BULLETIN 162.] [DECEMBER, 1907. 



Ontario Department of Agriculture. 



ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



BREAKFAST FOODS. 



THEIR CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, DIGESTIBILITY, AND COST. 

 By R. Harcourt, Professor of Chemistry, 



AND H. L. FULMER, DEMONSTRATOR IN CHEMISTRY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The points specially studied in the present investigation into the 

 nutritive value of breakfast foods are as follows : 

 i. The chemical composition. 



2. The influence of the thoroughness of cooking- on the solubility of 

 the organic matter of the raw foods. 



3. The digestibility of the organic matter of the cooked and malted 

 foods commonly sold as ready-to-serve, and the extent to which the starch 

 of these foods has been changed to dextrin and maltose. 



4. The digestibility of different kinds of breakfast foods, and the 

 influence of short and long cooking on the digestibility of the nutrients 

 of oat and wheat meals. 



5. The economic value of the various foods, based on the cost and 

 on the determined composition and digestibility. 



The Importance of Cereal Grains in our Diet. 



The cereal grains are prepared for human consumption in a qreat 

 variety of ways, and form a very important part of our diet. This is 

 doubtless due to the fact that they are grown in almost all parts of the 

 world; that they are cheap foods; that, when properly prepared, they 

 are comparatively easily and completely digested; and that they contain 

 all the constituents required to nourish the body. Moreover, if the find- 

 ings of the Chittedon School be proven to be correct, they are destined 

 to be even more important, for most of the cereal grains contain abun- 

 dance of proteids to supply all that these authorities claim is needed to 

 keep the human system in a healthy, vigorous condition. 



Some idea of the immense quantities of these foods consumed annu- 

 ally may be conceived when it is pointed out that the world's yearly crop 

 of wheat alone amounts to several billions of bushels, and all or nearly all 

 of this is used as human food. Furthermore, it is estimated that Great 

 Britain uses six bushels of wheat per capita per year; and an American 



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