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Adulteration of Food

(Latin adulterare, to pollute, to adulterate).

This act is defined as the addition of any non-condimental substance to

a food, such substance not constituting a portion of the food. Even
this carefully-worded definition is not perfect. Some kinds
ofsalt provisions have so much salt added that some of it has to be
removed by soaking, to render the food edible, yet this does not
constitute adulteration. Adulteration of food has long been practiced. It
is mentioned in the case of bread by Pliny, who also says that difficulty
was experienced in Rome in procuring pure wines. Athens had its
public inspector of wines. England and France early passed lawsto
guard against the adulteration of bread, and as far back as the days
of Edward the Confessorpublic punishment was provided for
the brewers of bad ale. The legal status of adulteration is largely a
matter of statute, varying with each governmental body which attacks
the subject. Food is declaredadulterated if there is added to it
a substance which depreciates or injuriously affects it; if cheaper or
inferior substances are substituted wholly or in part for it; if any
valuable or necessary constituent has been wholly or in part
abstracted; if it is an imitation; if it is colored or otherwise treated, to
improve its appearance; if it contains any added substance injurious to
health. These are examples of statutory provisions. Political
considerations, such as the desire to protect the food-producers of a
country, may affect legislation. Thus adulteration may be so defined as
to include foreign products, which otherwise might be treated as
unobjectionable. Food-preservatives have a very extensive use, which
often constitutes adulteration. Salt is the classic preservative, but is
also a condiment, and is seldom classed as an adulterant. Salicylic,
benzoic, and boric acids, and their sodium salts,formaldehyde,
ammonium fluoride, sulphurous acid and its salts are among the
principal preservatives. Many of these appear to be innocuous, but
there is danger that the continued use of food preserved by their
agency may be injurious. Extensive experiments on this subject have
been performed by theUnited States Bureau of Chemistry and by
the German Imperial Board of Health, among others. Some
preservatives have been conclusively shown to be injurious when used
for long periods, although their occasional use may be attended with
no bad effect. Boric acid is pretty definitely condemned, after
experiments on living subjects. Salicylic, sulphurous, and benzoic acids
are indicated as injurious. The direct indictment against preservatives
is not very strong. The principal point is that while the amount of
preservative in a sample of food might be innocuous, the constant
absorption of a preserving chemical by the system may have bad
effects. Preservatives are often sold for household use, as for the
preparation of "cold process" preserves. If really made without heat,
the tendency is, on the housekeeper's part, to use a proportion of the
chemical larger than that employed by the manufacturer, thus
increasing any bad effect attributable to them. Coloring matters are
much used. Coal-tar colors are employed a great deal, and have
received legal recognition in Europe. In the United States the tendency
is rather to favor vegetable colors. Pickles and canned vegetables are
sometimes colored green with copper salts; butter is made more
yellow by anatta; turmeric is used in mustard and some cereal
preparations. Apples are the basis for many jellies, which are colored
so as to simulate finer ones. This is an instance of the use of
coloring matter fraudulently, to imitate a more expensive article. But
in confectionery dangerous colors, such as chrome
yellow, Prussian blue, copper and arsenic-compounds are
employed. Yellow and orange-colored candy is to be
suspected. Fruitsyrups, and wines, and tomato catsup are often
artificially colored. Canned peas are especially to be suspected; often
the fact that they are colored is stated on the
label. Artificial flavouring-compounds are employed in the concoction
of fruit syrups, especially those used for soda water. The latter are
often altogether artificial. Among this class are: pear essence (amylic
and ethylic acetates); bananaessence (a mixture of amyl acetate and
ethyl butyrate), and others. Milk is adulterated with water, and
indirectly by removing the cream. It is also a favorite subject for
preservatives. The latter are condemned partly because they render
extreme cleanliness less necessary, for milk ordinarily exacts a high
degree of purity in its surroundings. The addition of water may
introduce disease germs. Cream isadulterated with gelatin,
and formaldehyde is employed as a preservative for
it. Butter is adulteratedto an enormous extent with oleomargarine, a
product of beef fat. It is a lawful product, but it is required by many
enactments that its presence in butter be medicated on the
package. Lard is another adulterant of butter. Cheese is made from
skim-milk some times, and cottonseed oil and other cheap fats are
substituted for the cream. There are two principal sugar substitutes.
One is glucose, with which sugar products are adulterated. It has less
than two-thirds the sweetening power of sugar. The other is
saccharine. This is the sweetest substance known; it is 230 times
sweeter than sugar. It may be regarded as practically harmless. Sugar
itself is generally pure. Meat is not muchadulterated. It is generally
only open to adulteration with preservatives, and cold
storage causesthese to be little used. It is sometimes dusted over with
a preservative while in the piece, andsausages and similar products
are often treated with preservatives and coloring matter. Boric acid
and borax are typical preservatives, and sulphurous acid salts are used
to restore a fresh appearance to stale meat. Starch is added
to sausages. It is claimed that it prevents them from shrinking in
cooking.Flour is adulterated by the addition of lower-grade meals, such
as rye flour, corn meal, or potato starch; their use is not very
common. Alum is employed to disguise the presence of damaged flour,
and to prevent decomposition. Alum is a still more frequent adulterant
of bread; it is considered injurious to the animal system. Coffee is
much adulterated, when sold ground. The root of chicory is a common
adulterant, and even this has been supplanted by ocher and
cheaper substances such as peas, beans, wheat, ground up
after roasting. Attempts have been made to produce a counterfeit of
the berry, an imitation being moulded out of some paste, but this has
made no inroads. If coffee is bought unground, it will generally be
pure, although the country of its origin may not be truthfullystated.
Tea is generally pure, except that it may be of much lower grade than
stated. Spent leaves are sometimes used, and the appearance is
sometimes improved by "facing". This is the agitation
withsoapstone, Prussian blue, etc.

For discussion of the morality of adulteration of food

see INJUSTICE; DECEPTION.

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Sources

HASSELL, Food: its Adulteration and the Methods for their Detection (London, 1876); BATTERSHALL, Food
Adulteration and its Detection (New York, 1887); BLYTH, Foods, their Composition and Analysis (London, 1896);
CHAPIN, Municipal Sanitation in the United States (Providence, R.I., 1901); LEACH, Food Inspection and Analysis
(New York, 1904); SONBEIRAU, Nouveau dictionnaire des falsifications et des alterations (Paris, 1874); Canadian
Reports on Adulteration of Food (Ottawa, 1876 et seq.); Report of the Municipal Laboratory (Paris, France);
Report of the National Academy of Science and of the Normal Board of Health (Washington, D.C.); Ann. Reports
of the Board of Health of Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York; Reports and Bulletins of Bureau of
Chemistry; U.S. Department of Agriculture on Food Adulteration, especially Bulletin No. 100.

About this page

APA citation. Sloane, T. (1907). Adulteration of Food. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton
Company.Retrieved January 10, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01162b.htm

MLA citation. Sloane, Thomas O'Conor. "Adulteration of Food." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 Jan. 2010 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01162b.htm>.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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