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/351

 opened and used in such a way as to avoid infection and then returned to the ice box can be kept for many days without danger of fermentation.

Artificial Colors.—Tomato ketchup is sometimes subjected to artificial coloring. This is done to imitate the color of the best raw material. If red, ripe, sound tomatoes are used no artificial color is necessary.

Use of Refuse for Making Ketchup.—It has been stated that the ripe, imperfect tomatoes at the time of harvesting are cooked in large quantities and treated with benzoic acid and stored in large containers until the canning season is over, after which this material is made into ketchup and artificially colored. Further statements have also been made to the effect that the skins, cores, and refuse of the cannery have been treated in the same way as indicated below. The proper inspection of the factories would exclude from the preparation of ketchup unfit material of the kind mentioned. It is doubtless true that when the people are finally convinced that the ketchup which is used is made of the best material and contains no artificial color or no harmful antiseptic, its use will be immensely increased.

A manufacturer of ketchup recently made the following statement respecting the utilization of the refuse matter at the cannery:

"We use in our standard catsup the peelings and small tomatoes. We preserve the pulp with four ounces of sodium benzoate to each 50 gallon barrel, cooked and whipped through a cyclone pulp machine. It takes two barrels of this stock to produce 60 gallons of catsup, and we use eight ounces more of sodium benzoate to preserve it."

If waste material of this kind is sound and wholesome, there can be no valid objection to its use if the product be offered for sale under its proper designation.

STARCHES USED AS FOODS.

Edible Starches.—Attention has already been called to the fact that starch is the principal constituent of many of the common foods, such as cereals and the different varieties of the potato and other vegetables. Starch is often separated from the part of the plant producing it, and is then largely consumed as food in practically a pure state. Starches used in this way are presented in the form of pudding or desserts of some kind, and are often richly spiced, highly sweetened, and often eaten with cream. Starch also appears in the market under other names such as tapioca, arrowroot, etc.

Arrowroot.—The plant which furnishes the substance known as arrowroot belongs to the natural family Cannaceæ and is principally native of tropical regions. The most important source of the arrowroot of commerce is the Canna indica. The starch of this plant exhibits in a strong degree certain characteristic qualities of starches derived from this natural family. The hilum in this starch is round and in some varieties double. The ap-