SPICES.

Of 1,268 samples of spices examined this year only ninety-two were found to be illegal. As shown in the following table, adulteration is very common in the case of some spices, while other spices on the market seem to be absolutely pure.

Spices as a rule are a part or the whole of fruits or berries of certain aromatic plants. Among the exceptions are the following: Ginger and horseradish are the root, cassia and cinnamon are the bark, bay leaf and sage are the leaf, capers and cloves are the buds of the flower, and savory and thyme include the leaf, blossom and portion of the branch, of the plants from which they are derived.

Whole spices are seldom adulterated, because it is difficult to mix them with anv foreign substance that cannot be detected with the naked eye. Cases of adulteration of pepper with graphite have been found in the past but none were found during 1908.

GROUND SPICES.

In the ground spices it is impossible to detect adulterations with the naked eye. A microscope is necessary for this work which is of a difficult character. The housewife cannot hope to detect adulteration in ground spices. Sometimes adulteration may be detected with the microscope that is not shown in any way by chemical examination. The fact that a piece of wood showed the same amount of fiber, ether extract and ash as a spice, does not make its sale as a spice legal. The adulteration can be detected easily with the microscope. The standards not only give chemical limits but a definition of the food. To be a legal article of commerce it must conform not only to the chemical data but to the definition. The State Analyst and his assistants are justified in using any methods, physical or chemical, that will show whether or not the definition is complied with. A sale of a spice which does not comply with the general description given in its definition (even though the requirements of the chemical constants are complied with) is a most

flagrant violation of the law. Such a case is parallel to the sale of milks to which water or formaldehyde has been added, when the mixture contains the legal requirements of milk fat and milk solids.

The packages of sealed spices with the name and address of the manufacturer are as a rule much purer than the bulk packages or packages without any label, for the bulk package can be so easily opened and hence subject to adulteration. The retail dealer is the only one who can be held responsible by law if goods are not sold in original packages.

BLACK PEPPER.

Of the 442 samples of black pepper examined this year, only twentynine were found to be adulterated. This shows that this food is adulterated less frequently than in the past. Ground pepper is very often adulterated. This is due to the fact that though pepper is one of the cheapest spices, it is used in larger quantities than any other spice, and if the unscrupulous manufacturer can by adulteration increase his profit a little on every pound, at the end of the year he will have made a big profit on account of the larger quantity he has sold. During the year the following adulterants have been found in pepper; olive stones, sand, pepper shells, cocoanut shells, cayenne, dirt, foreign starches and unidentified tissue. Samples have been found containing 80 per cent of olive stones. The most common adulterant of black pepper is pepper shells which have been removed from the berry in the manufacture of white pepper. Next to this the most common adulterant is sand. Black pepper is the green berry dried, without shelling, either in the sun or over fires. The shell becomes strongly wrinkled because of the shrinking of the meat during this process. Black pepper is grown in a tropical climate, and in the condition in which it is imported into this country contains as impurities, stems and sand or earth. These are removed by means of sifting and by gravitation methods and the berries thus separated are ready for the market.

The standard for pepper is as follows: Black pepper is the dried immature berry of piper nigrum L., and contains not less than six (6) per cent of non-volatile ether extract, not less than twenty-five (25) per cent of starch, not more than seven (7) per cent of total ash, not more than two (2) per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid, and not more than fifteen (15) per cent of crude fiber. One hundred parts of the non-volatile ether extract contain not less than three and one-quarter (3.25) parts of nitrogen. Ground black pepper is the product made by grinding the entire berry and contains the several parts of the berry in their normal proportions.

MACE.

Mace was found to be more commonly adulterated this year than any other spice. Of fifty-six samples twenty-three were adulterated. Mace being one of the most expensive spices, the adulteration of this product yields a large revenue to the manufacturer who does not get caught. Many try to excuse themselves on other grounds, but the desire for illeg itimate profit is undoubtedly the prevailing cause of this practice. Some

claim that the adulterant is added because mace cannot be ground alone because it would clog the mill when ground in quantities. Undoubtedly owing to a large content of oil, generally as much as 25 per cent there is a difficulty in conducting the process in this manner. But mace is usually cut and then powdered by pounding, and this is the process that should be employed as the other is not practical without adulterating the product.

Nutmeg and mace are portions of the fruit of the nutmeg tree. The fruit somewhat resembles a peach in size and general apperance. The nutmeg in the center and is covered with a thin shell. On the outside of this shell is a fibrous reddish substance which turns yellow and very brittle on drying. This is the mace, and is easily separated from the other parts of the fruit. Each is ground or powered separately and they are very highly valued for flavoring.

The following adulterants have been found during the past year; nutmeg starch, wheat starch, ginger starch and bombay mace.

BOMBAY MACE.

This is one of the chief adulterants of true mace. Bombay mace has absolutely no value as a spice. It is nearly as free of odor or taste as starch. Its addition to mace, is an adulteration. Bombay mace can be sold only under its true name which is the whole name "Bombay mace." It is not defined in the standards as "mace" but as "Bombay mace." Mace is the dried. arillus of myristica fragrans houttuyn, and contains not less than twenty (20) nor more than thirty (30) per cent of non-volatile ether extract, not more than three (3) per cent of total ash, and not more than five-tenths (0.5) per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid, and not more than ten (10) per cent of crude fiber.

Bombay mace is the dried arillus of myristica malabarica lamarck. It contains nearly 60 per cent of non-volatile ether extract, and the standard for mace of "not more than thirty per cent (30%) of nonvolatile ether extract" as well as the general definition is clearly intended to prevent this comparatively worthless substance being sold as "mace."

CLOVES.

Of 174 samples of cloves examined this year twenty-eight were found to be illegal.

The chief adulterant of cloves has been found to be clove stems which are added to increase the weight. These stems are very much like cloves in appearance and have the same color as the cloves but they contain a smaller per cent of volatile oil, which is the valuable constituent of the clove itself. Other adulterants found were allspice, pea starch, sand, iron oxide, foreign stems and fiber and cocoanut shells. There is apparently a slight decrease in the amount of adulteration of this product.

MISCELLANEOUS SPICES.

WHITE PEPPER.

Almost all of the white pepper examined this year was found to be pure. Only one sample out of forty-nine was adulterated. This was adulterated with wheat starch and olive stones. (See table of illegal miscellaneous spices in this report.)

White pepper differs from black pepper inasmuch as the berry is gathered when ripe and the outer shell is removed. This is usually done by soaking the berry in salt water or lime water and by rubbing either by hand or by machinery. The berries are then dried. Whole white pepper and whole black pepper are seldom adulterated.

CAYENNE PEPPER.

Of the thirty-six samples of cayenne pepper examined this year three were adulterated. The adulterants were coal tar dye, wheat starch, iron oxide and sand.

Cayenne pepper, cayenne, is the dried ripe fruit of capsicum frutescens L., capsicum baccatum L., or some other small-fruited species of capsicum, and contains not less than fifteen (15) per cent on non-volatile ether extract; not more than six and five-tenths (6.5) per cent total ash; not more than five-tenths (0.5) per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid; not more than one and five-tenths (1.5) per cent of starch, and not more than twenty-eight (28) per cent of crude fibre.

MUSTARD.

No adulteration was found in mustard this year. One sample was misbranded.

Ground mustard is the ground seed of the mustard plant deprived of most of the oil. There are several varieties of mustard, varying from the very light "Dutch yellow" to the very dark brown California Trieste mustard. The cake from which the oil is expressed is ground to a powder and this is the ground mustard of commerce.

ALLSPICE.

The amount of adulteration in allspice seems to be about the same as last year. Two of the eighty-six samples examined were adulterated; allspice stems, wheat and pea or bean starch were the adulterants found this year.

Allspice is the berry of an evergreen tree which grows wild in the West Indies, South America and Mexico and is cultivated extensively in Jamaica. The berries are picked when fully formed and still green, and are then dried in the sun. The berry is dark brown in color, somewhat larger than pepper and of peculiar flavor, somewhat resembling a mixture of cloves with other spices, with a wrinkled, dull exterior. They are about one-fourth as strong in flavoring value as cloves, which are produced from a tree of the same family.

CINNAMON.

Only one of the 130 samples of cinnamon examined was adulterated. This contained ground cocoanut shells.

In the standards for foods, cinnamon is defined as the dried bark of any species of the genus cinnamomum from which the outer layers may or may not have been removed. Cassia is defined as the dried bark of various species of cinnamomum other than cinnamomum zeylancium, from which the outer layer may or may not have been removed. It will be seen that the two names are applied in some cases to the same thing and ground cassia and ground cinnamon are recognized as the same thing.

There is more cassia than saigon cinnamon on the market and both are equally important, though cassia is more plentiful and cheaper. Cinnamon bark is broken, then ground.

Sand has been used as an adulterant of cinnamon to give added weight and in other cases the ash has been found to be too high, indicating a foreign wood.

PREPARED MUSTARD.

Of the forty-one samples examined this year four were found to be misbranded and one adulterated with wheat starch.

Prepared mustard, mustard paste, is a paste composed of a mixture of ground mustard seed or mustard flour with salt, spices and vinegar, and, calculated free from water, fat and salt, contains not more than twentyfour (24) per cent of carbohydrates, calculated as starch, determined according to the official methods, not more than twelve (12) per cent of crude fiber nor less than thirty-five (35) per cent of protein, derived solely from the materials named.

COMPOUND PREPARED MUSTARD.

Compound prepared mustard should be labeled with the name or names of the substances with which it is compounded.* †

*See A Question under the discussion of Catsup in this report.

See Rules and Labels No. 8.