In addition I should advise those who suffer from this complaint to keep cheerful, and to avoid excessive physical or mental fatigue and worry. Yours faithfully,
“A Six Months' Reader.”
IS PURE LIME JUICE OBTAINABLE?
The Editors have received the following letter from Messrs Rowntree & Co., Ltd.:—
“We note in your issue of [July 1913] under the heading of ‘Lemon or Orange Squash’ a note to the effect that bottled lemon squashes and lime cordials ‘are not pure in the strict sense of the term, since they are bound to contain 10 per cent. alcoholic pure spirit by Government regulations.’ We should be glad to know what is your authority for this statement. Possibly it is a misprint, because obviously the Government does not require anything of the kind. Our own lemon squash and lime juice cordial are entirely free from any form of preservative, including alcohol. They are made up from pure lemon juice and lime juice respectively, with sugar, and contain no foreign ingredient.”
The statement complained of was based on an article entitled “Fortified Lime Juice” which appeared in The Chemist and Druggist, 13th May 1911 (page 51). On again referring to this article we find that the Government regulation applies only to exported Lime Juice.
We regret having made this error, and are genuinely glad to have Messrs Rowntree's assurance that their own “Lime Juice Cordial” and “Lemon Squash” are “entirely free from any form of preservative, including alcohol.”
Nevertheless, we think our suspicions regarding the presence of preservatives in such articles are justifiable in view of the following authoritative statements made by The Chemist and Druggist in the article referred to:—
“The British Revenue authorities have drawn the line a little tighter in the discharge of their responsibility respecting the soundness of lime-juice intended for exportation or for use on board ship. The new rule henceforth is to grant a ‘pass’ certificate for unfortified lime-juice to last for fourteen days only, at the end of which time another certificate must be obtained. As this new regulation affects lime-juice in its natural condition before rum or any other spirit is added to it, only lime-juice manufacturers or importers are concerned in the matter.... With such rapidly deteriorating liquid as lime or lemon juice the addition of the preservative spirit is a necessity, hence the sooner it is fortified the better. The Revenue authorities permit duty-free spirit to be used for this purpose, but in order that lime-juice manufacturers shall have this advantage of not paying duty on the spirit used the Revenue authorities insist on approval of the juice and its subsequent fortification in bond under supervision of the Crown.... In reference to the proportion of spirit used, previously the regulation was expressed in a permissive sense, but now the emphatic “must” is used. In the last Government Laboratory report it was stated that 396 samples were examined, most of which were lime-juice, representing nearly 50,000 gallons. Even the fortified article is re-tested if more than three months old in cask or two years old in bottle, and this re-testing resulted last year in a condemnation of several hundred gallons owing to deterioration during storage. This juice is principally for use in the Mercantile Marine to combat scurvy.”
From which it would appear that the use of some kind of preservative is essential with such a rapidly deteriorating liquid as lime or lemon juice; and if not alcohol, there are innumerable chemical preservatives available. We wish we could rely on receiving assurances from other “Lime Juice” importers and manufacturers similar to that we have received from Messrs Rowntree.