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they are palatable is abundantly evidenced by the fact that they are so 

 extensively used ; because, no matter how much they are advertised, people 

 would not continue to use them unless they were palatable. Individual 

 preference for different brands is natural, but this does not imply that the 

 food preferred is more nutritious. 



The extensive use of the prepared foods may be taken as an indication 

 that they "agree" quite generally with those who eat them. Unfortun- 

 ately, foods which are really wholesome and nutritious do not agree with 

 every person, and when they do not their continued use may be harmful. 

 Just why people differ in this respect is not definitely known ; nor can any 

 general principle be stated with reference to the matter. Consequently, 

 it is necessary for each person to learn what foods "agree" with their 

 own system. Palatableness and agreeableness of foods usually go to- 

 gether, but in some instances they do not. 



Economic Value of Foods. 



So far we have studied and discussed the various kinds of breakfast 

 foods on the basis of chemical composition, energy value, digestibility, 

 and palatability. It now remains for us to look into the economic side of 

 the question and see which foods will furnish the largest amount of digest- 

 ible matter for the least money. Before presenting the data on this point, 

 it may be well to draw attention to the fact that, generally speaking, 

 digested protein from one food is just as valuable as the digested protein 

 of any other food, and the same is true of fat and carbohydrates. Conse- 

 quently, we have no reason to believe that the digested protein of oatmeal 

 is any more nutritious than that of the various farinas and the numerous 

 kinds of "predigested foods;" or that the latter foods furnish forms of 

 digestible protein, fat, and carbohydrates that are superior to those of 

 any other food. There may be more of the digested nutrients used up in 

 performing the work of digestion in one food than another, but as we 

 cannot measure the amount so used, it is impossible to include it in our 

 calculations relative to economic values. In the following table, the num- 

 ber of grams of digestible protein and carbohydrates, and the number of 

 Calories of heat from ten cents' worth of a number of the foods is given. 

 The calculations were made on the basis of the prices of these foods in 

 Guelph, and on our own determinations of composition and digestibility. 

 In the majority of cases, the weight per package and the weight of food 

 in the package are the average of several weighings. For the sake of 

 comparison, white, entire wheat, and Graham bread are included. These 

 were calculated from data given in Bulletin No. 143 of the Office of Ex- 

 periment Stations, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 



