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Food Values and Adulterations: Hence

Hence the digestible nutrients present are somewhat less than 10 to 30 per cent. The greater part of the solid matter consists of carbohydrate.

The amount of proteid and fat furnished by root crops is negligible. Hence, potatoes and other roots must be balanced in the diet by meat, milk, butter and similar sources of fat and proteid. Mashed potato, prepared with milk and butter, is for this reason more wholesome and palatable than plain boiled potato.

Use preferably young potatoes of the early varieties, of medium size, smooth and regular in shape and with comparatively few eyes. Avoid old potatoes especially about the time they begin to sprout and become soft and watery. Discard, especially in the case of old potatoes, any which have been turned green by the sun.

The green portion contains solanin, a virulent acid poison. The danger from this increases the longer the potato is kept before being used.

Potatoes rank next to bread stuffs as a source of carbohydrate in the diet.

The sweet potato resembles the white potato in composition although it contains a larger proportion of sugar and there are some other differences. It is equally as wholesome. While slightly more expensive it is to be recommended, at ordinary prices, as a substitute for the white potato for the sake of variety. a Succulent roots, tubers and bulbs such as beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, onions and the like are much less important as source of nutrients than the cereal foods, or the starchy roots and tubers such as the potato. Their chief value lies in their flavors as aids to digestion. They also supply the body with mineral salts and by their bulk and the proportion of cellulose which they contain stimulate the peristaltic action of the bowel.

Fresh fruits are similar to green vegetables in composition, but they often contain considerable percentages of sugar. They are very dilute foods and usually contain 80 per cent or more of water. With the notable exception of the olive, fruits contain very little fat, nor do they have any importance as sources of proteid.

They have some nutritive value as sources of carbohydrate, chiefly in the form of sugar, the percentage of which in common fruits ranges from 1 to as high as 15 per cent. But like green vegetables their value is chiefly in their flavors and mineral salts as aids to digestion and in their laxative effect.

Experiments have shown that persons living on an exclusive fruit and nut diet may apparently maintain their health and strength for a considerable length of time. The cost of such diet, however, does not differ greatly from that of an ordinary mixed diet. Nor is there anything to show that it is in other respects equal or superior. Dried and preserved fruits form an especially important part of the diet since they may contain 50 per cent or more of available carbohydrates in the form of sugar, in addition to many characteristics of fresh fruit. In short fruits are a valuable part of a well-balanced diet and may well be eaten in larger quantities than at present.

FOOD ADULTERATIONS A preservative added to a food is an adulteration, because it is a foreign substance and neither a food nor a condiment. It is an entirely different question whether the food thus preserved is wholesome. A commercial sausage may contain a considerable amount of starch, which is added in order to allow the use of more fat or water to the product. This is not injurious, but the customer buys the product at a high price believing that he is getting a genuine sausage and nothing else.

On account of the frequent use of adulterants, some simple tests are here given. These can be performed without any special chemical knowledge by carefully following the directions given. Any housekeeper or teacher can do the work. These instructions were compiled by E. H. S. Bailey, Ph. D., for the Kansas State Board of Health. The complete details of many of the processes are given in the recent article by Bigelow and Howard, in Bulletin No. 100, United States Department of Agri- MENU CONDENSED SOUP (WITH PRESERVALINE) CANNED ROAST BEEF (AVITH PRESERVALINE) WHITE BREAD. (WITH ALUM PUDDING TAR JAM WITHSODIUM DOPED PIE DYED PEAS COLORED FAUIT FICE CREAM WITH VARNO ANG GLUE ) GLUCOSE HONEY "Is It Any Wonder I Am Getting the Reputation of Being a Dyspeptic?" culture, Bureau of Chemistry. From this excellent publication many of the following tests are taken.

Kitchen Tests. - In addition to the ordinary kitchen dishes and utensils the following will be required: One glass funnel, three inches in diameter; white cut filter-papers, five inches in diameter; and one medicinedropper. The chemicals required are:

One four-ounce bottle of strong hydrochloric (muriatic) acid; one four-ounce bottle of aqua ammonia; one eight-ounce bottle of chloroform; one four-ounce bottle of alcohol; one one-quarter pound bottle of hydrogen peroxide; one one-ounce bottle of tincture of iodine; one-quarter of an ounce of ferric alum; one-half an ounce of logwood chips; one-quarter of a pound of fuller's earth; a few pieces of sheet zinc; a few square inches of turmeric-paper.

All of the above can be readily obtained at any drug store. If it is proposed to have the chemicals about the house, the bottles should be provided with poison labels by the druggist. CANNED VEGETABLES Vegetables put up by reputable manufacturers who think it worth while to keep a good brand on the market are usually of good quality and wholesome. Sometimes, however, coloring matter and preservatives are present. Notice the appearance of the tin can containing canned vegetables or fruit. If it is convex instead of concave at the ends, and if when water is poured on the end of the can and the can is punctured, bubbles of gas come out through the water, the contents have begun to ferment and are not fit for use.

Copper. The only artificial coloring matter usually found in canned vegetables is copper. This is added to produce a natural green color.

This is most likely to be found in peas and string-beans. It has also been frequently used in pickles.

To test for copper: Mash two heaping tablespoonfuls of the sample with a stiff spoon, and put the pulp in a teacup, with three times as much water. With a medicine-dropper add thirty drops of hydrochloric acid, and set the cup in a pan of boiling water on the stove. Drop a bright two-penny nail in the mixture, and keep the water in the pan boiling for about twenty minutes. Take care to stir the solution occasionally with a splinter. Pour out the contents of the cup, rinse off the nail and examine it. If any appreciable quantity of copper is present in the food the nail will be plated red.

PRESERVATIVES The preservatives most commonly used in canned vegetables are borax, sodium benzoate and salicylic acid.

Sodium sulphite is also sometimes FOOD VALUES AND ADULTERATIONS added both to bleach the product and to act as a preservative. Saccharin, which acts very slightly as a preservative, is used with such vegetables as sweet corn and in tomato catsup, as a sweetening agent. Borax. To detect borax or boric acid, mash a sample, as for copper, with a tumbler used as a pestle in a tea saucer, add a few teaspoonfuls of water, and strain through a cloth, putting the wet, folded cloth in the funnel. Collect about a teaspoonful of the liquid that comes through the filter in a sauce-dish, and add to this four drops of hydrochloric acid. Dip into this solution a piece of yellow turmeric-paper about an inch square.

Then dry the paper by placing it in a clean saucer over a teakettle of boiling water. If borax is present, the yellow paper will become cherryred when dry. If a drop or two of ammonia be put upon it, when cold, the color will change to a greenish black. narrow ounces.