THE ANALYST. 143 AhIERICAN BAKING POWDERS AND ALUM. BY HENRY A. MOTT, JR. PH.D., E.M. Front tlie XciciitiJliC rinicricaii. HAVING been appointed Chemist by the United States Government for the Indian Department, it becamme iuy duty to submit to cliernical analysis, among other articleP; the various baking poivclers offered the dcpartment, and ns a result of my invcstigatioii I found that st least fifty per cent.of the baking powders offered were grossly tdulter-144 THE ANALYST. ated. After making this discovery I determined to submit to analysis every baking powder I could find on tlie market, and to expose such powders as were adulterated, SO that the public may be warned from purchasing tliem in the future. Tlie number of baking powders I have esamiiied amounts to forty-two-twenty-nine of them from various sections of tlie country having been offered to tlie department, and tliirteeii obtained from various grocery stores tlirongliout tlie city of New York.Instead of tlie baking powders of coimnerce being cornposed alone of tliose con- stituents which have been demoiistratecl to be perfectly harmless and wholesome, the public liave imposed ulmi them powders largely adulterated with most injurious and hurtful compouncls, put LIP in cans neatly labelled ‘( chemically pure,” as if tliat fact (?) had anything to do mitli rendering tlie powders wholesome.Scheele’s green (arsenite of copper) is often (‘ cheniically pure,” but it is always a deadly poison. It, therefore, becomes necessary for the benefit of the public to examiue into the the powders on tlie market, and to denounce such of them as are composed of con- stituents detrimental to health.Tlie best powders are composed of bitartrate of potash (cream of tartar), tartaric wid, carbonate of ammonia, and bicarbonate of Soda, held together to prevent decomposition by a little starch. Tlie injurious powders are composed of alum and bicarbonate of soda, and often contain terra alba (white earth), insoluble phospliate of lime, &c., &c.The effect of alum when taken inteiiially lias been shown by Willver and others to produce dyspepsia, constipation, vomiting, griping, and even inflammation of the gastro-enteric mucous membrane, as it is a powerful astringent acting chemically on the tissues. These serious effects will not of course be brought about immediately from the small quantity of alum used in one loaf of bread, but it is certain tliat persons continuing to eat bread containing alum will, in time, suffer from its cvil effects, and the weaker the constitu- tion the sooner will the efl’ects be noticed.Duma speaks to the same effect when lie says : ‘‘ It is to be feared that this salt exerts a deadly action by its daily introductioii into the stomach, especially in persons of a weak constitution.” And other great authorities, such as Carpenter, Dunclas, Thompson, Gibbon, and Normandy, all agree that tlie continued use of bread containiiig alum mill bring about dyspepsia and other G-oubles, and such was the opinion of the late Baron Liebig.tliat whatever inay have been tho effect in the case of liealtliy persons, sick persons did really suffer in tliat way.” In the Laizcct is meiitioned a case in idiom dangerous gastro-enteritis was apparently induced by a single dose contailling between ton to twenty grains of burnt alum.Dr. Parkes, in liis work on Hygiene, states that from eight to forty grains of alum, and probably more, have been found in a four-pouiid loaf of bread.The effect of alum on bread is to tend to whiten it, and to prevent an excess of fcrmcntatioii (when yeast is used), when the altering gluten or cerealine acts too much on the starch ; but while it accomplishes this object, it lessens at the same time the nutritive value of tlie bread by rendering tlie pliosplioiic acid insoluble.Out of the many baking powders I liave examined, I lime selected the morc promiuent ones that are adulterated, giving in each case a quantitative analysis of the The celebrated Pereim consideredTHE ANALYST. 145 same. The analyses of the last three baking powders given in the first column were made by Professor Robert W. Schedler. No. 1. Burnt alum.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Bicarbonate of soda . . . . . . . . . . . . Sesyuicarbonate of aniiiionia . . . . . . . . . . Cream of tartar .. Starch . . . . Burnt alum.. .. Bicarbonate of sods Cream of tartar . . Starch . . . . Eurnt alum.. .. Bicarbonate of soda Cream of tartar .. Starch . . . . Burnt alum .. Bicarbonate of soda Cream of Tartar.. Starch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . , . 26.4.5 per cent. . . 24.17 ,, ,, .. 2-31 ,, ,, .. None .. 47.07 ,, ,, 100~00 No. 2. . . . . 19.16 percent . . . . . . . . 23.36 . . . . . . . . . . . . Xone . . . . . . . . 5743 ,, . . . . . . .-- 100*00 No. 3. . . . . 29-60 per cent . . . . . . . . 31.13 . . . . . . . . . . . . None .. * . . . . . 39.27 . . . . . . . . 100~00 No. 4. Analysis by Dr. Mott. . . 20.03 per cent... 22-80 ,, ,, ,. None . . 57.17 ,, ,, - 100*00 Analysed by Dr. Mott. . . 30.06 per cent. . . 31-82 ,, ,, .. None . . 38.12 ,, ,, 100~00 . . . . 22.53 per cent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.79 .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.68 .... . . . . . . . . . . - 100*00 Not one poundof these powders could be sold in England, as it is against the law to use alum for making bread.A case is reported in tlie English Lam Reports of 1871-2, 7th Queen's Bench, 135, November 15, 1871, where R baker was convicted for using alum in making bread. What would become of tlie above-mentioned baking powders contaiiiing alum if they were introduced on the English market ? I t is to be hoped, then, that the public, by refusing to purchase them, mill bring to them all tlic same fate.By exposing these injurious aiid unwholesome baking p v d e r s , the public must uot be frightened from using baking pomders when properly made-of wliich I havc already stated there are a number on the market, In fact, baking powders are a great convenience, as the constituents are so combined that their use is always attended witli success :.and there is no danger of biscuits made with them having an alkaline taste, or being impregnated With yellow specks or streaks, as is ofteii the case when ordinary cream of tartar and soda are used. This results from the fact that the ordillnry cream of tartar found in market is adulterated from 10 to 90 per ceiit. with foreign substances ; consequently, it becomes Hecessary to change the proportioii to be used with every iiem lot, which can only be correctly arrived at by a cliemical analysis of the cream of tartar.Why have we not such a law ? The answer is simple-they would be swept out of existelice.':: * We fear the success of the English Act is not quite so complete as Dr. Mott seem to suppose.- [Eda, ANALYST.]146 THE ANALYST. The advantages of using “ baking powder ” iii preference to yeast, are that with tlie former none of tlie nutritive parts of the flour are destroyed, a larger yield is obtained, and tlie result accomplished with a great saving of time, wliicli would otker- wise be required to proniote the fermentation when yeast is used. Tile advantages of using ‘‘ baking powder ” iii preference to tlie ordinary crcnni of tartar and soda found on tlic marlret are not oiily that it is more economical, but tlie results are always attelidecl with success, tliere being 110 fear, as stated, of producing an alkaline taste or yellow streaks in tlie product.