Food Adulteration and Its Detection: With photomicrographic plates and a bibliographical appendixBattershall, Jesse P. (Jesse Park)
Science
Food Adulteration and Its Detection: With photomicrographic plates and a bibliographical appendix
Battershall, Jesse P. (Jesse Park)
Food adulteration and inspection; Food adulteration and inspection -- United States
The constituents of cheese are very similar to those of milk; the
relations between the soluble and insoluble fatty acids is much the
same as in butter. In cheese, however, the milk-sugar is largely
decomposed into lactic acid, alcohol, and carbonic acid, during the
process of ripening or curing employed in its manufacture.
Another essential change effected by the curing of cheese is the
partial decomposition of the caseine into ammonia, which combines
with the unaltered caseine, forming soluble ammonium caseates. Other
products of the ripening process, also due to the decomposition of the
caseine, are tyrosine and leucine (C_{6}H_{13}NO_{2}). The butter-fats
are likewise transformed into the corresponding fatty acids, which give
rise to the formation of either the ammonia salts, acid albuminates, or
amines, such as butylamine or amylamine.
The characteristic odour of many varieties of cheese is chiefly owing
to the genesis of these latter compounds.
As with butter, the most important adulteration of cheese consists
in the addition of foreign fats. Doubtless, the most frequent
sophistication is the admixture of lard. Lard cheese (which is usually
sold as “Neufchatel”) is made by first preparing an emulsion of lard
and skimmed milk (in the proportion of one part of the former to two
parts of the latter). This is subsequently incorporated with skimmed
milk and butter-milk, the coagulation of the fat being then effected
in the usual manner. In regard to the production of this species of
cheese, it is stated that in the 23 factories in the State of New
York, the product of six months’ working (ending November, 1881), was
about 800,000 pounds, of which the greater proportion was exported.
The recent (1885) adoption of a New York State brand for “pure cream
cheese” has had a very good effect, and accomplished much in the
restriction of the manufacture and sale of the spurious article.
Another variety of imitation cheese, know as “anti-huff cheese,”
is prepared from skimmed milk without the addition of foreign fat,
but with the aid of various chemical preparations, such as caustic
or carbonated soda, saltpetre, and borax. The rind of cheese is
occasionally contaminated with poisonous metallic salts, including
those of lead, mercury, antimony, arsenic, copper and zinc, which are
added either for colouring purposes or to prevent the attacks of flies
and other insects. This form of adulteration is doubtless of rare
occurrence. The methods used in cheese analysis are much the same as
those employed in the examination of butter. The fat is determined
by exhaustion with ether (or preferably, petroleum naphtha), and
evaporation, the remaining solids not fat being likewise dried and
weighed. The difference between the combined weight of the fat and the
solids not fat, and the amount of the sample taken, represents the
proportion of water present. Lactic acid, while insoluble in petroleum
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