be composed of olein, that is to say, the triglyceride of
oleic acid, with small quantities of impurities; chemists,
therefore, to distinguish oils of various origin, confined
themselves to tests for these impurities, employing so-called
colour reactions based upon the change of colour of the oil
by various reagents such as sulphuric, nitric or phosphoric
acids. These reactions were exceedingly indefinite and
unsatisfactory and oil adulteration was prevalent and almost
undiscoverable. It has been found, however, that the old
ideas concerning the believed uniformity in the nature and
constitution of oils were erroneous. Some oils, indeed, do
consist of olein, almond oil being a type, others contain a
glyceride of an acid which is distinguished from oleic acid
by containing one molecule less hydrogen, called linoleic
acid. To this class belong cotton-seed and sesame oils.
Others again include a glyceride of an acid containing still
less hydrogen, linolenic acid (linseed and similar drying
oils), and lastly the liver oils are still poorer in hydrogen.
These various acids or the oils contained in them combine with
various percentages of iodine, oleic acid absorbing the smallest
proportion (about 80%); For each oil the iodine absorption
is a fairly constant quantity; this number, together with
the determination of the amount of caustic alkali needed for
complete saponification, the thermal rise with strong sulphuric
acid or with bromine, the refraction of light and the specific
gravity, now enable the analyst to form a fair idea of the
nature of any sample under examination, and, in consequence
of this advance in knowledge, adulteration of oils has much
declined. The most common adulterant of the more valuable
oils, like olive oil, is cotton-seed oil. The oils expressed
from the sesame seed or the earth-nut (arachis oil) are also
frequently admixed with olive oil. Almond oil is adulterated
with the closely allied oils from the peach-kernel or the
pine-seed. Deodorized paraffin hydrocarbons also enter
sometimes as adulterants into edible oils. There is,
however, a marked improvement in the purity of oils generally.
Flour and bread as sold in England are almost invariably
genuine. The old forms of adulteration, such as the use of
alum for the production of a white but indigestible loaf from
bad flour, have disappeared. The only admixture which has
been met with during recent years is maize-meal in American
produce. This is of inferior food value to wheat-meal.
Sugar in its various forms can hardly be said to be subject
to adulteration by the addition of inferior substitutes. One
single case of such substitution analogous to the proverbial
but probably mythical sanding of sugar occurred between
1880 and 1905 in England, some crushed marble having been
found in a consignment of German sugar in a large British
establishment. There have, however, been numerous prosecutions
for a fraud of another class, namely, the substitution
of dyed beetroot sugar for Demerara sugar. Formerly the
sugar produced by the old imperfect and wasteful methods of
manufacture was more or less yellow or brown from adhering
molasses. Sugar, as now obtained, be it from cane or beet, is
white; yet the public is so wedded to its customs that white
sugar except as lump or castor sugar does not,find a ready
sale. The manufacturer is obliged to colour his product yellow
by artificial means, that is to say, either by the addition of
a little aniline dye, harmless in itself, or, as in the West
Indies, mostly by the use of a small quantity of chloride
of tin, so-called ``bloomer.'' European refined beet-sugar
coloured with aniline dye to distinguish it from Demerara cane
sugar is sold under the name of ``yellow crystals.'' These,
although richer in real sugar than Demerara, are without the
delicious aroma of cane syrup which belongs to the latter, and
are not infrequently fraudulently substituted for Demerara.
Marmalade and Jams.---In the preparation of marmalade
and jams, which articles were for a long time mado from
fruit and sugar only, a part of the sugar, from 10 to 15%,
is often now replaced by starch glucose. This material,
consisting mainly of a mixture of dextrose and dextrin, is
of much less sweetening power than ordinary sugar and mostly
cheaper. It is said to prevent the crystallization which
frequently used to occur in some jams. The use of glucose
has been declared by the High Court (Smith v. Wisden,
1901) to be legitimate, the court holding that as there was
no recognized standard for the composition of marmalade the
addition of saccharine material not injurious to health could
not constitute an offence. Artificial colouring matters and
chemical preservatives are almost constant ingredients of
jams. To such fruits which, when boiled with sugar, do
not readily yield a jelly (strawberries, raspberries)
an addition of apple juice is frequently made in the
manufacture of jam, without much objection; the pulp of the
apple, however, is sometimes bodily added as an adulterant.
Tea.---In consequence of the proviso contained in the Food
Act of 1875 that tea was to be examined by the Customs on
importation, such tea as was found to be admixed with other
substance or exhausted tea being refused entry into England,
the adulteration of tea has been virtually suppressed. Great
numbers of samples are annually examined by the Customs,
and a not inconsiderable proportion of these are condemned
because they are either damaged or dirty, their use for
the manufacture of theine being permitted, only sound and
genuine tea coming to the British public. The practice, very
common a generation ago, of artificially colouring tea green
with, a mixture of Prussian blue and turmeric, has quite
vanished with the decline of the consumption of green tea.
Coffee.---A few cases of artificially manufactured coffee
berries, made from flour and chicory, have been observed, but
it would not be fair to speak of a practice of adulteration
regarding coffee berries. Not infrequently coffee is roasted
with the addition of some fatty matter or paraffin or sugar,
to give to the roasted coffee a glossy appearance. These
additions as a rule are small in amount. Ground coffee is
often sold adulterated with chicory, sugar or caramel. Other
adulterations, reference to which is found in literature relating
to the second half of the 19th century, do not seem now to occur.
Cocoa and chocolate are liable to a number of fraudulent
or questionable additions. In the cheaper qualities of
cocoa-powder sugar and starch--the latter in the form
of sago flour or arrowroot--are admixed in very large
proportions, and, in order to give to such mixtures something
like the appearance of genuine cocoa, red oxide of iron is
added. This almost invariably is more or less arsenical.
Cocoa-shell, a perfectly valueless material, is mixed in a
very finely ground state with cocoa of the commoner kind.
Owing to the enormous increase in the consumption of so-called
chocolate-creams, which are masses of sugar confectionery
coated with a cocoa-paste containing a large proportion of
the fat of cocoa (cocoa-butter), the quantity of cocoa-butter
that is obtained in the manufacture of cocoa-powders is
no longer sufficient to cover the demand. Substitutes of
cocoa-butter prepared from cocoa-nut oil are manufactured
on a large scale, and all enter without acknowledgment
into chocolates or chocolate creams. As there are not any
regulations touching the composition of chocolate, sugar
or starch or both are used in chocolate manufacture, and
especially in that of chocolate powders in often excessive
quantities. In the Dutch mode of manufacture of cocoa-powders
an addition of from 3% to 4% of an alkaline salt is made
for the purpose of rendering the cocoa ``soluble,'' or, more
strictly, for putting it into such a physical condition that
it does not settle in the cup. This addition does not, as
is often alleged, render the cocoa alkaline, and is not made
with any fraudulent object; several countries, however, have
passed regulations fixing the maximum of the addition which
may thus legitimately be made. Most of the cocoa powders sold
in England are prepared in accordance with the Dutch method.
Wine.--If under this term a beverage is understood which
consists of nothing but fermented grape juice, a great
proportion of the wine consumed in England is not genuine
wine. All port and sherry comes into commerce after
having received an addition of spirit, generally made from
potatoes; port and sherry would not be what they are and
as they have been for generations unless they were thus
fortified. The practice can now hardly be classed among
adulterations. A well-fermented wine made from the juice
of properly matured grapes does not require any added
alcohol in order that it should keep; imperfectly made wine
is liable to turn sour; the addition of alcohol prevents
this. French wines, both red and white, are hardly subject to
adulteration. In wine-growing countries like France wine is so
cheap and plentiful that it would be difficult to manufacture
an imitation beverage cheaper than genuine wine. In Germany
the conditions are different, the districts from which those
wines that are exported are nominally derived being small and
insufficient to cover the world's demands. The addition of
sugar solution or of starch sugar is allowed within limits
by German law, which not even requires that notification to
the purchaser be made of the addition, and it is notorious
that a very large proportion of the wine sold under the name
of ``hock'' and some of that coming from the Moselle are
thus diluted, sugared and lengthened, or, in plain terms,
adulterated. Wines from the Palatinate which under their own
names would not sell out of Germany are often passed off as
hocks. As there is but little German red wine the law
also permits this to be lengthened by the addition of white
wine. For the removal of part of the acid from sour wine
produced in bad vintages the addition of precipitated chalk
is also permitted. Attention has been drawn in England to
the very serious fact that German wines sometimes contain
salts of zinc in small quantities. These are introduced by
a fining agent protected by a German patent, consisting of
solutions of sulphate of zinc and potassium ferrocyanide,
which, when added together in ``suitable proportions,''
produce a precipitate of zinc-ferrocyanide which carries down
all turbidity in the wine and is supposed to leave neither
zinc nor ferrocyanide behind in solution. As a matter of
fact, one or other of these highly objectionable substances
is almost invariably left behind. The use of artificial
colouring matters in wines does not appear now to occur.
Beer cannot be said to be adulterated, although it is well
known that materials often very different from these which the
general public believe to be the proper raw materials for the
manufacture of beer, namely, water, malt and hops, are largely
used. By the Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1885, sec. 4,
beer is defined as any liquor ``which is made or sold as a
description of beer, or as a substitute for beer, and which
on analysis of a sample thereof shall be found to contain more
than 2% of proof spirit.'' That is to say, beer is legally
anything that is sold as beer provided that it has 2% of proof
spirit. There is not any restriction upon the materials
that are employed provided that they are not positively
poisonous. For Inland Revenue purposes, however, a prohibition
