CARMODY — FOOD ADULTERATION. 
207 
would be much greater, if adulteration had not been practised 
to the extraordinary — I might even say shameful— extent it is 
at present. What words are too strong to describe the sale as 
cacao of a mixture of starch and sugar with only 8 pei cen ■ 0 
real cacao 1 Most of the mixtures sold contain not more than 
25 per cent, of cacao, and the best brands do not go above 
50 per cent. Of the so-called pure cocoas I shall have somethin 0 
to say later on. 
The great naturalist, Linnaeus, was of opinion that cacao was 
a food fit for the gods, our modern teachers tell us that it is not 
fit food even for man. They tell us that nature made a hu^e 
mistake in putting so much fat into the cacao bean, that we 
must, dilute this enormous proportion of fat wi s arc i 
sugar, or express it from the bean, before we can prepare a p 
sentable beverage. In the long run, however, we s la pi 
find that nature made no mistake, and that the blame les 
ourselves because we have not discovered the proper way 
it. It has often struck me as a very singular fact that the 
people of tropical countries drink, and I suppose have iur * v 
centuries, pure cacao with all its fat, without tee mg an 
worse for it; and yet in cold climates, where fa., w 1L 
heat giver, would be a very desirable constituent of f°°d, the 
people complain that pure cacao disagrees with p i 
of the large quantity of fat it contains. Ant ye () f 
will consume at a meal a great deal more fa , m ^ - 
butter or bacon, than is contained in the stionges cup ‘ 
I think that we should hear fewer complaints of this sort, it it 
were generally understood that milk, and not wa er,^ t 
liquid to use in preparing the infusion Another po'n m sup port 
of the view that cacao fat is not the indigestible ^ £ 
is said to be, is that children do consume larger T^titms 0^ 
cacao fat in the form of chocolate creams tnan ls , c , ‘ , j ate 
cup of cacao, and yet they suffer no ill-effects. n . ’ , . , 
creams are generally recommended as the ea s 
sweets by the very people who condemn puie cacao , p 
"Whether it be false teaching or not adultemtors take taU 
advantage of the popular belief, and lnfirn e P al “ s „,.. m tities of 
the mixtures they sell shall not contain iut a short 
cacao. A well-known analyst, of large expenen , - ■ England 
time ago that the cacao mixtures comnuon y cons ^ e g xten . 
contained on an average 15 per cent, ot c e ■ nroducer 
sive adulteration works incalculable injury o ‘ cocoas and 
it is impossible to deny . The ^ of cacao pro- 
cocoa essences is less detrimental to the into 
ducers. So called pure cocoas contain no added ^ch or sugnr, 
hut consist of cacao from which half the fat has 
