Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/137

 purposes. When a meat is expected to be of a white color no saltpeter is found while, on the contrary, where the meat is of a red character it is frequently found. Tin was present in four samples, doubtless due to some contamination with the solder or by corrosion of the tin can itself. Where tin is present due to the corrosion of the can itself it is always in greater abundance in the old than in the newly canned sample. It is quite certain that the contents of these packages were not made up of chicken and turkey exclusively. The characteristic odor and taste of smoked meats which are found in these packages would indicate that they are used to give flavor and aroma to the mixture. The addition of flavoring materials of this kind, or "force" meats as they are sometimes called, is not objectionable from any sanitary or dietetic point of view. It is, however, an offense against an ethical principle which must be closely followed in a case of this kind if the doors of fraud and adulteration are not to be left wide open. This principle is that no false idea by inference, omission or otherwise, should be conveyed to the consumer by the label. Some form of expression for potted meat should be used in which the label gives the principal or dominant meat in the mixture, accompanied by the statement that it is a mixture with other meats also named, spiced and flavored. Under the present condition of affairs a manufacturer who really wishes to put into potted form chicken and turkey with only spices and condiments has to undergo an unfair competition with another manufacturer who uses the same label and reduces the quantity of expensive meat to a minimum or may possibly leave it out altogether. Under the new food law this unfair competition will be prevented.

Adulteration of Chicken.—The flesh of chicken is not subjected to any very extensive adulterations. It has been claimed that preservatives are applied externally to fresh fowls but the evidence on this point is not very conclusive. There is, perhaps, little doubt that other methods have been practiced but probably without any very great vogue. The use of chemical preservatives in potted chicken is also reprehensible. In general it may be said that there is no very extensive adulteration of chicken meat. The principal objection to the commerce in preserved chicken meat is the use of old chickens, the unlimited cold storage, the failure to draw at time of slaughter, and exposure in the market in an unsanitary condition and for an indefinite time. Cheaper meats are sometimes substituted for the genuine article in potted chicken. Turkey and pork are said to be used in chicken salad.

Capons.—The castration of the male bird produces the capon, the flesh of which is very highly valued as being superior to that of the male or female chicken. Capons are much more extensively used in Europe than in the United States but are gradually coming into favor in this country. It is difficult to describe the difference between the taste of the flesh of the capon and the rooster and hen. A greater degree of tenderness and a more delicate taste characterize the flesh of the capon. In France, especially, the production of