128 TPB% ANALYST. REPORT ON COLO’URED IMITATION JAVA COFFEE. BUREAU, SECOND DIVISIOK, May 5, 1884. W u m DE F. DAY, M.D,, finnitmy Sup&fitm&nt, New York Board of Health. Sm,-I have the honour to report that Inspector heas, on March 15,1884, obtained a sample of coffee known as green ’’ imitation Java from a weU-lmown firm. of coffee- dealers of this city. This sample he submitted to Dr. Wall= for analysis. I transmit herewith Dr. Waller’s report on the same. !l?he report states that the sample contained bad, copper and arsenic. The mount of the two latter substances is given as corresponding to 1*586 grains of coppr arsenite (Scheele’s peen) per pound of coffee. The amount of lead present was not ascertained but it ia now being estimated. The above amount of arsenite of copper would indicate the presence of about B$ grains of 8cheeIe’s green, or about 23 grains of arsenious acid, in each half ounce of the coffee, the quantity necessary tomake upacup of tho boverage.I mas informed that the coffee in question was produced in Central America, and wm subjected in this city to some process, which altered its oharacteristics so as to cause it to resemble Java coffee. This process is as Sollows : The coffee in bag is subjoctod to a high dagree of moist heat. This ripens or matures the berry, and is also said to extract €rom it a bittor sub- stance known as caffeo-tannic acid. In ripening, the colour is changed from a peen to a brovn tint, the shade of brown being lighter or darker, according to tho length of timo the coffeeis subjected to the maturing process.!Phe process is analagous to what ocaurs in the hold of a vessel carrying coffee from Java. I: can find nofhing harmful in it, exwpt that in the case of oertain South American coffees, I am informed, it enablos the dealers to sell them for Java. The light coloured Java coffees are &o matured byT€tE A3SI'ALY8Tp. 129 the abovo method. Two advantages are claimed for this process : (1) it improves the drinking quditios of &e coffees j (2) it enables the dealers to meet the demand for dark The proprietor of the mill in which the coffee in question was treated admikted to me that, in addition to the maturing process, he had formerly used yellow-ochre to give tho coffee a more uniform tint. Yellow-ochre is a ferruginous earth, and is produced in nature by the decomposition of iron pyrites.It is a well-known fact that these pyrites almost always contain arsenic and other metala. Dr. Waller statedtome that the samples of coffees andysed had probably been coloured by yellow-ochre, and that the poiaons found had been thus introduced. In investigating this subject I received information which led me to inspect the mills polishing Rios and other coffees. These were situated in Brooklyn, and were found to be using 8 variety of agents for colourhg purposes. T obtained from one mill, smples of the following. colours : Ghrom0-yellow (chromate o€ lead), silesian-blue, yellow-ochre, bu3p.t.;umber, venetian-red, drop-bhk, charcoal, and French chalk. Two samples of mixed colour were obtained from the other mill. They are now being analyzed.Coffee was &st poliahed by knoading it in the bag. It was soon discovered that botter results were obtacinod by revolving the coffee in cylinders with powdered soap- stone. Experiments with colouring matter followed, and &ally resulted in the use of the colouring substances above-named. Ireported the facts of theso cases to Commissioner Raymond, of the Brooklyn Health Dopment, whoso invostigations have verified my o m . He informs me that he has summcmod tho proprietors of the milLe before him to show reasons why they should not be prohibitod from cololuing coffee. Tho names of the mills in which coffee is ooloured as above, have beon forwarded to the secretary. coloured coffees. ltespectfully submitted, Cpnus ED8ON, X.R., chpf I~SP8Ob'. T1l0 following ia tho roport of tho analyst on tho above mentioned coffee :- I have the honour to report the following results of tho examination of the sample of raw coffeo (No.1,229) submittod to me, t h e suspicion with regard to it being that it h d been artiiicially colouiwl, and its original appearance otherwise altered. The specimen was found to contain lead, arsenic and copper, in small mount^. An attempt wm made to remove the dust presumably contdning the colonring matter by agitation with dilute acid. The results on about an omce of the coffee 80 treated were as follows :- NEW Y O ~ April 21st, 1884, Rornovod by &&ng with &luto add, oontdnd . . Found in the b c w aftor thh . , . . . . . . . . . 0*0231 ,, . . . . 0*0130 grab aopper. - TOW b e . I 0. .. a * 0*0470 ,f150 ANALYST. This would be in the proportion of 80 pasts of metallic copper per million of the raw Respectfully submitted, coffee, corresponding to 1.585; grab of copper axsenite (Sohede’e green) per pound. E. WALLER, Ph.D., Cb6trakh