Composition of Pâtés.-The result of the examination of large quantities of pâtés in the Bureau of Chemistry indicates that they are made up principally of the meat of beef and pork. It is not quite certain in any case that the highly prized livers of fat geese have been employed at all to any considerable extent. There are no forms of comminuted meats of any description which are so objectionable in name as those that are sold under the name of pâtés, especially when they are ascribed to a particular composition, as is the case with pâté de foie gras. As has been remarked before, there is certainly no objection to the manufacture of these mixtures, but misleading statements concerning them are to be condemned. The manufacturer and consumer of pâté de foie gras should establish some standard of the percentage of goose livers which they should contain, and each package should be accompanied by an official certification that it has been inspected and found to be up to the standard. It is only in this way that the public can be protected against fraud and imposition. Where no descriptive word at all is used with the word pâté there is no reasonable limit to be placed upon the kind of meat used, provided it is of a sound and sanitary character. The term pâté itself means a mixture and, therefore, it is no deception and imposition upon the public to sell a pâté of a miscellaneous character, provided it does not bear any false statement regarding origin or character.

The mean composition of forty-three samples of pâtés and pureés is found in the following data:

From the above data it is seen that the pâtés are characterized by a very high percentage of fat and a correspondingly low percentage of protein. A very large majority of the samples examined contained starch, the highest quantity found being 15.80 percent. Only two of the samples were found to contain saltpeter; six contained boric acid and three benzoic acid. Tin and zinc were found in a few cases.

Principal Adulterations of Mixed, Miscellaneous, Potted, Deviled, and Comminuted Meats.-As has been observed in the analyses of the commercial articles which have been submitted it is evident that no detection of the adulteration of these minced meats with impure fragmentary, diseased, or unwholesome articles is possible in so far as chemical analysis is concerned. A microscopic analysis also often fails to reveal the true character of the meats which have been used in the preparation of these bodies. Hence the adultera

INDIRECT COLORING MATTER.

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tion of these bodies with diseased, unwholesome, unfit, and unsanitary meats cannot be controlled nor even positively affirmed after the meats are prepared and canned. Such adulterations are doubtless frequent and are the most objectionable. The only protection to the consumer is in a certificate of inspection before preparation and packing. The consumer, by refusing to purchase such comminuted meats in the absence of such a certificate, would soon compel the manufacturer to secure official inspection and certification of his products. Adulteration with Starch.-One of the chief adulterants in sausages and prepared meats is starch. It has been said by some hygienists that starch is not an objectionable adulterant on hygienic grounds. This, however, is not strictly true. The injection of large quantities of starch into meat tends to unbalance a ration which is fixed with certain quantities of other food and tends to increase the proportion of starchy matter therein. There are many conditions of disordered digestion in which such increases of starch, unknown to the physician or patient or even known, are highly objectionable. Hence the use of starch as an adulterant in meat of this kind is reprehensible on hygienic grounds. The principal purpose for using starch is deception. Starch increases the bulk and weight of goods, and, in the process of cooking, prevents undue shrinkage. The consumer, therefore, thinks that he has secured a larger quantity and better quality of meat than he really has, and is, to this extent, defrauded and deceived.

Preservatives.-The preservatives which are principally used in meat are borax, boric acid, sulfite of soda, and benzoic acid. All of these preservatives have been shown, by researches in the Bureau of Chemistry, to be deleterious to health. They should be rigidly excluded from all meat as well as other food products.

Coloring Matter.-Dyes are frequently used for coloring sausage and other minced meats. All such dyeing materials are reprehensible, both on account of the danger to health and deception. Preserved meats gradually lose the natural red tint of the fresh meat, and to that extent the color is an index of the time during which they have been preserved. Inasmuch as consumers prefer fresh meats preserved as short a time as possible, they are deceived and to that extent injured by the use of dyestuffs which impart to preserved meats a fresh appearance.

Indirect Coloring Matter.-Certain chemicals, which of themselves have no color, serve to fix and hold, or even accentuate, the natural color of meat. The two principal chemicals used for this purpose are saltpeter and sulfite of soda. Saltpeter is used generally in preserved meats to retain and accentuate the red color thereof. Sulfite of soda is used principally on fresh meats, where it acts both as a preservative and as a retainer of color. Sprinkled over the freshly cut surface of fresh meat, sulfite of soda preserves the red tint, and the customer thinks it has just been cut. In this way he is deceived. Both of these sub

stances are highly objectionable not only on account of deception but on account of being injurious to health. In the case of saltpeter, the general opinion concerning its therapeutic action is that it is not a proper substance to mix with foods. It would be highly desirable on the part of the packer, if he deemed it necessary to use bodies of this kind, to plainly state upon each package the character and quantity of preservatives and coloring matter employed. The consumer is then left to judge for himself whether or not he desires to eat these bodies.

The principal objection to notifications of this kind is that the consumer, not being an expert as a rule, cannot form any intelligent opinion respecting the desirability of these substances in food. He is more apt to be guided by common practice in this matter and by his own opinion than by any general principles of chemistry and hygiene.

Potted Tongue.-The term "potted tongue" may apply equally to tongue of a single character, such as beef, lamb, pork, or swine, or the mixture thereof. The examinations which have been made of the potted tongues of commerce do not indicate whether they are of a single character or whether the tongues are derived from a variety of sources. The mean composition of twenty-one samples bought in the open market, as found in the Bureau of Chemistry, is given in the following table:

Adulteration of Potted Tongue.-In the samples examined above starch was found in four cases, the largest amount being 11.6 percent. Saltpeter was found in eighteen cases, the largest amount being .06 percent. Tin was present in thirteen cases and zinc in eight cases. Boric acid was found in fourteen cases.

From the above it is evident that the principal adulterations in potted tongue, aside from the use of meats which are not tongue, and which chemical analysis cannot disclose, are the addition of starch, saltpeter, tin, and zinc, the two latter derived either from the solder or from the can in which the goods are placed.

Canned Poultry.-Other fresh meats, in addition to beef and pork, are canned in a fresh state. In the case of poultry the fowls are dressed and drawn and the whole carcass boiled until the meat is sufficiently cooked to facilitate the separation from the bones. The bones are then removed and the meat is canned and sterilized by practically the same method as practiced with canned beef. Game and wild fowl meats are also subjected to the same process of canning as the domesticated chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, etc. In general it may be said that there are no differences in the processes

employed, but the important question to the consumer is the character of the raw materials used, the sanitary conditions which attended their preparation, and their freedom from admixtures of other meats cheaper in price and of different dietetic values.

Adulteration of Canned Fresh Meat.-Fortunately the process of sterilization is of such a character, when properly carried out, as to exclude all necessity for the addition of any preservative substances to canned fresh meat. The use of ordinary condimental substances in moderate quantities cannot be regarded as an adulteration. Hence, the addition of small quantities of salt, sugar, vinegar, and the ordinary spices, when used solely for the improvement of the taste and flavor and not for preservative purposes, is regarded as unobjectionable.

The common preservatives used in canned meat are, first, those which give color to the meat and preserve its natural red tint. For this purpose saltpeter and sulfite of soda are most commonly employed. Red dyes of any description are rarely, if ever, found. The preservative which is used most frequently in canned meat is borax or boric acid. That this use is not necessary is evident from the investigations which have been made in the Bureau of Chemistry which show that in most cases no preservatives at all are used. The addition of any chemical preservative is, therefore, to be regarded as unnecessary and as an adulteration.

The use of any diseased, tainted, decomposed, or filthy meat, even if it is of the same origin as that in the can, is an adulteration of the most serious character and which can only be effectually controlled by the inspection mentioned above. The adulteration of the meat of fowls of all descriptions by cheaper meats, such as pork or veal, even if they be of wholesome and sound character, is an adulteration said to be often practiced and one which it is difficult to detect if the particles of meat are finely comminuted.

Standard for Preserved Meats.-The standard for preserved meat is the same as that for fresh meat which is given in the Appendix (Circular 19, Office of Secretary, Department of Agriculture). The meat must be sound, wholesome, clean, freshly taken from the slaughtered animal, and not one that has died from disease, suffocation, or otherwise, and must conform in name and character to the meat of the animal.

Frequency of Adulteration.-The examination made of numerous samples of canned meat in the Bureau of Chemistry shows that the adulteration of these foods is rather common but by no means general.

Canned Horse Meat.-Horse meat is commonly used for human food in many European countries, although it is believed that it is not used to any extent in the United States. When procured from healthy animals in a proper way there is no hygienic objection to its use, though it is considered to be somewhat tougher than the flesh of other animals more commonly employed as food,

but that is probably due to the fact that horses are not raised for food purposes and are usually not used for such until they are worn out in domestic service. There are many sentimental and often religious objections to the use of horse meat, but experience has shown that it is wholesome and nutritious. Horse meat is characteristic in containing more natural sugar, commonly known as glycogen, than any of the other ordinary meats used for human consumption. It approaches in its content of sugar some of the shell-fish flesh, such as that of the lobster. Practically all of the horse meat which is prepared in this country. is exported to Europe. There are cases, however, on record of the sale of horse flesh to domestic consumers. Especially could it be used in this way in the form of sausage or other finely comminuted products without much danger of detection.

Composition of Horse Meat.-A number of samples of horse meat of undoubted origin and wholesomeness have been examined in the Bureau of Chemistry and the data tabulated. The average composition of sixteen samples of horse meat, representing different parts of the carcass, is shown in the following table:

The high percentage of glycogen in horse meat is one of the safest methods of determining its character when comminuted or cut up into pieces so small as not to be identified by the usual anatomical characteristics. Very few other kinds of edible flesh contain as much as one percent of glycogen. Glycogen is a transitory product which tends naturally to be broken up into other substances, and, hence, even in horse meat after slaughter, it may rapidly disappear and thus, unless the meat is examined at once, very little glycogen may be found in it. A safer test for horse meat is in the nature of the fat therein. This fat does not tend to change as the glycogen does, and, therefore, in a pure preparation of horse meat even in a finely comminuted state the separation and examination of the fat will lead to a determination of the character of meat employed. The fats of horse meat have a lower melting point,