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Food Values and Adulterations: Cents

Per cent Per cent Cents Cents Brisket.

Rump..

Flank.

Chuck rib.

Porterhouse.

Neck.

Ribs Round Shin.

Heart.

Tongue.

VEAL: 23.3 76.7 7.0 9.0 19.0 81.0 10.0 12.5 5.5 99.5 7.0 7.5 53.8 46.2 10.0 22.0 12.7 87.3 20.0 23.0 31.2 68.8 7.0 10.0 20.1 79.9 15.0 20.0 8.5 91.5 15.0 16.0 38.3 61.7 3.0 5.0 5.9 94.1 5.0 5.3 26.5 73.5 22.0 29.8 Cutlets. 3.4 24.5 96.6 96.6 20.0 21.0 75.5 12.5 17.0 Breast.

MUTTON: 17.7 82.3 15.0 18.0 Leg Chops. 14.8 85.2 15.0 17.5 Forequarter cut for stewing. 21.2 78.8 12.5 20.0 PORK: 19.3 80.7 15.0 20.0 Loin.

Salt pork.

Bacon..

Ham. a Prices vary greatly in different parts of the country. These prices are assumed for the purpose of making it possible to compare nominal with net prices. one-twelfth is waste, and of the porterhouse, one-eighth. In buying the chuck, then, the housewife gets, at the prices assumed, less than onehalf pound of food for 10 cents. This makes the net price of the edible portion 22 cents a pound. In buying round, she gets eleven-twelfths of a pound for 15 cents. This makes the net value about 16½ cents. In buying porterhouse, she gets seveneighths of a pound for 25 cents. This makes the net value about 28 cents a pound. The relative prices, therefore, of the edible portions are 22, 16 and 28½ cents. Or to put it in a different way, a dollar at the prices assumed will buy 4 pounds of solid meat from the cut known as chuck, 6 pounds of such meat from the round, and only 31 pounds of such meat from the porterhouse."

Owing to the extremely high price of meats in recent years a special study has been made by the United States Government on the economical use of meat in the home. The conclusion has been reached that the expense for meat can be reduced in a number of different ways. Among these may be mentioned lessening of the amount of meat used as food; buying meat in quantity for home use; utilizing the fat, bone and trimmings and the left-over cold meats; extending the flavor of meats to various vegetables and cereals by means of mixed dishes; utilizing the cheaper cuts; and developing and improving the flavor by proper methods of cookery, including use of herbs, spices, sauces and the like.

To accomplish these results a number of valuable recipes have been prepared by Miss Caroline L. Hunt, an expert in nutrition, under the supervision of Dr. C. F. Langworthy, who has been in charge of this investigation, all of which are so valuable as to merit reproduction elsewhere in this volume.

In general, it is suggested that most American families eat too much meat and that the simplest way to reduce the meat bill would be to serve meat once only, instead of two or three times a day, or to use less meat at a time. One good meat dish a day will furnish sufficient proteid, provided other and cheaper substitutes such as eggs, milk, cheese and beans are used instead. Fish might well be substituted for meat for the sake of variety as well as of economy, wherever it can be obtained fresh and cheap. Canned or salt fish also makes a useful and economical variation of the diet.

FISH AS FOOD The flesh of fish is included with that of other animals on the food map on page 619. This shows that fish is similar in composition to meat and occupies much the same place in the diet. It contains practically no carbohydrate but consists almost wholly of proteid and fat in varying proportions. Some fish such as fat mackerel, shad and salmon, contain a high percentage of fat. And these are believed to be less easily and readily digestible than the leaner kinds such as cod, haddock, perch, pike, bluefish and others. The ash or mineral matter in fish does not vary greatly in quantity or value from other foods. The notion that fish are richer in phosphorus, and hence more valuable as a brain food for students and other sedentary workers, has no scientific foundation.

Experiments do not indicate that fish contain a larger percentage of phosphorus than other kinds of flesh used as food, nor that phosphorus is any more essential to the brain than nitrogen, potassium or other elements. The percentage of available nutrients per pound is somewhat less in fish than in most kinds of meat because fish contains a much larger proportion of water. But this difference is offset by the difference in cost under ordinary conditions and prices.

A careful comparative study of different sources of proteid shows that shell fish are the most expensive and the cheaper meats, fish and cereals FOOD VALUES AND ADULTERATIONS less expensive in the order mentioned.

As sources of energy, shell fish are higher in price than common fish.

The ordinary kinds of meats and the cereals are most economical. Both fish and the leaner kinds of meat are deficient in materials which yield muscular power. But when supplemented by bread, potatoes and the like, they are the more important parts of a well-balanced diet.

Cautions Concerning Fish.-Avoid fish which is not perfectly fresh and especially that which has been frozen and kept for a time after thawing and before being cooked. Such fish is liable to rapid decomposition with the forming of ptomaine poisons.

As a general rule fish are unfit for food if the eyes are dull, the ball of the eye clouded, the gills pale and frothy, the scales dry and easily loosened, or the meat so soft that it can be dented with the finger like putty. To test fish about which you are in doubt, lay them in water. If they sink they are probably good.

But if they float they are certainly unfit for food. Remove canned fish promptly from the can and use at If left in the can there is danger of poisoning from metallic oxides formed by the action of the air on the inside of the can. Moreover, canned fish deteriorates very rapidly after being opened. once.

Do not buy or use clams in the shell unless they are alive. That is, use only clams which close the shell when taken out of water. Also avoid oysters which are not perfectly fresh.

Oysters dead in the shell and even slightly decomposed may be extremely poisonous. When removed from water good oysters close the shell, move when touched, are of normal size and color and have a clear fluid inside the shell. In the case of dead oysters the shells remain open. The oysters in a short time become discolored and very soft. They have a stale odor and show blackish rings inside the shell. Oysters are sometimes "floated" or "fattened" in water contaminated with sewage, and death sometimes results from eating them from typhoid fever and other diseases. The only safeguard against such conditions is to buy oysters only from the most reliable dealers.

POULTRY AND DAIRY PRODUCTS In addition to meat and fish, the chief sources of proteid in the ordinary mixed diet are poultry and dairy products. Poultry differs very little in composition from other kinds of flesh used as food and is but slightly more digestible than beef, pork or mutton. The difference in digestibility between the different kinds of poultry depends chiefly upon the amount of fat present. Fat birds such as fat geese are least easily digested. Tenderness assists digestion; hence young birds are more easily digested than old. The less used muscles such as those of the breast are also more digestible than the much used muscular tissues of the thighs or "drumsticks." Experiments indicate that there is very little difference in digestibility between the white fleshed and dark fleshed birds, or between the white and dark meat of the same species.

From the standpoint of economy, home-grown chickens fed chiefly upon table scraps, sour milk and other byproducts are among the cheapest and most wholesome kinds of food.

Reckoning the cost of the actual nutrients, chicken as purchased in city markets at low or average prices is the cheapest kind of poultry. It then compares favorably in economy with the cheaper cuts of beef and pork.

Turkey and goose may be compared in value and economy to sirloin of beef and leg of lamb. Out-of-season chicken and turkey, capon, duck and green goose are more expensive.

Squab, pheasant and quail are so dear as to be luxuries. Their place can be filled, however, in most localities at little or no expense by trapping the ordinary English sparrow by methods elsewhere recommended. These birds are equally as fine as game birds in flavor. They are especially valuable as delicacies in sickness, either broiled or used as the basis of stews or broths. The chief value of game and poultry to invalids is found in the extractives they contain. These under proper methods of cookery give the characteristic flavor which makes the patient's "mouth water", i. e., they start the digestive juices flowing and stimulate the appetite. Eggs are a very important part of the average dietary. They furnish a light, easily-digested food, rich in proteid and especially suitable for breakfast or other light meals and useful for persons of sedentary habits. It is the practice of many families of moderate means to serve fresh meat for only one meal a dayi. e., dinner. They use for breakfast such foods as bacon, dried beef, cod fish or left-over meats. For lunch or supper, they have bread and butter, with cold meats and other leftovers, and perhaps the addition of cooked, fresh or preserved fruits. It is not sound economy to omit eggs from such a diet. At ordinary prices they are among the cheapest sources of proteid and should be used freely as meat substitutes. Eggs at 25 cents a dozen are cheaper than meat, especially if one egg is sufficient to satisfy each person or if the average is less than two eggs per person, as will usually prove to be the case.

Even at high prices the occasional use of eggs in the place of meat need not be regarded as a luxury.

Milk and Skim Milk. - While milk is universally recognized as the standard food of infancy and childhood its value as a food for adults is often underestimated. Milk is most commonly thought of merely as a beverage like coffee, tea or water.

It is taken or not according to taste -or to satisfy thirst-rather than as a substitute for meat or other substantial portion of the diet. Yet a single glass of milk contains about as much of the nutritive value of a meal as a quarter of a loaf of bread or a good slice of roast beef. A quart of fresh milk contains nutrients equivalent to three-fourths of a pound of meat or 6 ounces of bread.

On the other hand milk is sometimes spoken of as the only perfect food. This is perhaps true in the sense that it is possible to sustain life indefinitely upon an exclusive milk diet. Such a diet is sometimes prescribed in the treatment of rheumatism and in some other diseases. Persons doing ordinary sedentary or light work can take sufficient milk to sustain themselves in good health and to furnish normal energy for periods of several months. Such a diet is not advisable for adults under ordinary conditions for the reasonamong others that to secure the required amount of carbohydrate it is necessary to take a much larger amount of proteid than is necessary.

Yet these facts indicate that milk should be regarded as a substantial food.