CEREAL BREAKFAST FOODS. 



L. H. Merrill and E. R. Mansfield. 



Three years ago a bulletin was issued from this Station con- 

 taining the analyses of about 40 cereal breakfast foods. The 

 demand for the bulletin proved unexpectedly large and persistent 

 and the edition was soon exhausted. In view of the growing 

 importance of this class of foods it has seemed advisable to issue 

 another bulletin upon the same subject, containing the analyses 

 of those preparations which are found upon the market to-day. 



THE CEREAL GRAINS. 



Among the vegetable foods best adapted to the wants of man, 

 the cereal grains occupy by far the most prominent place. The 

 methods by which these grains are prepared for our use are so 

 various and the manufactured products so multitudinous that it 

 is difficult to fix the relative food value of the grains themselves. 

 Thus it would be manifestly unwise to generalize upon the rela- 

 tive value of wheat and corn, if we base our conclusions merely 

 upon the chemical composition of a patent flour on the one side, 

 from the wholly decorticated and degerminated kernel, and that 

 of a corn meal on the other side, in which most of the outer coat- 

 ing of the kernel and practically all the germ are left in the fin- 

 ished product. Nevertheless a comparison of the grains from 

 the chemical standpoint is not without interest and is attempted 

 in the following table, which includes all the cereals concerned 

 in this bulletin. Since barley, oats and rice are always decorti- 

 cated before they are eaten, the analyses of these grains entire 

 are not given. 



