Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1904 — An Evil In Food the Law Should Reach. [ARTICLE]

An Evil In Food the Law Should Reach.

In reference to the use of alum baking powders Prof. Schweitzer, of the State University of Missouri, says; “The deleterious effects of slum and the soluble salts of alumina upon the human system, even when used In small quantities, are too well known to nped relating; their use In baking powder Is dangerous, and should be restricted.” The effects of the continuous use of slum baking powders are thus summed up in a medical publication: “Alum taken into the stomach retards the digestion of the food. “It is an Irritant which Inflames and Irritates the stomach and Intestinal canal. “It Is an astringent and tends to constipate the bowels, which Interferes with digestion. “It renders the albumen of the food partially Insoluble, and therefore takes away from Its nutritive value. “It is absorbed Into the blocd, which It tends to thicken and coagulate. The free flow of the blood through the organs of the heart Is thus retarded. “Its continued absorption Into the system causes some forms of nervous prostrations and many of those affections of the nerves from which both women and men suffer. “Fourteen grains of alum have caused the death of a child. Larger doses have frequently resulted fatally In the case of adulis. “No drug so powerful and deadly, ro matter in what proportions It may be employed, can safely be used in any article of food.”