees  are  sometimes  treated  with  sugar  or  syrup, 
then  roasted.  When  the  caramel  formed  on  roasting 
amounts  to  an  appreciable  weight,  it  should  be  con- 
sidered an  adulterant. 
A — Coffee  Roasted  With  Sugar. 
I. 
II. 
III. 
Per- 
Per 
Per 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
Moisture 
0.91 
10.46 
4.41 
Calculated  on  the  dry  sub- 
stance : 
Soluble  matter  adhering 
to  the  beans 
7.72 
7.59 
5.91 
Reducing  sugar,  calcu- 
lated  as  dextrose 
1.49 
1.49 
-91 
Total  water  soluble 
matter 
28.12 
27.71 
26.07 
Fat  (volatile  oil,  ether 
extract) 
12.62 
12.34 
9.45 
— 

— , 
B. — Coffee  Roasted 
With 
Sugar. 
I. 
II. 
III. 
Per 
Per- 
Per 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
Moisure 
3.14 
2.73 
2.79 
. Calculated  on  the  dry  subs- 
tance : 
Soluble  matter  adhering 
to  the  beans 
4.77 
4.15 
4.43 
Reducing  sugar  present 
calculated  as  dextrose 
.44 
.34 
.19 
. . ■ . 
. 

Total  water  soluble 
matter 
24.09 
21. SI 
25.97 
Fat  (volatile  oil,  ether 
extract) 
16.29 
13.44 
12.06 
The  large  percentage  of  moisture  retained  by  the 
glazed  coffee  and  the  decided  increase  in  the  soluble 
matters  adhering  to  the  beans-  must  certainly  prove 
of  considerable  profit  to  the  roaster  without  advantage 
to  the  consumer. 
It  is  probable  that  the  retail  dealer  is  not  usually 
directly  to  blame  in  foisting  imitation  coffee  upon  the 
market,  though  he  must  in  many  cases  know  that  he 
cannot  obtain  a good  merchantable  coffee  for  the  price 
he  is  paying.  In  most  cases  the  imitation  coffee  is 
probably  introduced  by  the  roaster.  The  price  paid 
for  roasting  coffees  is  usually  very  small  and  the  com- 
petition is  very  sharp.  A dishonest  roaster  can  so 
easily  increase  his  profits  by  the  addition  of  imitation 
coffee,  and  with  so  little  fear  of  detection,  that  he  is 
often  tempted  and  probaly  as  often  yields  to  tempta- 
tion. 
GhEEN  coffees. 
A large  number  of  green  coffees,  bought  on  the 
open  market,  were  examined,  all  of  which  were  geuuioe, 
I-  was  impossible  to  detect  cases  where  coffee  of  one 
grade  was  sold  for  that  of  another.  There  were  un» 
doubtedly  many  such  samples. 
GEOUND  COFFEES. 
Ground  coffees  afford  a very  wide  field  for  adul- 
terations. This  class  of  coffee  is  sold  largely  by  the 
smaller  dealers.  The  large  stores  Usually  grind  the 
coffee  to  order,  but  in  the  latter  case  ihe  presence 
of  the  purchaser  does  not  always  insure  pure  coffee* 
The  result  of  the  examination  of  thirty  samples 
of  ground  coffee  show  that  twenty-six  samples,  or  86| 
per  cent,  of  the  samples  examined,  weie  adulterated. 
One  sample,  sold  as  ground  Rio,  contained  no  coffee' 
at  all.  The  price  paid  for  Borne  of  the  samples 
was  certainly  high  enough  to  have  insured  a pure 
coffee. 
SUBSTITUTES. 
Th9  number  of  ooffee  substitutes  on  the  market  is 
large.  Many  of  these  are  sold  under  this  name  and  others 
are  simply  designated  as  substitutes.  One  sample 
was  sold  as  a coffee  substitute.  It  is  composed  largely 
of  chicory  (60  to  75  per  cent.),  with  wheat  and  peas 
or  beans. 
There  is  no  objection  to  the  so-called  coffee  snbati* 
tntes,  provided  they  are  sold  as  such  and  do  not 
contain  harmful  ingredients.  All  substitutes  should 
be  sold  in  packages,  bearing  labels  distinctly  stating 
their  composition. 
The  report  Bays  the  examination  of  the  coffees  and 
coffee  preparations  oq  our  markets  shows  that  the 
