Other poisoning may occur by the tin or lead in the inside of cans
being dissolved off by the acids in fruits or vegetables. This is more
likely to occur when the cans of fruit have been kept for a long time.
Housekeepers, who use tin cans, should not put up more fruit than will
supply the family for the season.
Tomatoes, asparagus, strawberries, and apricots are especially liable
to dissolve the tin from the can.
Food should be emptied from the can as soon as it is opened, as
the action of the air hastens deterioration. No cooked fruit should
be allowed to stand in a tin saucepan or other vessel. It should be
emptied as soon as the cooking process is complete.
When a can of fruit, vegetables, or meat is opened, if the interior of
the can is even partially black, it is safe to reject the contents. The
tin in the food will be absorbed in the intestinal tract and may cause
severe disturbance.
Large canners of fruit and vegetables, of the better quality, are now
coating the inside of the can with an insoluble varnish which prevents
the acids from acting on the tin.
The best canners are exceedingly careful and everything in their
factories is scrupulously clean.
_THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD_
Laws against food adulteration have been enacted, but unscrupulous
manufacturers find ways to evade them. On account of these laws,
however, the practice is less general and manufacturers are beginning
to take pride in putting up goods that pass the strictest inspection.
The people, also, are being aroused, through the efforts of the
pure-food propagandists, to the ill effects of adulterated foods both
on the body and the pocketbook and are increasingly demanding that the
foods they buy shall be pure and wholesome.
To lessen the cost of production, many foods are mixed with various
substances before being marketed in order to increase the profits
of the manufacturer or dealer. The contained substance may not be
deleterious to health, but it may lessen the value of the article as a
food.
Among foods which may be so adulterated are jellies, jams and
marmalades, catsups and pickles of all varieties, baking powder,
butter, spices, coffee, corn-starch, mincemeat, vinegar, syrups, sugar,
honey, lard, and flour.
Various adulterants which are used are: wood alcohol (a poison) in
flavoring extracts; vinegar made from various acids and colored to
imitate cider vinegar; rice flour and wheat flour used in ground
spices; kaolin and coloring matter used in candies; paraffin in gum
drops; glucose artificially flavored as maple syrup; cotton-seed oil
sold as olive oil; starch and sugar in powdered cocoa and in chocolate;
chicory, sugar, and pea meal in ground coffee; artificial coffee beans
made of starch, molasses, and chicory; alum and ammonia in baking
powders; artificial coloring of canned peas, beans, and catsups,
butter, cheese, milk, and cream.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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