The Hidden Poison in Your Pantry
An official investigation exposes the widespread use of ammonia and alum in common baking powders, arming local housewives with kitchen-tested methods to unmask the dangerous additives.
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In view of what the Minnesota senate has done, it is hoped that legislative bodies in other states will soon take up the subject of food adulteration. The list is certain to command alarm. The report, based on official records and published in a recent number of the Scientific American, is given below. 'It deals in a direct manner with an evil which must be cut down,' said the Chicago Tribune in commenting on the Scientific American report. Ammonia and alum are the most common adulterants used in the manufacture of baking powders. The Government report shows that a large percentage of the baking powders on the market contain either one or the other, or both these pernicious drugs. What woman would use an ammonia or alum baking powder, if she knew it? Such powders not only undermine the health, but ammonia gives to the complexion a sallow or blotched appearance. The presence of ammonia or alum can easily be detected. To Detect Ammonia: Mix one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder with one teaspoonful of water in a tin cup; boil thoroughly for a few moments, stir to prevent burning, and if ammonia is present you can smell it in the rising steam. Or, place a can of the suspected powder top down on a hot stove for a minute or two, then take off the cover and smell. To Detect Alum: Alum powder can be tested by putting a couple of teaspoonfuls of the powder in a glass of cold water. If effervescence, that is bubbling or simmering, takes place, condemn the powder and return it at once.
“What woman would use an ammonia or alum baking powder, if she knew it? Such powders not only undermine the health, but ammonia gives to the complexion a sallow or blotched appearance.”
This 1891 warning echoes modern concerns about food transparency and the regulation of additives in the American supply chain. It captures the transition from unregulated Victorian consumerism to the Progressive Era's push for truth-in-labeling laws.
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