1880 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Ill 
Alum in Our Bread. 
A Chemical Examination of Baking Powders and its Re¬ 
mits — The Use of Alum and its Deleterious Effects — 
Opinions of Medical Experts—Prompt Action of the New 
York and Brooklyn Boards of Health, etc. 
The N. Y. Evening Post has been giving this subject 
some attention, and has published the result of some re¬ 
markable investigations, which are worthy the close at¬ 
tention of thoughtful people. From its recent exposure 
of the use of burnt alum in some brands of baking pow¬ 
ders, in place of cream of tartar, the following extracts 
are mainly taken:—Pursuing the investigation of the 
quality of the food sold in this city, the representative of 
the Evening Post took up baking powder as one of the 
articles in most general use in our households. It is used 
by nearly every family in the city, and it is naturally of 
great Importance to those who eat the food made with it 
to know whether it contains anything injurious to health. 
There are certain constituents of good baking powder 
which may be regarded as entirely free from danger. 
They consist of pure grape cream of tartar, bicarbonate 
of soda, and carbonate of ammonia. The cream of tartar 
unites with the other two ingredients, and carbonic acid 
gas is thrown off, producing the same effect as yeast in a 
much shorter time. It has been found, however, that 
alum will also unite with the other two articles, and car¬ 
bonic acid gas will be produced. As alum costs less than 
three cents, while cream of tartar costs more than thirty 
cents a pound. It is easy to see why alnm is substituted 
for the latter by some baking powder manufacturers. 
The Evening Post's representative obtained the follow¬ 
ing expressions of opinion as to its effect when alum is 
used in baking powder, from some physicians of New 
York of the highest reputation and ability: Dr. William 
A. Hammond, formerly Surgeon-General United States, 
of No. 43 West Fifty-fourth street, expressed himself as 
perfectly certain of the injurious effects of alum, whether 
used alone to whiten bread, or as an adulterant of baking 
powder. “ The hydrate of alumina,” Dr. Hammond said, 
“ would certainly be injurious to the mucous membrane. 
It would inevitably tend to constipate the bowels and in¬ 
terfere with digestion ; and anything that tends to render 
the albumen of the bread insoluble, and therefore takes 
away from its nutritive value, is injurious.” 
Dr. Sayre, former President of the Board of Health, 
said to one of the representatives of the New York press: 
“ After the oxperiments in this line by Liebig and other 
distinguished chemists, and vivisectors with alum on 
cats, degs, and other animals, with the published results, 
we may well ask what is the use of such experiments if 
we do not apply them to practice in the preservation of 
human life and health ? The Board of Health should see 
to this.” Dr. Waller, Chemist for the New York Board 
of Health, when asked by a Sun reporter as to the injuri¬ 
ous effects of alum, replied: “ You know what the effect 
of alnm is when you take some of it in your mouth ; well, 
that is just the effect it has upon the coats of the 
stomach.”—The analysis of the various baking powders, 
as officially reported by the Brooklyn Board, reveals only 
two brands containing alum being sold in that city— 
Patapsco and Dooley’s. As to the cream of tartar pow¬ 
ders, the same report mentions the Royal Baking Powder 
as free from alnm or any other injurious substance. 
There are probably more than five hundred kinds of bak¬ 
ing powder manufactured in this country. Through Dr. 
Henry A. Mott, the well-known chemist, one of the niost 
competent, trustworthy, and careful experts of this coun¬ 
try, the following analyses were obtained, showing the 
presence of alum in large quantities in many of the bak¬ 
ing powders having a wide sale. Dr. Mott kindly fur¬ 
nished not only the results of his own analyses, but also 
those of several chemists of high professional standing, 
including Professor Henry Morton, President Stevens 
Institute of Technology; Professor R. W. Schedler; Dr. 
Stillwell, analytical chemist, this city. 
Dr. Mott’s report is as follows: 
Dear Sir: —In accordance with your request, 1 herewith 
embody the results of the analysis of baking powders 
procured during the past three months, in all of which 
aium was found as an ingredient: 
“PATAPSCO,”. Contains Alum 
(Smith, Hanway & Co., Baltimore, Md.) 
“DOOLEY’S."...Contains Alum 
(Dooley & Brother, New York.) 
“ CHARM,”.Contains Alum 
(Rohrer, Christian & Co., St. Louis.) 
ANDREWS' “REGAL,”. .Contains Alum 
(C. E. Andrews & Co., Milwaukee.) 
“QUEEN,”.Contains Alum 
(Bennett & Sloan, New Haven, Ct.) 
“ VIENNA,”.Contains Alum 
(Church & Co., New York City.) 
“ ORIENT,”..Contains Alum 
(Crouse, Walworth & Co., Syracuse, N. Y.) 
“AMAZON.” .Contains Alnm 
(Erskine & Erskine, Louisville, Ky.) 
“ GILLETT'S,”.Contains Alum 
(Gillet, McCulloch & Co., Chicago.) 
“ TWIN SISTERS,”.Contains Alum 
(Union Chemical Works, Chicago, III.) 
"INVINCIBLE,”. Contains Alum 
(Snyder Brothers & Co., Cincinnati.) 
“KING,". Contains Alnm 
“ WHITE LILY,". Contains Alum 
(Jewett & Shermau Co., Milwaukee, Wis.) 
“MONARCH,”.Contains Alum 
(Ricker, Crorabie & Co., Milwaukee, Wis.) 
“ ONE SPOON,”... Contains Alum 
(Taylor Manufacturing Co., St. Louis, Mo.) 
“ IMPERIAL,”. Contains Alum 
(Sprague, Warner <fc Griswold, Chicago.) 
“HONEST,”....;.Contains Alum 
(Schoch & Wechsler, St. Paul, Minn.) 
“ ECONOMICAL,”.Contains Alum 
(Spencer Brothers & Co., Chicago, Ill.) 
“EXCELSIOR,”.Contains Alum 
(L. E. Taylor, Chicago, Ill.) 
“CHARTRES,”. .Contains Alum 
(Thomson & Taylor, Chicago.) 
“GRANT’S,”. .Contains Alum 
(J. C. Grant, Philadelphia.) 
“ GIANT,”.Contains Alum 
(W. F. McLaughlin, Chicago.) 
“QUEEN,”. ....Contains Alum 
(Star Chemical Works, Chicago.) 
“ PEERLESS,”. Contains Alum 
(Marden’s, Rochester, New York.) 
“ZIETLOW’S” SUPERLATIVE.Contains Alum 
(New York.) 
“RISING SUN,".Contains Alum 
(C. O. Strntz & Co., Chicago.) 
“ SIBLEY, DUDLEY & CO.’S,”.Contains Alum 
(Chicago.) 
“ LAKESIDE,”. Contains Alum 
(C. O. Perrine, Chicago.) 
“FRENCH,”.Contains Alum 
(Thomson & Taylor, Chicago.) 
“DONNOLLY & CO.’S,”.Contains Alum 
Preminm Yeast Powder, (San Francisco). 
“ CHAMPAGNE,”.Contains Alum 
(J. S. Taylor & Co., Sau Francisco.) 
Yours, very truly, 
HENRY A. MOTT, Jr., Ph. D„ E. M. 
New York, Jan. 5,1879. 
Having obtained the foregoing, the reporter called at 
the office of the Royal Baking Powder Company, No. 171 
Duane street, the manufacturers of the Royal Baking 
Powder, a brand which the report of the Brooklyn Health 
Board revealed to be pure. Mr. J. C. Hoagland, Presi¬ 
dent of the Company, gave the following replies: 
Reporter—" What is the cause of the present excite¬ 
ment about baking powders ? ” 
Mr. Hoagland—“I t is due to the substitution of alum 
for cream of tartar by some manufacturers.” 
Reporter—“ Have you ever used any alum in the 
Royal Baking Powder?” 
Mr. Hoagland—" No, sir.” 
Reporter—” But I find that it is used by others. 
What is it used for?” 
Mr. Hoagland—“I presume because it is cheaper than 
cream of tartar, which it replaces.” 
Reporter—“Y ou would, therefore, obtain a larger 
profit by using alum than by using cream of tartar?” 
Mr. Hoagland—” Yes, for a time such substitution 
would more than double our profits.” 
Reporter—“W hy, then, do you not use it?” 
Mr. Hoagland—“F or two reasons: first, the authori¬ 
ties on this point are so positive and conclusive that the 
continued use of alum in this way is dangerous to health, 
that we could not conscientiously use it; if others choose 
to take risks on the public health, we shall not follow 
them, preferring to continue the use of pure grape cream 
of tartar, which is demonstrated to he wholesome; second, 
our experience during twenty years has satisfied us that 
that which is best for the public is best for us. We can 
not afford to peril the reputation of the Royal Baking 
Powder.” 
Reporter—“C an you give me any information in re¬ 
gard to cream of tartar, how and where you procure it?” 
Mr. Hoagland—“ Certainly I There are several sub¬ 
stitutes or patent ‘ cream of tartars ’ on the market, made 
principally from 4erra alba or burnt bones, the latter be¬ 
ing treated with strong corrosive acids, bnt the cream of 
tartar we use is a fruit acid—it exists naturally in the 
Grape—and during fermentation of the tart wines in 
France.it is deposited on the sides'and bottom of the 
casks. In its unrefined state it is called crude tartar or 
argols, and is taken from the cask after the wine has 
been drawn off. Each farmer has his crop of it according 
to the amount of wine he has produced. This company 
is the largest user of cream of tartar in the world, and we 
have our agents in various parts of Europe collecting the 
crude material. It is imported into this country as argols, 
and then subjected to a higher process of refining, by 
which it is purified especially for our purposes, forming 
pure white crystals, which we grind to powder, and in 
this form we use it as an ingredient of our Baking Pow¬ 
der.” 
Other interviews were had, all to the same general 
effect, namely, that alum is used by many manufacturer* 
to cheapen their powder, and enable them to undersell 
their competitors. Many of them are probably ignorant 
of the evil effects of alum on the system, while others are 
indifferent so long as they make money, and no one can 
be said to have dropped dead from taking their powder. 
By this exposure of the injurious effects of alum in 
Baking Powder, the public must not be frightened from 
using balling powders when properly made. In the re¬ 
port of Professor Elwyn Waller, Assistant Health In¬ 
spector of New York Board of Health, on Baking Pow¬ 
der in 1872, the public are recommended to purchase ona 
of the well-known brands of baking powder, in prefer¬ 
ence to purchasing the cream of tartar separately, as this 
substance was found in all cases to be adulterated. The 
inspector further states that when the mixture is made 
on a larger scale in a factory, and the baking powder is 
put up in packages ready for use, the manufacturer ex¬ 
periences no difficulty in securing good materials free 
from adulteration. 
Dr. Mott, the Government chemist, in his review of the 
subject in the Scientific American, makes special mention 
of having analyzed the Royal Bakfng Powder, and fonnd 
it composed of wholesome materials. He also advises 
the public to avoid purchasing baking powders as sold 
loose or in bulk, as he found by analyses of many sam¬ 
ples that the worst adulterations are practised in this 
form. The label and trade-mark of a well known and 
responsible manufacturer, he adds, is the best protection 
the public can have.— Harper’s Weekly. 
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