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| |WT. IN| CAL. FURNISHED| PRICE
| | OZ. |----+----+-----+--------+------
|PORT. CONTAINING | 100 | | |CAR- | | 100
FOOD | 100 CALORIES | CAL.|PRO-| FAT|BOHY-| 1 LB. | CAL.
| | PORT.|TEIN| |DRATE| | POR.
------------------+------------------+------+----+----+-----+--------+------
Oysters |1 doz. | 6.8 | 49 |22 | 29 | .175 | .07
Bean soup |1/2 small serving | 2.6 | 24 |12 | 64 | | .007
Cream of corn |2/3 ordin. serv. | 3.1 | 11 |58 | 31 | | .02
Vegetable soup |1/2 ordin. serv. | 2.4 | 8 |89 | 3 | | .01
Cod fish (fresh) |ordin. serv. | 5 | 95 | 5 | 0 | .12 | .04
Salmon (canned) |small serv. | 1.75 | 45 |55 | 0 | .22 | .03
Chicken |1/2 large serv. | 1.75 | 39 |56 | 5 | .22 | .05
Veal cutlet |2/3 large serv. | 2.4 | 54 |46 | 0 | .28 | .045
Beef, corned |1/2 large serv. | 1.0 | 15 |85 | 0 | .16 | .01
Beef, sirloin | small serv. | 1.6 | 33 |67 | 0 | .34 | .04
Beef, round | small serv. | 1.8 | 39 |61 | 0 | .24 | .025
Ham, lean | ordin. serv. | 1.1 | 28 |72 | 0 | .22 | .015
Lamb chops |1/2 ordin. serv. | 1.0 | 24 |76 | 0 | .20 | .013
Mutton, leg | ordin. serv. | 1.2 | 35 |65 | 0 | .20 | .015
Eggs, boiled |1 large egg | 2.1 | 32 |68 | 0 |.30 doz.| .025
Eggs, scrambled |1-1/3 ordin. serv.| 2.5 | 37 |58 | 5 |.30 doz.| .03
Beans, baked | side dish | 2.66 | 21 |18 | 61 | .08 | .013
Potatoes, mashed | ordin. serv. | 3.2 | 10 |25 | 65 | .02 | .005
Macaroni |1/3 large serv. | .95 | 15 | 3 | 82 | .10 | .01
Potato salad | ordin. serv. | 2.25 | 10 |57 | 33 | .20 | .025
Tomatoes, sliced |4 large serv. |15. | 15 |16 | 69 | .10 | .10
Rolls, plain |1 large roll | 1.2 | 12 | 7 | 81 |.10 doz.| .01
Butter | ordin. pat | .44 | 5 |99.5| | .35 | .01
Wheat bread |1 small slice | .96 | 15 | 5 | 80 | .07 | .005
Chocolate cake |1/2 ord. sq. piece| .98 | 7 |22 | 71 | .32 | .02
Gingerbread |1/2 ord. sq. piece| .96 | 6 |23 | 71 | .16 | .01
Custard pudding | ordin. serv. | 3.25 | 18 |42 | 40 | .15 | .03
Rice pudding | very small serv.| 2.65 | 8 |13 | 79 | .13 | .02
Apple pie |1/3 piece | 1.3 | 5 |32 | 63 | | .013
Cheese, American |1-1/2 cu. in. | .77 | 25 |73 | 2 | .19 | .01
Crackers (soda) |2 crackers | .9 | 10 |20 | 70 | .10 | .007
Currant jelly |2 heap. spoons | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 98 | .40 | .025
Sugar |3 teaspoons | .86 | 0 | 0 | 100 | .06 | .003
Milk as bought | small glass | 4.9 | 19 |52 | 29 | .05 | .015
Milk, cond., sweet|4 teaspoons | 1.06 | 10 |23 | 67 | | .01
Oranges |1 large one | 9.4 | 6 | 3 | 91 | | .025
Peanuts |13 double ones | .62 | 20 |63 | 17 | | .004
Almonds, shelled |8-15 | .53 | 13 |77 | 10 | | .025
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From the preceding table plan a well-balanced and cheap dietary for one day
for a family of five, two adults and three children. Make a second dietary
for the same time and same number of people which shall give approximately
the same amount of tissue and energy producing food from more expensive
materials.
Food Waste in the Kitchen.--Much loss occurs in the improper cooking of
foods. Meats especially, when overdone, lose much of their flavor and are
far less easily digested than when they are cooked rare. The chief reasons
for cooking meats are that the muscle fibers may be loosened and softened,
and that the bacteria or other parasites in the meat may be killed by the
heat. The common method of frying makes foods less digestible. Stewing is
an economical as well as healthful method. A good way to prepare meat,
either for stew or soup, is to place the meat, cut in small pieces, in cold
water, and allow it to simmer for several hours. Rapid boiling toughens the
muscle fibers by the too rapid coagulation of the albuminous matter in
them, just as the white of egg becomes tough when boiled too long. Boiling
and roasting are excellent methods of cooking meat. In order to prevent the
loss of the nutrients in roasting, it is well to baste the meat frequently;
thus a crust is formed on the outer surface of the meat, which prevents the
escape of the juices from the inside.
Vegetables are cooked in order that the cells containing starch grains may
be burst open, thus allowing the starch to be more easily attacked by the
digestive fluids. Inasmuch as water may dissolve out nutrients from
vegetable tissues, it is best to boil them rapidly in a small amount of
water. This gives less time for the solvent action to take place.
Vegetables should be cooked with the outer skin left on when it is
possible.
Adulterations in Foods.--The addition of some cheaper substance to a food,
or the subtraction of some valuable substance from a food, with the view to
cheating the purchaser, is known as _adulteration_. Many foods which are
artificially manufactured have been adulterated to such an extent as to be
almost unfit for food, or even harmful. One of the commonest adulterations
is the substitution of grape sugar (glucose) for cane sugar. Glucose,
however, is not a harmful adulterant. It is used largely in candy making.
Flour and other cereal foods are sometimes adulterated with some cheap
substitutes, as bran or sawdust. Alum is sometimes added to make flour
whiter. Probably the food which suffers most from adulteration is milk, as
water can be added without the average person being the wiser. By means of
an inexpensive instrument known as a _lactometer_, this cheat may easily be
detected. In most cities, the milk supply is carefully safeguarded, because
of the danger of spreading typhoid fever from impure milk (see Chapter
XX). Before the pure food law was passed in 1906, milk was
frequently adulterated with substances like formalin to make it keep sweet
longer. Such preservatives are harmful, and it is now against the law to
add anything whatever to milk.
Coffee, cocoa, and spices are subject to great adulteration; cottonseed oil
is often substituted for olive oil; butter is too frequently artificial;
while honey, sirups of various kinds, cider and vinegar, have all been
found to be either artificially made from cheaper substitutes or to contain
such substitutes.
Pure Food Laws.--Thanks to the National Pure Food and Drug Law passed by
Congress in 1906, and to the activity of various city and state boards of
health, the opportunity to pass adulterated foods on the public is greatly
lessened. This law compels manufacturers of foods or medicines to state the
composition of their products on the labels placed on the jars or bottles.
So if a person reads the label he can determine exactly what he is getting
for his money.
Impure Water.--Great danger comes from drinking impure water. This subject
has already been discussed under Bacteria, where it was seen that the
spread of typhoid fever in particular is due to a contaminated water
supply. As citizens, we must aid all legislation that will safeguard the
water used by our towns and cities. Boiling water for ten minutes or longer
will render it safe from all organic impurities.
Stimulants.--We have learned that food is anything that supplies building
material or releases energy in the body; but some materials used by man,
presumably as food, do not come under this head. Such are tea and coffee.
When taken in moderate quantities, _they produce a temporary increase in
the vital activities_ of the person taking them. This is said to be a
stimulation; and material taken into the digestive tract, producing this,
is called a _stimulant_. In moderation, tea and coffee appear to be
harmless. Some people, however, cannot use either without ill effects, even
in small quantity. It is the _habit_ formed of relying upon the stimulus
given by tea or coffee that makes them a danger to man. Cocoa and
chocolate, although both contain a stimulant, are in addition good foods,
having from 12 per cent to 21 per cent of protein, from 29 per cent to 48
per cent fat, and over 30 per cent carbohydrate in their composition.
Is Alcohol a Food?--The question of the use of alcohol has been of late
years a matter of absorbing interest and importance among physiologists. A
few years ago Dr. Atwater performed a series of very careful experiments by
means of the respiration calorimeter, to ascertain whether alcohol is of
use to the body as food.[40] In these experiments the subjects were given,
instead of their daily allotment of carbohydrates and fats, enough alcohol
to supply the same amount of energy that these foods would have given. The
amount was calculated to be about two and one half ounces per day, about as
much as would be contained in a bottle of light wine.[41] This alcohol was
administered in small doses six times during the day. Professor Atwater's
results may be summed up briefly as follows:--