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Food Values and Adulterations: Cereals
Cereals. Wheat bread and loaves of corn, rye or other cereal products, together with the cereal breakfast foods, form a very essential part of the ordinary mixed diet. The various cereals are similar in chemical composition. They contain little fat, but consist, on an average, of 10 per cent proteid and from 60 to 80 per cent carbohydrate with varying proportions of water and ash. The cereals rank with milk and other dairy products as among the cheapest sources of nutriment. An average man at moderately active work requires about of a pound of proteid with enough fats and carbohydrates daily to make a total of 3,000 calories of available energy. Milk contains all three classes of nutrients but not in the proper propor- FOOD VALUES AND ADULTERATIONS tions for healthy adults. Meats and cheese are rich in proteid and fat.
Vegetables are especially rich in carbohydrates. Cereals contain both proteid and carbohydrates but in such proportions that, in order to get the requisite amount of proteid from bread alone, one would have to take more carbohydrate than would otherwise be necessary. Hence, the combination of bread with such foods as meat, milk or cheese, which are rich in proteid, makes a much better balanced ration.
All of the cereals contain an inner kernel surrounded by one or more outer hulls. These hulls are ordinarily removed in the process of milling and sold as bran which is fed to stock. The popular opinion that bread made from the entire grain is more wholesome is not sustained by scientific experiments. The bran contains a large proportion of cellulose, or woody fiber, which is wholly indigestible. This substance may have some value as a laxative in cases of constipation, since, by mechanical action it stimulates the peristaltic action of the bowel. But it adds very little nutritive value to the loaf. On the contrary, experiments indicate that its presence somewhat lessens the digestibility of the finer portion of the grain. On the whole it may be taken for granted that the ordinary white bread is not only more palatable, and preferable for appearance sake, but is actually a more economical source of nutriment.
However, all kinds of bread are nutritious and are to be recommended for the sake of variety. This is equally as important in bread as in meats, vegetables and puddings.
The cheaper grades of flour are about as nutritious as the more expensive and may be used without hesitancy if economy is required.
Crackers, macaroni, and the various kinds of cake made from white flour have practically the same nutritive value as bread and are equally well Hot digested by healthy adults. bread in the form of rolls and biscuit is also found to be digestible, if properly masticated. The value of toast for invalids and others is due to several changes produced by heating. A portion of the carbohydrates becomes more soluble and hence more easily digested. If the heating is strong enough any ferments and bacteria present may be killed. Toast, on account of its dryness, is likely to be well masticated. And partial caramelization gives a crispness and flavor which stimulate the digestive juices. Bread made with skim milk makes a better balanced ration than that made with water alone and is preferable since it does not materially increase the cost. The common custom of eating butter or some other fat with bread is justified by the fact that the cereals, with the exception of corn, have little or no fat content.
Breakfast Foods. - Careful studies in large numbers of American families show that the various cereals furnish over one-fifth of the total food, about one-third of the total proteid and considerably over onehalf of the total carbohydrates of the average dietary. Of these about 2 per cent are furnished by the modern cereal breakfast foods. Notwithstanding that the percentage is small, the total quantity of such foods consumed is very great. And the millions of dollars expended in advertising the claims of superiority made for these foods by their manufacturers give the subject popular interest. A careful study of the principal breakfast foods, made under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture, indicates that their nutritive value and digestibility are practically the same as the old-fashioned porridge and similar dishes. The ready-to-eat cereals economize time and, to some extent, fuel. This advantage may justify the difference in their cost under certain conditions in the household. The process of preparation in most cases is thoroughly cleanly and sanitary. And the small pasteboard packages in which these products are put up protect the contents from all possible contamination. They also afford a convenient means of storage in the pantry. In general it was found that the less expensive kinds of raw cereal breakfast foods selling for about 4 cents a pound in bulk were as economical as flour, meal, or other forms of cereals with which they may be properly compared. The higher prices of ready-to-eat brands, however, do not yield any additional nutriment.
Their advantage, if any, lies in their convenience and the pleasant variety they afford. Some of these are excessively high in price, the maximum being about 15 cents per pound, or nearly four times as much as thei nutritive value would justify.
The so-called malted foods and others said to be predigested, are perhaps the most objectionable of any. The claims made for them are largely fraudulent. The addition of malt and similar processes are designed to transform the starch content of such foods into sugar and other soluble forms. Experiment with most of the advertised foods shows that this has really not been done to any appreciable extent.
Moreover, healthy adults are more likely to be injured than benefited by the use of predigested foods.
Nor should they be used by invalids except upon the advice of a competent physician. Hence, while these foods are really more wholesome than they would be if actually predigested, they are sold under misrepresentation, and at excessively high prices which are in no way justifiable. - Coffee Substitutes. - Cereal products as coffee substitutes appear to be made of parched barley, wheat and other grain, sometimes mixed with pea hulls, corn cobs or bran. Such grain parched with a little molasses in an ordinary oven makes something undistinguishable in flavor from the cereal coffees on the market. The claim of the manufacturers that these substitutes yield more nourishment than coffee is entirely unfounded.
They contain little or no nutriment, skim milk being about twenty times as nutritive. If strict economy is necessary it will be found equally as satisfactory to use old-fashioned "crust coffee" made by toasting broken crusts of white, brown, or preferably "rye and Indian" bread, steeping them in hot water and straining until comparatively clear.
Or parched corn, rye sweet potato or other old-fashioned coffee substitutes may be used. Vegetables in the Diet. In addition to the cereals, vegetable foods may be classified as legumes, tubers, roots and bulbs, green vegetables anà fruits. The principal legumes used as food are peas, beans, cow-peas and lentils. While about one-half of these consists of carbohydrate in the form of starch, they also contain about one-fourth proteid. The remainder is chiefly water and refuse, since the proportion of fat which they contain is small. The dried legumes are so rich in proteid and comparatively so cheap a source of this most important nutrient, that they may well be used for the sake of both economy and variety, as substitutes for meat in the daily dietary. The lack of fat in legumes suggests the addition of butter or other suitable fat, as salt pork, in the process of cooking. Dietary studies and experiments with legumes indicate that, when properly cooked and combined with other foods in the ordinary mixed diet, they are well digested.
Their tendency to cause flatulence may be corrected by soaking in soda and water and parboiling to remove the skin. Also by the addition of soda and salt in cooking. There can be no doubt that such foods as baked beans, purée of peas, and the like, are a valuable and economical part of the diet, especially for men employed at muscular work and for growing children. In view of their low cost, high nutritive value and wholesomeness, they may profitably be used to a much greater extent than they are at present.
FOOD VALUES AND ADULTERATIONS The potato, among roots and tubers, is most commonly used as food. This and other root crops contain from 70 to 90 per cent of water.