The analysis and adulteration of foods / by James Bell.

  • Bell, James, 1824-1908.
Date:
1881-1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The analysis and adulteration of foods / by James Bell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    97/210 (page 83)
    is conducted on the same principle as that /of butter, and the results obtained may be referred to the same standard in deciding whether the fat has been mixed with foreign fat or not. Potato and other starches are included by some writers among the adulterants of cheese, but there is no reliable evidence of their having been used in this country for that purpose. The detection of starch is a matter of no difficulty, as, after the extraction of the fat from the cheese by ether, and the addition of a little iodine solution to the residue, the smallest admixture of starchy matter can be recognised by the aid of the microscope. In some cases it is the practice to paint the outside of the cheese with Venetian red, and it is said that metallic solutions of a poisonous nature, such as sulphate of copper and lead salts, have sometimes been brushed over the outside of the cheese to preserve it from parasitic attacks. The hind should, therefore, where practicable, be carefully tested, to see that it is free from poisonous ingredients. G 2