Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations

by Harvey Washington Wiley

Marmalade.

—The term “marmalade” is applied to a special character of fruit product prepared in the same manner as jam in which the fruit is not so thoroughly pulped. The orange is a fruit which is used very extensively for making marmalade,—an orange marmalade, in other words, is only a fruit product of the character of jam and made after the same manner. This class of fruit products is so nearly the same as jam as not to need any special description.

Adulteration.

—The adulterations to which the marmalades are subjected are practically the same as for jams. In the study of marmalade in the Bureau of Chemistry 96 samples were examined. Of this number 86 were commercial products and 10 were prepared in the laboratory of the Bureau. Of the commercial articles 18 samples, somewhat less than 20 percent, contained no glucose. Fifty-three contained glucose, but were not so labeled, and 15 were labeled as compound or artificial. The percentage of solids in these products varied within a wide limit. The maximum percentage of solids found was 82.46 and the minimum 53.43. The average percentage of ash in the marmalade not containing glucose was 0.32, and the average alkalinity of the ash as measured by a standard acid was 0.26. In the adulterated marmalade containing glucose the average percentage of ash was 0.59, almost as great as in the pure article, and the average alkalinity was 0.29, somewhat greater than in the pure article.

Compound Jams and Jellies.

—A word should be said respecting the meaning of the word “compound” as attached to fruit products, especially jams and jellies, since it is a word which has been selected as somewhat more euphonious than the term “adulterated” or “misbranded.” So true is this that the word “compound” when placed upon a food product indicates at once to the purchaser that the article is a mixture or substitute. The term, therefore, indicates the character of sophistication. To such an extent may this be practiced that the actual material named in connection with the word “compound” may be absent from the mixture altogether. The term arose first on account of the desire of the manufacturer to leave off of the labels a statement of the exact composition of the contents of the package and to substitute a word of less significance, and at the same time to comply with certain state laws which require that all fruit products containing glucose be labeled with the word “compound” or some similar term. A much simpler and more direct method would be to make the label a truthful one, indicating, as nearly as possible, the character of the product. A compound generally means a jelly or jam made without the fruit named, that is, largely of glucose. It also indicates, as a rule, that the product is artificially colored and artificially flavored. In these cases the word “imitation” is to be preferred, inasmuch as the mixtures bearing the word “compound” can only be regarded in reality as a mixture of unlike substances.

General Conclusions.

—In regard to fruit products made by boiling with sugar, the general statement that they should be true to name and free from artificial colors, preservatives, or other adulterations apparently covers the whole ground. If it is desired to make a cheaper article for the benefit of consumers of small means, the principles which should guide the manufacturers are plain. The materials which are added should be wholesome and free of deleterious or injurious matter. The poor man, while entitled to get a cheaper article, is likewise entitled, as well as the rich man, to protection against deleterious substances. In the present state of our knowledge, glucose is not regarded by the majority of hygienists as a substance injurious to health. If it be injurious it is due more to a lack of care in manufacture than to any inherent properties. Pure glucose, being simply a hydrolyzed production of starch, cannot be regarded as a substance injurious to health. The objections to glucose which have been legitimately made are due to the fact that the acids which have been used in converting the starch and also the sulfurous acid which has been used in bleaching the product have not been entirely removed. It appears that the glucose used for food purposes can be freed from all objection by inverting the starch with which it is made with diastase and avoiding the use of all bleaching reagents. The glucose thus made would not be water-white, nor is it desirable for edible purposes that it be so, since it is always, except, perhaps, in the manufacture of certain candies, used in connection with naturally colored food products. There is no reason to believe that a glucose made as above and possessing, as it naturally would, an amber or reddish color would be made less desirable than a product which is absolutely colorless. This suggestion, therefore, is made to the manufacturer of glucose for edible purposes in the interest of public health and to avoid any possible condemnation of the glucose by reason of the method of manufacture, namely, that the use of acid in the manufacture of glucose be discontinued, that malt or some other form of diastase be substituted and that bleaching, except by passing through animal charcoal, be entirely omitted. The product made in this way would be free from the objections which have been, and may in the future still be, urged with reason against the use of the article at the present time.

Preserves.

—The term “preserves” is a general one which is applied in common language to a preparation of fruit preserved by boiling with sugar until complete sterilization is accomplished. The term in its general application includes the different varieties of preserves which have already been mentioned, namely, jams, marmalades, etc. It must also be extended to include the class of fruit products known as jellies, though, as a rule, it is not made so comprehensive in meaning, inasmuch as the jelly does not contain any of the solid particles of fruit. Perhaps there is no other part of the food-manufacturing industry which is so universally practiced in the household as the manufacture of preserves. Not only is this true of farm life in the country but also of those living in the city. The sterilization of fresh fruit without the use of sugar is not nearly so common as the making of the domestic supply of preserved fruits in the sense above mentioned. There is only one sufficient reason for the preparation of such foods, namely, the suspicion which attaches to the manufactured article appearing upon the market. So universal has been the custom of artificially coloring the product, and of the use of glucose and preservatives, as to create a general impression among consumers that the articles thus purchased in the open market are adulterated and misbranded. When these preparations are made in the household we are at least assured of the genuineness of the product. It must be admitted that the art and technique of manufacture cannot possibly be so perfect in the home as in the large factories. It follows as a necessary consequence that such goods as those indicated ought to be better and cheaper and more readily preserved if made in large manufacturing centers than when made at home. Even those who make the genuine product suffer in common with those who make adulterated articles, since the suspicion of adulteration attaches to the whole output. The practice of domestic manufacture will undoubtedly continue until the public is fully convinced that better and cheaper articles can be purchased in the open market.