Detection of the Common Food Adulterants

Adulterations of--Fresh and smoked--Preservatives--Potassium nitrate--Boric acid--Sulfurous acid--Salicylic acid--Benzoic acid-- Canned--Preservatives (same as those of fresh an...

Adulterations of--Preservatives--Preparation of sample-- Formaldehyde--Sulfurous acid and the sulfites--Salicylic acid-- Saccharin--Benzoic acid--Coloring matter--Cochineal--Coa...

Adulterations of--Preservatives--Preparation of sample--Salicylic acid--Benzoic acid--Saccharin--Coloring matter--Coal-tar dyes-- Cochineal--Acid magenta--Apple juice in jellies...

Milk is adulterated by watering, removing the cream or by adding some foreign substance. Formaldehyde, boric acid or salicylic acid may be added to preserve the milk. Annatto, c...

Meats are preserved by treating them with potassium nitrate, boric acid, sulfurous acid, salicylic acid, or benzoic acid. Cheap meat may be substituted for the more expensive. A...

Sometimes a cheaper or inferior grade of flour is substituted for one of higher quality, and even a different kind of flour may be substituted, as corn meal in wheat flour, or w...

Baking powders consist of bicarbonate of soda and an acidifying agent as acid potassium tartrate, acid calcium phosphate, tartaric acid or alum. Some powders contain both acid c...

No class of foods on the market has less need for antiseptics than canned goods, yet their use is rather common. Products thus treated are easier canned and are not so apt to sp...

Salicylic acid, benzoic acid, and saccharin are used to preserve fruits. The last is also added as a sweetener instead of sugar. Many fruit products lose their color with age, a...

The important ingredients of lemon extract are lemon oil and citral, its aromatic constituent. Oil of citronella and oil of lemon grass are sometimes substituted for lemon oil....

The ash of genuine honey is not over 0.3 per cent. Whenever the ash is greater than this it should be tested for calcium sulfate, the presence of a considerable quantity of whic...

Mustard is often adulterated with mustard hulls, wheat, and rice. And when white-colored flour of any kind is used, turmeric, Martius yellow, or a coal-tar color is employed to...

Vinegars may be adulterated by the addition of mineral acids as sulfuric or hydrochloric. Caramel or the coal-tar dyes may be employed to improve the color or to give color to a...

_Halphen’s Test._--Dissolve 1 per cent of sulfur in a given volume of carbon bisulfid. Add an equal volume of amylic alcohol. Mix 3 to 5 cc. of this reagent with an equal volume...

Coffee is often colored with such substances as Scheele’s green, chrome yellow, iron oxide, Prussian blue, indigo and turmeric. Imitation coffee beans have been made of wheat fl...