Document reknZD0L6DkE2qknZa2VwjjYq

E L I X E D G A R W O R M S E R , PRESi -C . B R O W N E L L ,V IC E PSESiDE . A . M A R T I N O , VICE PRESIOENT 3B E R T LINDLEY Z IEG F E LO , 4 -2 0 LEXINGTON AVENUE NEW YORK 17, 2*.Y. 'l l MANFRED BOWDiTCH DIRECTOR O F HEALTH AND SA FETY J.COTO Robert A. Helloe, Ll.D., Director lettering .Laboratory U. of Cincinnati College of medicine Daon Avenue Cincinnati 13, Ohio Dear Bob: I an enclosing an article on gelatin desserts ana pie fillings frcri the April issue of Consumers* He soarch Bulletin,'1 v/hich you rill note to be quite generously sprinhlod v;ith references to lead. There can be no guestion that lead, in any amount is an undesirable ingredient in any article of food, and if one group of nanusacturers keeps its products lead-free and another does not, no one can quarrel v;ith tho recomr.enc.ation that, other factors being equal, the former should be favored. On the other hand, our past experience rith these people has shorn that they can go pretty far astray in such natters, ana it therefore seems v;orth while to seek expert opinion on their current discourse. I an accordingly placing it before you rith the hope that you rill criticise it from one vaevrpcmt of m e tolerances given, ana an sunning at to George VJheatloy for his thoughts as a pediatrician. Should it later seen expedient to rrite to the publish:rs, I shall, of course, refrain iron quoting you by nane if you so ask. Sincerely, ' *72 . T t i._ a J U n 0014987 Gelatin Desserts and P ie Fillings E d ito r's N ote: In the preceding article, "Phosphates and Phosphoric Acid, Undesirable Food Ingredients," in the March 1952 Consumers' Research Bulletin, we discussed the potentially harmful effects of compounds of phosphorus introduced into the diet artificially through various common food substances in which phosphoric acid or phosphates are now widely used. Some of these foods are gelatin desserts, pie fillings, soda fountain beverages, bottled soft drinks, ready-to-bake mixtures, jellies, and cake and roll mixes. The study led clearly to the conclusion that added phosphate or phosphoric acid is definitely undesirable in foods. A number of harmful effects are produced when the amount of phosphorus taken into the body through foods and beverages is high (unbalanced) in relation to the amount of calcium. Among the un desirable effects are: the imposition of an extra burden on the kidneys; faulty bone formation, and an increased tendency toward rickets in young children; a tendency to anemia, and reduced absorption of iron (a vitally necessary mineral element, par ticularly for women). Anim al experiments showed poor reproductive performance when there was excessive phosphorus in the diet. ' T H E R E IS great personal variation in regard to the individual's reaction to the mineral con tent of his diet. There may be many persons whose systems correct sufficiently well an imbalance of minerals in the diet th at they m ay not suffer any serious or objectionable effects from additional quantities of phosphorus in their food or beverages. There are others who may show a sensitivity to an intake of phosphorus th at is even slightly above normal. Phosphorus is an element that is avail able in adequate amounts in various foods con sumed by everyone, so that there would not nor mally be any need for its being taken medicinally or through foods containing extra am ounts of phosphorus compounds. . It is a fact that, generally, if the needs of the body for calcium and protein are met through common foods in the diet, the phosphorus th a t is needed will also be provided, since the common foods th at are most effective in supplying calcium I and protein are also the best sources of phosphorus. Natural food sources th at are especially high in phosphorus are peas and beans of all types; vari ous cheeses; peanuts, liver, turkey, eggs, fish, nuts, cocoa, and chocolate; and products made of wheat, rye, oats, corn, and rice. Anyone who uses regularly considerable amounts of any of these foods should bear in mind that his phosphorus in take may be rather higher than normal; hence he should exercise more care than ordinary to avoid using foods such as desserts containing phosphates, and bakery goods made with baking powder, and other foods that contain phosphorus in relatively high concentration. As this study was intended to be a preliminary one, the analyses were not made comprehensive or complete (partly because of the considerations of cost involved); the figures were, however, found to give sufficiently good indication of the charac teristics of several products to be a helpful guide to the consumer. D ata on a particular sample are not to be considered completely characteristic of a brand because of the variations in composition, as noted, for instance, in the difference in phosphorus content of two samples of A n n Page gelatin of dif ferent flavors. Gelatin is nutritionally of very little value, and is very costly for the am ount of food value pro vided, so th a t it is essentially a luxury food. It is the only protein food th a t is in fairly wide use whose protein is of a highly incomplete character so th a t alone it can neither maintain life nor pro mote growth, (The chief deficiencies of gelatin in respect to the protein amino acids are in trypto phane, valine, and tyrosine.) Gelatin is in wide use as a dessert for children and invalids and also for people who are trying to limit their food intake in order to counteract a tendency to obesity. Ex periments purporting to show th a t drinking large quantities of gelatin in water or fruit juice will materially aid in reducing fatigue and increasing physical prowess are not supported by adequate evidence of scientific investigators. Fifteen of the 24 desserts tested, mostly those found to have the highest content of phosphate, were assayed for arsenic and lead. CR has for many years advised its subscribers of the harm done by heavy-metal contaminations in foods and beverages, particularly small amounts of arsenic and lead. The action of these poisonous metallic contaminants is cumulative, and they may produce no detectable harm over the short run or even a period of perhaps several years. The average per son is exposed to small but continuous amounts of arsenic and lead from the surfaces of fruits and vege tables, certain factory-prepared foods, and many sources other than food and drink, including fre quently his water supply. For these reasons, CR has long felt it necessary to urge th a t no unnecessary intake of these metals should ever be permitted. They are particularly dangerous to young children and are more harmful to women than to men. For these reasons CR some years ago set up its own tolerances, or contamination limits, for use in its ratings (0.3 parts per million of lead and 0.5 ppm. < of arsenic, as arsenic trioxide); we have seen no reason to w arrant a change in these. As a m atter of fact, the indications are, if anything, th a t they should be reduced. Phosphate and phosphoric acid as used in foods are likely to be produced from materials, principally phosphate rock or bones, con taining in their natural state arsenic, lead, fluorine, and other undesirable mineral substances, and the < removal of these is very difficult to effect. Since the phosphate rock and the triple superphosphate used (or fertilizing the fields is not purified, it will be seen th at a good deal of arsenic, lead, and fluorine may get into the food supply through- soils that are fertilized heavily with chemical fertilizers (in some places soils have actually become non productive because of long-continued spraying or dusting with lead-arsenic compounds used for con trol of insects affecting crops). Metaphosphates and polyphosphates are also used in the condition ing and softening of water supplies; these may also be sources of undesirable metallic contaminations. The baking powder industry is believed to be the second largest consumer of phosphate rock after the fertilizer industry, and baking powder, as is well known, is a relatively im portant source of un wanted arsenic, lead, and fluorine in the diet. * In its M ay 1940 Bu l l e t in , CR commented, "The most important practical objection to the use of gelatin in any form is th a t it is an almost certain source of lead and arsenic. desirable to add needlessly . . .it seems . . . un any known source of < metallic contamination to the diet." The wide variations in the chemical findings re ported in the concluding part of this article regard ing similar products by different manufacturers would seem to indicate a failure to employ a suffi ciently tight degree of chemical control in manu facturing processes; in some cases the am ount of lead present was surprisingly high, but the fact that some manufacturers were able to keep it at very low levels proved th a t proper selection of raw materials and due attention by a chemical analyst during the manufacturing process could readily solve the problem. A comparison of A n n Page imi tation strawberry gelatin and Jell-0 of the same flavor revealed a comparable amount of phosphate in each product, b u t there was approximately times as much arsenic and lead found in the imita tion-strawberry Jell-0 as in the A nn Page imitation- strawberry gelatin. Likewise a comparison of imi tation cherry-flavor Jell-0 and Royal gelatin of the same flavor revealed th at both products were rela tively high in lead, but again the Jell-0 sample tested contained more arsenic than the similar Royal gelatin of the same flavor. As regards phos- 1 8 CONSUMERS' RESEARCH BULLETIN APRIL, 1952 phate content, imitation cherry-flavor Jell-O ranked among the highest (0.23%); the amount in imita tion cherry-flavor Royal gelatin was negligible. Gelatin dessert powders contain only about 10 percent of gelatin, the rest being about 85 percent sugar and 2 percent tartaric or citric acid and some flavoring matter. As two brands of plain or un flavored gelatin tested by CR have shown relative ly small amounts of heavy-metal contamination, as will appear later, it may be th at the arsenic and lead th at are found in the gelatin dessert powders ~ originate in other ingredients such as the phos phate or the dye. Because the plain gelatin is found to be relatively uncontaminated (and was found so in previous tests by CR), and since the housewife's own flavoring ingredients are less like ly to add unfavorable metallic contamination, it would seem th at the best course for the housewife to pursue is th at which CR recommended several years ago, to buy plain gelatin and flavor it in one's own kitchen to suit one's own individual taste, using fruit juices and other natural flavors, rather than the synthetic flavorings used in manufac tured gelatin, and avoiding, too, the use of com mercial food dyes, which have in the past been found to be a fairly common potential source of metallic contamination. Some food dyes, too, even though certified as safe for use in foods and bever ages, are open to objection as being potentially can cer-causing agents, a fact which has been brought out in recent testimony through the Congressional committee investigating food adulteration in the last few months (though presumably the Food and Drug control over food dyes has provided consumer protection against this hazard, a hazard known to have existed at an earlier period in connection with a t least one im portant food dye -- see the article on "Colors for Foods, and Colored Foods" in the June 1945 Co n s u m e r s ' R e s e a r c h Bu l l e t in ). I t is suggested th at the housewife mix gela tin desserts in a glass or white-glazed chinaware container for, as our Bu l l e t in s have noted from time to time, there is a t least some danger th at a significant degree of metallic contamination may be introduced from acid foods prepared or stored in enamelware containers. In making tart desserts, the housewife will do well to avoid fruit juices which are strongly acid; among the natural food substances, lemon juice is particularly bad in its potentialities of harm to the teeth. Investigators have noticed that this juice, often used by per sons suffering from rheumatism, or as a laxative, or to prevent colds, or in reducing diets, has caused extensive dissolution of the dental structure, par ticularly if it is taken daily and a t other than mealtimes. (The harmful effect of an acid is, of course, diminished by dilution in eating a meal.) The advertising of California Sunkist Lemons is largely responsible for the belief of many persons that lemon juice should be taken regularly for health. (It seems likely th at lemon juice should be used rather sparingly, and in fairly high dilution, as a food ingredient.) It is to be hoped th a t some m anufacturer will take notice of the situation discussed herein, re garding contamination of prepared gelatin desserts, and will offer a line of dessert gelatin and similar products with respect to which the strictest pre cautions have been taken to insure protection against metallic and bacterial contaminations. The problem is not an easy one, but it can be gotten under control just as a similar problem was a number of years ago when manufacturers of choco late and cocoa had difficulties with the occurrence ^ of significant amounts of lead contamination d e - ^ ^ veloping during the production and shipment of cocoa beans and during factory processing. At that time the manufacturers succeeded, after care ful research, in arriving a t an almost complete cor rection of the difficulty, so th at a t the present time objectionable contamination of chocolate and cocoa with lead has almost ceased to be a problem, i t * it is said, for Food and Drug administrators. In connection with the study of the desserts, the test included a rating for palatability by means of a seven-member panel on the basis of three main factors: odor, flavor, and primary taste. This rating covered 22 of the 24 desserts; in two in stances (Junket Sherbet M ix and Jell-0 Rice Pud ding), flavor ratings are not given because there were not a sufficient number of similar products for comparison. Ratings as to odor were based on trueness and concentration of the odors. Each product was also observed for "off-odors" (such as terpene-like odors due to oxidation of flavors and "artificial-like" odors possessed by certain poor imitation flavors). Some of the products were without noticeable odor, although a slight aroma - would have seemed desirable. Flavor, being a mixed sensation of taste, touch, smell, and sight, is a difficult factor to evaluate. The four primary tastes are sweet, bitter, sour, and saline. An effort was made to evaluate each product for the true ness and fullness of the expected primary taste and also for the over-all flavor. " For the purposes of judging the odor, flavor, and prim ary-taste factors, the pie fillings were pre pared with distilled water and not with eggs and/or sugar (as they would be in practice in most cases); this was in order th a t the original flavor would not be masked by the addition of the flavorful eggs or sugar or both. In this connection it may be noted th a t Airline pie filling, which is ready for use as marketed, ranked near the top as to odor, flavor, and primary taste, and was on a par with imitation cherry-flavor Jell-0 and lime-flavor Royal gelatin. Sundaettes (crushed pineapple), which is an ice cream topping, was generally regarded as the most palatable product of the group. Least favored in the flavor, primary taste, and odor ratings were the KE 0014380 CONSUMERS' RESEARCH BULLETIN APRIL, 1952 * 19 following: A nn Page Sparkle Orange Gelatin, Ideal Lime Gelatin, and Lem Pie Filling (lemon). (Lem Pie Filling was found to have the highest titratable acidity, calculated as citric acid, of all the products in the group tested.1) It m ust be understood that the scoring in such a study is always influenced by flavor preference, and this should be given consid eration by readers, as any given person may possibly find quite palatable a product which others only find moderately so, just as some like the flavor of certain popular bottled soft drinks and others do not find their taste pleasing a t all. The dessert products listed below in the A , B, and C classifications are arranged in relative order of desirability from the standpoint of low phos phate content. Palatability ratings for all prod ucts except two already named in the preceding text are designated with the following symbols: superior flavor rating ***; average flavor rating **; below average flavor rating *. All the products except Grayslake Gelatin, Knox Gelatine, and Sundaettes Crushed Pineapple con tained artificial color. - A. Recommended French's Good Luck Lemon Flavor Pie Filling (Good Luck Food Co., Inc., Rochester, N.Y.) 2 pkg., 17c; **. In gredients include citric acid and lemon oil2. Junket Sherbet Mix (Chr. Hansen's Laboratory, Inc., Little Falls, N. Y.) 2 pkg., 29c. Orange Flavor (not rated for flavor). Contains citric acid. Sundaettes (Distributed by Airline Foods Corp., New York City) Crushed pineapple, 15c each; *** (see text). Contains citric acid, and benzoate of soda (0.1%). Ann Page Sparkle Lemon Flavor Pie Filling (Distributed by The Great A & P Tea Co., N.Y.C.) 3 pkg., 19c; *. Contains citric acid and oil of lemon. Airline Cherry Pie Filling (Airline Foods Corp.) 31c ,each; ***. Contains synthetic flavor and tartaric acid, and benzoate of soda, a preservative (0.1%). B. Intermediate The following products were desirable from the stand point of low phosphate content but they were not further assayed for arsenic and lead; they are thus for the present given a B rating.. Ann Page Sparkle Orange Flavor Gelatin Dessert. Orange; 3 pkg., 19c; *. Contains citric and/or tartaric acid. *As far back as 1937, Professor Clarence A. Mills (Dept, of Experimental Medicine. University of Cincinnati) commented, in an epochal paper on the relation of hardness and acidity of drinking water to tooth decay, on research showing th at "the ingestion of certain acids, such as hydrochloric, sulphuric or phosphoric, will cause liberation of calcium from bones and teeth in large amounts, and its excretion in the urine." In experiments on the dissolving of teeth by acid materials conducted by J. W. Trask, E. E. Ziegler, and E. C. Maloof (Journal of the American Dental Association, July 1940), the dissolution of dental structure in creased rapidly with a drop in pH values and the most significant solvent action was found, with one or two exceptions, when the pH was below 4. corresponding to_ citric, phosphoric, lactic, acetic, tartaric, and oxalic acids. The solutions of all these acids, used in the test by Trask. Ziegler, and Maloof, gave pH values well below 4. All the flavored gelatins and other products (except the Jell-0 Rice Pudding) in the test had pH values in this range (below 4). The most recent indications are that titratable acidity of the food or beverage is more im portant than the pH in determining the action of acids on teeth. It has also been noted th at the citrate ion is particularly likely to produce damage to teeth. Much more damage has been found to be done by the acid fruit juices than by an equivalent amount of the fruK itself. ' Royal Gelatin Dessert (Standard Brands, bit*., N.Y.G.) 3 pkg., 25c*; Imitation Pineapple Flavor *; Imit. Rasplx'rrv**; Lime***. The imitation pineapple product contains citric acid and sodium citrate; the other twocontain fumaric acid and sodium citrate. The imitation pineapple and raspberry have artificial flavor. Junket Danish Dessert. Currant-Imit. Raspberry, lie each; **. Contains citric acid and natural raspberry "enhanced with artificial flavor." Ideal Gelatin Dessert (Distributed by American Stores Co., Philadelphia) Lime Flavor; 3 pkg., 19c; *. Contains citric acid, sodium citrate, and oil of lime. C. Not Recommended Lem, Pie Filling (The Morrison Co., Philadelphia 40) Lemon; 2 pkg., 21c; *. Contains citric and/or tartaric acid, lemon oil, edible oil, calcium phosphate. Jell-0 Rice Pudding (General Foods Corp., N.Y.C.) 3 pkg., 25c (not rated for flavor). Contains vanilla and artificial flavors and tricalcium phosphate. 7-Minit Lemon Flavor Pie (6-O'clock Foods, Inc., Norris town, Pa.) 23c each; **. (This package contained pie-crust mix and filling; only the filling was tested by CR.) Contains citric acid, lemon oil, powdered lemon juice. Pie-crust mix contains baking powder. Jell-0 Gelatin Dessert. 3 pkg., 25c; Lemon**; Lime*. Contain citric acid, sodium citrate and/or phosphate. Ann Page Sparkle Gelatin Dessert. Imit. Raspberry**. Contains citric acid, disodium phosphate, and natural raspberry "enhanced with artificial flavor." The following products, satisfactory from the stand point of phosphate and arsenic content, were relatively high in lead. Sundaettes. Crushed Strawberries**. Contains citric acid, and benzoate of soda (0.1%). Royal Gelatin Dessert. Lemon**; Imit. Cherry**. (The gelatin dessert of the imitation cherry flavor was high in lead content; something over 2 ppm. was found on each of two samples.) The lemon product contains citric acid, sodium citrate; the imitation-cherry product contains fumaric acid, sodium citrate, and arti ficial flavor. My-T-Fine Lemon Flavor Pie Filling (Packed by Penick & Ford, Ltd., Inc., N.Y.C.) 9c each; **. (This prod uct had the highest lead content of all products tested; 4 and 5 ppm. were found on two samples tested.) Con tains citric acid, lemon oil. The following products were undesirably high in both phosphate and lead content. Ann Page Sparkle Gelatin Dessert. Imit. Strawberry**. Contains citric acid, disodium phosphate, and natural ' strawberry "enhanced with artificial flavor." Jell-0 Gelatin Dessert. Imit. Cherry***; Imit. Straw berry*. (The ' second-named product was high in lead content; 3 ppm. were found on two samples.) 2In view of the recent disclosure by physicians that orange peel oil may cause symptoms of illness in babies, including skin rash, regurgitation and intestinal disturbances, it seems doubtful that even food products for adults should be flavored with a flavoring oil prepared from the peel of lemon, orange, or lime as appears in the ingredients listings on a number of prod ucts in the present study (or lemon, orange, or lime extract since extracts are legally made by dissolving the peel oil of lemon, orange, or lime in al cohol). "Flavors*'.are not the same as extracts. Flavors are prepared with a vehicle other than alcohol, but otherwise they have the same origin, in oil of the peel of the fruit. - 20 CONSUMERS' RESEARCH BULLETIN APRIL, 1952 0014 99] Both contain citric acid, sodium citrate and/or phos phate, and natural cherry or strawberry "enhanced with artificial flavor." Plain (unflavored) Gelatin B. Intermediate The following, two brands of gelatins have been rated only on lead and arsenic content; since both are plain gelatin products, i.e., unflavored, unsweetened, and un colored, no palatabilitv tests were run on them. Knox Unflavored Gelatine (Charles B. Knox Gelatine Co., Inc., Johnstown, N. Y.) and Grayslake Gelatin (un flavored) (Grayslake Gelatin Co., Grayslake, III.) These two unsweetened, unllavorcd, and muoiured brands of gelatin were tested for arsenic and lead. Knox Gela tine (23c each) showed 0.25 ppm. of arsenic and 0.5 ppm. of lead. The Grayslake Gelatin (J4-lb. pkg., 60c) was somewhat bet ter, with only a trace, or less than 0.05 ppm., of arsenic and 0.4 ppm. of lead. The lead in the Knox Gelatine was above CR's tolerance of 0.3 ppm., and the arsenic content was safely under the 0.5 limit. Grayslake Gelatin was well within the limit on arsenic .. and a little over the limit on lead. It must be borne in mind, however, that there will be appreciable variations on different samples and these analyses are not to be taken as indicative of the arsenic and lead content that 4^ may be found in all samples of plain gelatin now being marketed, which may run higher or lower than the figures given above.