The Home Medical Library Volume V Part 6

=DEFINITIONS OF ADULTERATION.=--(1) If any substance has been mixed or packed with it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength.

(2) If any inferior substance has been subst.i.tuted for it, wholly or in part.

(3) If any valuable const.i.tuent has been wholly or in part abstracted from it.

(4) If it consists wholly or in part of diseased or decomposed or putrid or rotten animal or vegetable substance, or any portion of an animal unfit for food, whether manufactured or not, or if it is the product of a diseased animal or one who has died otherwise than by slaughter.

(5) If it be colored or coated or polished or powdered, whereby damage is concealed or it is made to appear better than it really is.

(6) If it contains any added poisonous ingredient or any ingredient which may render such article injurious to health; or if it contains any antiseptic or preservative not evident or not known to the purchaser or consumer.

=FOOD LAWS.=--There is now in effect in the United States a rigid law against the offering for sale of any article intended for human consumption which is adulterated in any way, without the fact and nature of such adulteration being plainly stated on a label attached to the package containing the article. This law, however, applies only to articles of this nature which originate, or are produced, in one State and offered for sale in another. The purchaser is, therefore, in a great degree protected, but many foodstuffs or manufactured articles may have their origin within the State wherein they are sold, and in this case the only safeguards are those afforded by the laws of the State, city, or town immediately concerned. If these restraining laws do not exist or if they are not enforced the housekeeper must rely upon her own efforts to protect her family from adulterated food.

=PERMISSIBLE ADULTERANTS.=--In this cla.s.s are included articles having a food value such as salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, or smoke used as preservatives of meats; or starch when added to the salts composing baking powder, where a certain amount is permissible for the purpose of absorbing moisture.

=GENERAL DIRECTIONS.=--The ability to select fresh, wholesome meats, poultry, fish, fruits, and vegetables, to determine readily the purity of dairy products, and to detect adulteration or misrepresentation in all cla.s.ses of foodstuffs must, in most instances, be acquired. Common sense and good reasoning powers are needed here as in every problem of life. While some adulterants can be detected only by trained chemists and by means of tests too difficult and involved for general use, the average housekeeper may amply protect herself from gross imposition by simply cultivating her powers of observation and by making use of a few simple tests well within her grasp and easily applied.

=First--Sight, Taste, and Smell.=--All are of prime importance in determining the freshness and wholesomeness of foods, especially meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits. Avoid all highly colored bottled or canned fruits or vegetables; pure preserved fruits, jams, jellies, or relishes may have a good bright color, but never have the brilliant reds and greens so often shown in the artificially colored products.[4] The same is true of canned peas, beans, or Brussels sprouts; here the natural product is a dull, rather dingy green, and all bright green samples must be suspected. Foreign articles of this cla.s.s are the worst offenders.

All food products should have a clean wholesome odor, characteristic of their particular cla.s.s. The odor of decomposition can be readily detected; stale and musty odors are soon recognized.

It should be rarely necessary to use the sense of taste, but any food with a taste foreign to the known taste of a similar product of known purity should be discarded or at least suspected.

=Second--Price.=--Remember that the best and purest food, however high priced, is cheapest in the end. Its value in purity, cleanliness, food value, and strength gives a greater proportionate return than foods priced lower than one might legitimately expect from their supposed character. To cite a few instances: pure Java and Mocha coffee cannot be retailed at twenty cents per pound; therefore, when the housekeeper pays that price she must expect to get chicory mixed with the coffee; if it contains no other adulterant, she may consider herself fortunate. Cheap vanilla is not made from the vanilla bean. These beans sell at wholesale for from ten to fifteen dollars a pound, and the cheap extracts are made from the Tonka bean or from a chemical product known as vanillin. These substances are not harmful, but they are not vanilla. Pure virgin olive oil is made from the flesh of olives after the stones and skin have been removed; cheaper grades are made from the stones themselves and have little food value, while the virgin oil is one of the most nutritious and wholesome of foods.

Such instances might be cited almost without end. Good, pure food demands a good price, and economy defeats its own purpose when it is practiced at the expense of one of the most vital necessities of health and life.

=Third--Reliable Dealers.=--Select your tradesmen with the same care you bestow in the choice of a physician. A grocer or butcher who has once sold stale, adulterated, or impure wares has forfeited his right to be trusted. A man who is honestly trying to build up a good trade must have the confidence of his customers and it is to his interest to sell only worthy goods; this confidence he can gain only by proving his trustworthiness. When you are convinced of your dealer's honesty give him your trade and do not be lured away by flashy advertis.e.m.e.nts and the promise of "something for nothing."

=PREPARATION FOR CHEMICAL TESTS.=--Although the housekeeper will rarely need the use of any chemical tests for the purpose of determining the purity of food, the following directions must be kept in mind if such an expedient is deemed necessary. It will be wise, however, in the majority of cases when the presence of chemical preservatives and adulterants is suspected, to send the article to a chemist for a.n.a.lysis.

1. All refuse matter, such as sh.e.l.ls, bones, bran, and skin, must be removed from the edible portion of the food to be tested.

2. If the sample is solid or semi-solid, divide it as finely as possible. All vegetables and meats may be minced in the common household chopping machine. Tea, coffee, whole spices, and the like may be ground or crushed in a mortar or in a spice mill.

3. Milk must be thoroughly stirred or shaken so that the cream is well mixed with the body of the milk.

=FLESH FOODS--Meat.=--Fresh, wholesome meat is neither pink nor purple; these colors indicate either that the animal was not slaughtered or that it was diseased. Good meat is firm and elastic and when dented with the finger does not retain the impression; it has the same consistency and color throughout; the flesh is marbled, due to the presence of fat distributed among the muscular fibers; it will hardly moisten the finger when touched; it has no disagreeable odor and has a slightly acid reaction so that red litmus paper applied to it should not turn blue.

Wet, sodden, or flabby meat with jellylike fat, a strong putrid odor, and alkaline reaction should be avoided. These signs indicate advanced decomposition, and such meat is unfit for food.

=Beef.=--This meat should have a fine grain, be firm in texture, with rosy-red flesh and yellowish-white fat.

=Lamb and Mutton= should have a clear, hard, white fat with the lean part juicy, firm, and of rather light-red color. The flesh should be firm and close of grain.

=Veal.=--The meat should not be eaten unless the animal was at least six weeks old before slaughtering. The sale of this immature veal, or "bob veal" as it is sometimes called, is prohibited by law in many States. It is unwholesome and may be recognized by its soft, rather mushy consistency and bluish tinge. Good veal has a firm white fat with the lean of a pale-red color.

=Pork.=--This meat when fresh has a fat that is solid and pure white; if yellow and soft it should be rejected; the lean is pink and the skin like white translucent parchment.

=Poultry.=--Good poultry is firm to the touch, pink or yellowish in color, is fairly plump, and has a strong skin showing an unbroken surface. It has a fresh odor.

Stale poultry is flabby and shows a bluish color; it becomes green over the crop and abdomen, and the skin is already broken or easily pulled apart in handling. The odor of such a bird is disagreeable and may even be putrid.

=Fish.=--With the exception of the salted or preserved varieties fish should always be perfectly fresh when eaten. Probably no other article of food is more dangerous to health than fish when it shows even the slightest traces of decomposition. The ability to recognize the earliest signs of staleness is of the utmost importance. Fish deteriorate rapidly and should always be carefully inspected before purchasing.

Fresh fish are firm to the touch, the scales moist and bright, the gills red, and the eyes clear and slightly prominent. When held flat in the hand the fish should remain rigid and the head and tail droop slightly, if at all.

Stale fish are soft and flabby, the skin is dull and the eyes sunken and often covered with a film. The tendency of the head and tail to droop is marked and the fish has a characteristic disagreeable odor.

This odor of decomposition is best detected in the gills.

=Lobsters and Crabs.=--These sh.e.l.lfish should always be alive when purchased. This condition is easily demonstrated by their movements, and the rule should never be disregarded.

=Oysters and Clams.=--Oysters should not be eaten during the months of May, June, July, and August; these are their breeding months and they are unwholesome during that period. That oysters sometimes contain the germs of typhoid fever is an a.s.sured fact; these germs are acquired not from the natural habitat of the oyster in salt water but from the fresh-water, so-called "fattening beds," where the oysters are placed for a season to remove the brackish and salty taste of the sea and to render them more plump. These beds are frequently subject to pollution, and the housekeeper should only purchase oysters from reliable dealers where the purity of the source of the supply is unquestioned.

Clams are in season and may be eaten throughout the year.

All sh.e.l.lfish when fresh have an agreeable fresh odor. The sh.e.l.ls should be firmly closed or should close when immersed in water and touched with the finger. If they have been removed from their sh.e.l.ls when purchased, the flesh of the fish itself should be firm, clean in appearance and not covered with slime or sc.u.m; the odor should be fresh. The odor of dead or decomposed oysters and clams is pungent and disagreeable.

=MEAT PRODUCTS--Canned or Potted Meats.=--The label on cans containing meat products should state clearly the exact nature of the contents.

Deception as to the character of the meat is easy to practice and difficult to detect by any but a trained a.n.a.lyst. The presence of preservatives can also only be detected by chemical a.n.a.lysis. As these products are practically all put on the market by the large packing houses and designed for interstate commerce, they are subject to government inspection, and, therefore, if they bear the government stamp may be considered pure. The point that the housekeeper may consider is the length of time the meat has remained in the can. Put up under proper precautions these canned goods retain their wholesomeness for an almost indefinite period. The heads of the cans should always present a concave surface; if they are convex, it is a sign of decomposition of the contents. When the can is opened the meat should have a clean appearance, free from mold or greenish hue, and the odor should be fresh and not tainted.

=Sausages.=--If possible, sausages should be homemade, then one may be a.s.sured of their purity and freedom from adulteration.

Owing to the rapid color changes and early decomposition of fresh meat, artificial colors are often used to conceal the former, and preservatives like boric acid or saltpeter to r.e.t.a.r.d the latter.

The artificial colors, such as carmine and aniline red, may be detected by observation or by warming the finely divided material on a water bath with a five per cent solution of sodium salicylate. This fluid will extract the color, if present.

=Lard.=--Good lard is white and granular and has a firm consistency.

It has an agreeable characteristic odor and taste. The choicest leaf lard is made from the fat about the kidneys of the hog; the cheaper grades are made from the fat of the whole animal.

=FRESH VEGETABLES AND FRUITS--Vegetables.=--All green vegetables to be eaten uncooked should be carefully washed and examined for insects, dirt, and foreign matter generally. The ova or eggs of the tapeworm may be ingested with improperly cleaned vegetables. Running water and a clean brush (kept for this purpose) should be used.

Green vegetables should have a fresh, unwilted appearance; any sign of staleness or decay should cause their rejection. Overripe or underripe vegetables are harmful.

Lettuce, celery, and all leaved or stemmed vegetables should be examined to see if the outer leaves have been removed; this may be determined by the distance of the leaves from the stem head. The general signs of disease in vegetables are softening, change of color, and mold.

The following characteristics indicate fresh and wholesome vegetables:

=Asparagus.=--Firm and white in the stalk with a green, compact tip.

=Beans and Peas= should have green, not yellow, pods, brittle, and easily snapped open. The vegetable itself should be tender, full and fleshy, not wrinkled or shrunken.