The principal adulterations of lemonade, orangeade and limeade, are made by using citric acid and sugar instead of the juices of the fruits, and adding a dash of lemon flavor or orange flavor or lime flavor as the case may be. These flavors may be the natural oils of the fruits dissolved in alcohol or of an artificial character. The use of citric acid instead of the natural juice of the fruits is objectionable because the citric acid of the fruits is combined more or less completely with potash and other bases. Instead of adding merely an acid to the contents of the stomach, therefore, there is added a salt which upon digestion produces alkalinity instead of acidity. The natural or artificial flavors are not by any means comparable in character to the natural flavor of the fruit itself.

Once at a summer resort I saw a booth where orangeade was being sold. The beverage was presumably made while you waited. A few oranges were constantly rolling up an inclined plane and dropping into a machine and disappearing, and the juice was going out of a side exit. The food authorities having examined this machine, found that the oranges were doing an endless stunt. It was Sisyphus translated into a citrous fruit. They escaped destruction entirely, while the reputed juice was wholly of artificial character. The application of the term "lemonade," "orangeade" or "limeade," to any preparation of this kind is misbranding, and the articles themselves are adulterated.