In a recently patented process for the production of non-alcoholic beer it is admitted that salt, gum arabic, quassia, a pepsin compound and meta-bisulphite of potassium, or another suitable drug, are some of the materials used in brewing the non-alcoholic product.
CHAPTER V.
BEER IS A HABIT FORMING DRUG
Eminent physicians ridicule the claim of the brewers that beer, even assuming that it were pure and unadulterated--and entirely free from poisonous drugs and chemicals--is a beverage of high food value and ranks with milk as a blood producer.
A bulletin issued by the Department of Health of the City of New York in relation to the question of alcohol as food states that ten cents worth of beer provides 240 calories of food energy, while ten cents worth of oatmeal will provide 3,720 calories.
There is no question that the indulgence in beer is merely an acquired habit. To those who have not cultivated it, its taste is generally repugnant.
Total abstinence for a while invariably cures the habit. I have been told by a number of former strong adherents to the cause of the brewers, residing in territory now "dry", that even they are wondering why they ever saturated their systems with beer. Physicians condemn its use and claim that the widespread idea that alcohol is a stimulant is wrong. Beer is fast becoming an outcast.
Fresh fruit juices, notably grape juice and apple cider, and other satisfying beverages, well flavored, with a considerable food value, are daily growing more popular and will take the place of beer.
"To rid the saloon of crime and vice would decrease the sale of beer"
CHAPTER VI.
WHY BEER IS NOT A FIT DRINK
FOR THE HOME
The alcoholic content of beer has been about four per cent. The alcoholic content of the quality of whiskey generally sold over the bar is about forty per cent--and frequently much less. It can therefore be readily seen that the quantity of alcohol contained in a large glass of beer, even with the recent slightly reduced alcoholic content, is equivalent to about that contained in an ordinary drink of whiskey, which is sufficient to intoxicate any person not accustomed to its use.