504 
Food  Preservatives. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\  November,  1904. 
When  the  authorities  charged  with  the  active  prosecution  of  food- 
adulteration  began  their  work  some  years  ago,  in  different  parts  of 
the  United  States,  they  found  some  of  the  above-mentioned  pre- 
servatives in  extensive  and  comparatively  long-established  use. 
The  question  as  to  wholesomeness  at  once  arose.  It  was  met  by 
different  authorities,  as  might  be  expected,  in  different  ways.  Some 
have  assumed  that  all  preservatives  of  ancient  origin  are  safe,  and 
all  of  modern  origin  are  unsafe.  Acting  on  this  decision,  some 
officials  have  established  the  broad  forbidding  of  all  preservatives 
except  salt,  vinegar  and  wood-smoke ;  others  have  permitted  lim- 
ited use  of  boric  and  benzoic  acids  and  their  sodium  salts.  Salicy- 
lic acid  has  been  generally  prohibited. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  these  distinctions  in  permission  are  founded 
upon  a  scientific  basis.  The  experimental  data  are  not  extensive, 
and  are  somewhat  one-sided ;  the  investigations  have  been  made 
with  the  modern,  or,  as  they  have  sometimes  been  called,  chemical 
preservatives.  If  we  accept  freely  the  published  results,  we  can  say, 
I  think,  merely  that  a  limited  amount  of  disturbance  of  function, 
may  be  attributed  to  the  most  used  of  the  modern  antiseptics. 
The  question,  in  my  opinion,  cannot  be  considered  as  placed  on  a. 
scientific  basis  until  all  forms  of  preserved  food  have  been  studied 
carefully  in  comparison.  It  is  probable  that  all  forms  of  preserved 
food  are  less  wholesome  than  fresh.  Even  the  cooking  of  proteid- 
foods  diminishes  their  digestibility.  Drying,  salting,  smoking  and 
pickling  have  probably  still  more  unfavorable  effects.  Experiences 
among  those  who  make  long  journeys  away  from  the  comforts  ot 
civilization,  who  must  rely  on  food  preserved  in  any  manner,  show 
amply  that  fresh  materials  have  some  special  nutritive  quality  that  is 
not  long  retained.  This  fact  is  abundantly  exemplified  in  the  his- 
tory of  navigation,  and  in  recent  experience  of  Alaskan  pioneers. 
The  action  of  certain  authorities  in  placing  the  older  preservatives 
on  a  permissible  list  and  the  newer  ones  on  a  forbidden  list  is  purely 
arbitrary.  It  has  been,  in  most  cases,  done  without  scientific  bases ; 
indeed,  in  some  respects,  in  defiance  of  the  known  data.  Certainly, 
with  regard  to  salicylic  acid,  Kolbe's  long  experiment  on  himself 
should  receive  consideration.  It  is  true  that  experts  can  be  easily 
secured  who  will  express  opinions  unfavorable  to  a  given  article, 
but  this  counts  for  nothing ;  experts  can  be  found  ready  to  give 
opinions  either  way. 
