Wow, Laurence – really dating yourself…

The old ADL went bankrupt in 2002 – a European private equity firm bought up the brand name.  Certain parts of ADL went to other companies (e.g., the chemical safety practice became ioMosaic).

The old ADL even has an Alumni Association - http://adlaa.org/

Many of us revered what ADL had done over the years. 

As for the contents of the cake – perhaps Intertek?  One of the most respected names in QA testing.. http://www.intertek.com/food/testing/

That said, cake is a pretty basic product and most cakes have been made the same way for well more than 120 years – an older recipe book of the turn of the century would show you the ingredients before much of the bespoke products (such as baking powder – although Clabber Girl was introduced in 1899) were available. A food analysis might also be difficult as some of the elements – such as egg proteins denature and combine to make what keeps that slice stable for 120 years. 

Dave

It has been decades since I last had any dealings with Arthur D Little but at that time the company had a R&D food laboratory.  You may want to check there.

Laurence Doemeny

-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of Murphy, Dr. Ruth Ann
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2018 1:12 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Information Needed

Hello,

Does anyone know of a lab that could analyze a 120-year-old slice of wedding cake for ingredients?  We would of course have to factor in oxidation, etc.  This is related to one of our school's founders and our museum group would like to recreate the cake  - possibly for alumni socials, etc.   Thank you for considering this very unusual request.

Ruth Ann

Ruth Ann Murphy, Ph.D.

Professor of Chemistry

Chairperson, Department of Chemistry, Environmental Science and Geology

Co-Chairperson, Health Professions Advisory Committee

Amy LeVesconte Professorship of Chemistry

JAMP Faculty Director

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

900 College Street

Belton, TX  76513-2599

Phone 254.295.4542

Accepting Christ is life's greatest decision; following Christ is life's greatest adventure.

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--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas