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/526

 to a food product may be regarded in the present light of our knowledge as harmless. There are also synthetical preparations which from a chemical point of view and in so far as known from the physical point of view are closely identified with vegetable substances. These preparations may, a priori, be regarded as substances not injurious to health. On the other hand almost the whole range of mineral colors which formerly were so much used in tinctorial art, namely, the oxids and salts of metals such as copper, chromium, lead, arsenic, etc., are regarded by practically all authorities as injurious substances and not suitable for introduction into food products. There is left then for consideration in this respect that vast body of coloring matters derived from coal tar and known in general as anilin dyes, whether directly made from anilin or not. On the question of wholesomeness of these bodies there is much division of opinion. Of the many which are known, however, only a few are regarded as harmless. Perhaps thirty different dyes would cover the whole number which have been pronounced harmless by expert observers. The experts, however, who have rendered decisions in this matter do not agree as to the harmlessness of the list just mentioned. Some of them include some portions of the list and exclude others from their commendation. It so happens, therefore, that only a few so-called anilin dyes have really escaped condemnation at the hands of some of the experts. The general character of anilin dyes and the well known poisonous property of the radical from which they are derived leads to the supposition that it would be very unsafe in any case to make an absolute statement in favor of any of them. These bodies, as a rule, undergo no change in the metabolic processes. They pass in and through the cellular tissues of the body and are excreted mostly in the urine and hence place a burden upon the excretory cells which, although light, is unnecessary. The possibility, too, might be taken into consideration of a direct toxic effect which they may exert although in a minute degree upon the cell structures through which they pass. It is certain that these bodies can exert no beneficial effect upon the structure of the cells and it is hardly likely, in the doctrine of probabilities, that they should be neutral. It is advisable, therefore, to suggest to the manufacturer of confectionery as well as of the other food products, but of confections in particular, the wisdom of seeking some method of producing attractive colors in their products among sources which are open to no suspicion. It might be that this would be attended with some expense and that the dyes which are unobjectionable may be more costly. This, however, should be a matter of very small consideration to the manufacturer who has the welfare of the public at heart. The price of confectionery, as is well known, is out of proportion to the prices of the raw materials of which it is made. The quantity of coloring matter which confections contain is acknowledged to be minute so that whether the colors cost a dollar or five dollars a pound makes little difference in the actual