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

Under [adulterations] the question of what is harmful or hurtful in such material will be more fully discussed.

Method of Manufacture.

—Each manufacturer has his own method of mixing, flavoring, and coloring his products and these are mostly trade secrets. A general statement, however, may be made regarding the method of procedure. The saccharine substances are usually dissolved in water and brought to the proper consistency by heating. The colors and flavors are added during such part of the process as is most favorable to their incorporation and retention. The mass, when of the proper consistence, is molded into the various forms in which candies are found in commerce and in many cases polished in revolving drums of copper or other polishing device. It would be useless to undertake, even if they were known, to describe the manifold methods employed to secure the fancy and high-class confections which are found upon the market.

Crystallized Fruits and Flowers.

—When fruits and flowers are treated with sugar sirup which is subsequently allowed to crystallize there are produced what is known as candied or crystallized flowers or fruit. These substances in this case become confections and should be judged by the same standards as the straight candy.

Food Value of Candy.

—The food value of confectionery or candy is not as a rule considered, since it is eaten more for its flavor and general palatability and attractiveness than for its nutritive properties. Nevertheless, the food value of candy is often very high and is measured chiefly by the sugars it contains.

Adulteration of Confections.

—The question of adulteration of confectionery is one which is somewhat difficult to discuss, since in the definition of confectionery and candies the incorporation of added harmless colors and flavors is regarded as a legitimate process. It is evident that because a confection is colored or flavored there is no reason for the statement that it is adulterated. Confections not being a natural product their coloring and flavoring cannot be regarded as deceptive since neither process can be used in any sense to deceive the purchaser. It follows, therefore, that any kind of a harmless coloring or flavoring material will be a legitimate addition to confectionery. The question, however, of what is harmful or harmless is one difficult to decide. The manufacturer of coloring and flavoring materials and the manufacturer of confectionery are always quite ready to certify that the colors and flavors used are harmless to health. On the other hand the physiological chemist, who stands apart from the commercial point of view, may be led with difficulty to adopt the same conclusions. It is evident there are some colors, especially those of a vegetable character, which must be regarded as harmless. Nearly all vegetables contain natural coloring materials, either chlorophyll or derivatives therefrom, which are, without doubt, quite harmless. The addition of coloring matter of a vegetable character to confectionery is not regarded as in any way a harmful or deleterious ingredient to the product. The same may be said of animal coloring matter, since there are also natural constituents of animal substances used such as cochineal, which, as is well known, is derived from an insect, and hence the addition of such a substance to a food product may be regarded in the present light of our knowledge as harmless. There are also synthetical preparations which from a chemical point of view and in so far as known from the physical point of view are closely identified with vegetable substances. These preparations may, a priori, be regarded as substances not injurious to health. On the other hand almost the whole range of mineral colors which formerly were so much used in tinctorial art, namely, the oxids and salts of metals such as copper, chromium, lead, arsenic, etc., are regarded by practically all authorities as injurious substances and not suitable for introduction into food products. There is left then for consideration in this respect that vast body of coloring matters derived from coal tar and known in general as anilin dyes, whether directly made from anilin or not. On the question of wholesomeness of these bodies there is much division of opinion. Of the many which are known, however, only a few are regarded as harmless. Perhaps thirty different dyes would cover the whole number which have been pronounced harmless by expert observers. The experts, however, who have rendered decisions in this matter do not agree as to the harmlessness of the list just mentioned. Some of them include some portions of the list and exclude others from their commendation. It so happens, therefore, that only a few so-called anilin dyes have really escaped condemnation at the hands of some of the experts. The general character of anilin dyes and the well known poisonous property of the radical from which they are derived leads to the supposition that it would be very unsafe in any case to make an absolute statement in favor of any of them. These bodies, as a rule, undergo no change in the metabolic processes. They pass in and through the cellular tissues of the body and are excreted mostly in the urine and hence place a burden upon the excretory cells which, although light, is unnecessary. The possibility, too, might be taken into consideration of a direct toxic effect which they may exert although in a minute degree upon the cell structures through which they pass. It is certain that these bodies can exert no beneficial effect upon the structure of the cells and it is hardly likely, in the doctrine of probabilities, that they should be neutral. It is advisable, therefore, to suggest to the manufacturer of confectionery as well as of the other food products, but of confections in particular, the wisdom of seeking some method of producing attractive colors in their products among sources which are open to no suspicion. It might be that this would be attended with some expense and that the dyes which are unobjectionable may be more costly. This, however, should be a matter of very small consideration to the manufacturer who has the welfare of the public at heart. The price of confectionery, as is well known, is out of proportion to the prices of the raw materials of which it is made. The quantity of coloring matter which confections contain is acknowledged to be minute so that whether the colors cost a dollar or five dollars a pound makes little difference in the actual cost of the product and the highest priced colors would not diminish the percentage of profit to any noticeable degree.

Aside from the use of harmful colors and flavors, which are always to be regarded as adulterants, there are many other practices in connection with the manufacture of confections that may be classed as objectionable. Most of these have, however, been forbidden by law in the states and in other countries and are now forbidden by our national law. The addition of ground mineral matter was long known as one of the principal adulterations of confectionery. This, in my opinion, is no longer practiced in the United States. The substances used were commonly known as terra alba, that is, ground talc, powdered silicates, powdered chalk, or ground marble—in fact any white powdered mineral substance. The object of this adulteration is manifestly to increase the weight.