Coloring Matter.
—Dyes are frequently used for coloring sausage and other minced meats. All such dyeing materials are reprehensible, both on account of the danger to health and deception. Preserved meats gradually lose the natural red tint of the fresh meat, and to that extent the color is an index of the time during which they have been preserved. Inasmuch as consumers prefer fresh meats preserved as short a time as possible, they are deceived and to that extent injured by the use of dyestuffs which impart to preserved meats a fresh appearance.
Indirect Coloring Matter.
—Certain chemicals, which of themselves have no color, serve to fix and hold, or even accentuate, the natural color of meat. The two principal chemicals used for this purpose are saltpeter and sulfite of soda. Saltpeter is used generally in preserved meats to retain and accentuate the red color thereof. Sulfite of soda is used principally on fresh meats, where it acts both as a preservative and as a retainer of color. Sprinkled over the freshly cut surface of fresh meat, sulfite of soda preserves the red tint, and the customer thinks it has just been cut. In this way he is deceived. Both of these substances are highly objectionable not only on account of deception but on account of being injurious to health. In the case of saltpeter, the general opinion concerning its therapeutic action is that it is not a proper substance to mix with foods. It would be highly desirable on the part of the packer, if he deemed it necessary to use bodies of this kind, to plainly state upon each package the character and quantity of preservatives and coloring matter employed. The consumer is then left to judge for himself whether or not he desires to eat these bodies.
The principal objection to notifications of this kind is that the consumer, not being an expert as a rule, cannot form any intelligent opinion respecting the desirability of these substances in food. He is more apt to be guided by common practice in this matter and by his own opinion than by any general principles of chemistry and hygiene.
Potted Tongue.
—The term “potted tongue” may apply equally to tongue of a single character, such as beef, lamb, pork, or swine, or the mixture thereof. The examinations which have been made of the potted tongues of commerce do not indicate whether they are of a single character or whether the tongues are derived from a variety of sources. The mean composition of twenty-one samples bought in the open market, as found in the Bureau of Chemistry, is given in the following table:
| Water, | 52.50 | percent |
| Water in the fat-free substance, | 67.67 | „ |
| Fat, | 22.99 | „ |
| Protein, | 17.80 | „ |
| Meat bases, | .75 | „ |
| Total ash, | 5.46 | „ |
Adulteration of Potted Tongue.
—In the samples examined above starch was found in four cases, the largest amount being 11.6 percent. Saltpeter was found in eighteen cases, the largest amount being .06 percent. Tin was present in thirteen cases and zinc in eight cases. Boric acid was found in fourteen cases.