CARMODY — FOOD ADULTERATION. 
209 
of highly coloured preserved peas. It is an extraordinary fact 
that they are not allowed to be sold in the country where they 
are largely manufactured, and are prepared only for exportation. 
This remark applies also to wines containing salicylic acid, and 
is a great blot in the Food Laws of the countries which allow so 
objectionable a practice. 
We largely consume aerated waters, and as these may acci- 
dentally contain lead and antimony they are deserving of notice. 
Lead is a cumulative poison, and small doses taken regularly 
may cause serious mischief, or may even prove fatal. The lead 
is derived from the pipes of the machinery, and the antimony 
from the rubber rings used in the bottles. Some manufacturers 
use silver pipes to prevent the dangerous lead contamination. 
Another form of deleterious adulteration is the use of pre- 
servatives in perishable foods or drinks. In defence of their use, 
it is urged that they are present only in a very small quantity, 
less than would be given in medicinal doses. 
But it becomes a very serious matter indeed when you are 
regularly and unconsciously consuming even infinitesimal doses 
in various articles of food. Your preserved milk and peas, y° ur 
jams and wines, and your butter may each contain salicylic acid. 
The use of salicylic acid is absolutely prohibited in foods or 
drinks sold in France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Spain. In 
England its use is not prohibited unless it is present in excessive 
quantities. 
I have enumerated the points of greatest importance m 
connection with food adulteration. I will now briefly recapitu- 
late the directions in which food adulteration laws have prove 
beneficial : — 
1. They protect the purchaser against fraudulent adultera- 
tion— the principle being that the purchaser has a rig it o e 
supplied with the article he asks and pays for. 
2. They protect the public health from injurious adulterants. 
3. They protect indirectly the honest trader from unfair 
competition ; 
4. And indirectly also the manufactures and agricultural 
Industries of a nation. 
The practical working of these laws is essentially 
m its character. If you read the annual reports of any Anaiys , 
you will find that the principal part of his work consis s in 
examining the foods largely consumed by the poorer classes, ana 
