Important: Safety Warning
This page describes additives or treatments for food or drink that are now known to be toxic and are prohibited in food today.
In addition, this page gives alloy formulas containing lead, antimony and cadmium, one of them intended explicitly for forks and spoons. All three are toxic heavy metals that migrate into food, and cadmium is additionally a carcinogen.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
White Metal
Lead, 10 ounces; bismuth, 6 ounces; and antimony, 4 drachms; or, 2 pounds antimony, 8 ounces brass, and 10 ounces tin. 3427. French Alloy for Forks and Spoons. This is a beautiful white metal, very hard, and taking a fine polish. It is composed of 69.8 parts of copper, 19.8 parts nickel, 5.5 of zinc, and 4.7 of cadmium.