EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 167 



Such statements as the following are made, — "One package (one pound) is equal 

 to four pounds of oatmeal in nutriment," Another, "This food is particularly recom- 

 mended for nursing mothers to increase the quantity and quality of the breast 

 milk," etc. Another, "This is a condensed food, about four heaping teaspoonfuls 

 being sufficient for the meal," etc. "One pound of this food is equal to ten pounds 

 meat, wheat, oats," etc.* 



The above are, simply, examples of the arguments presented and statements 

 made in the abundance of literature accompanying , these foods. It seems quite 

 impossible to place any reliance on such statements. It is to be regretted that 

 anxiety to create a market for these goods seems to lead the manufacturers to 

 depart so widely from the exact facts. Most of the breakfast foods are manu- 

 factured from wheat and oats and, as the fountain cannot rise higher than its 

 source, so it is likewise impossible for these foods to contain more nutriment 

 than exists in the products from which they are manufactured. They have a 

 place in the human dietary and properly prepared, in this place, they are valuable 

 and legitimate foods. It is, however manifestly out of place to attempt to make 

 them constitute the entire meal, and persons suffering from faulty digestion will 

 do well to rely for guidance on sources other than the outside of the breakfast food 

 package. 



FIBEE IN BREAKFAST FOODS. 



It is well to note in connection with the cereal products mentioned in this bulle- 

 tin that they contain considerable fiber — much more than is found in white wheat 

 bread and patent flour. As explained abovef this means that pound for pound the 

 nutrients in the breakfast foods are less digestible than are the nutrients in the 

 patent flour and white bread. t Not only this but what is digested must be at a 

 greater cost to the system. On the other hand this very fiber that contributes to 

 the lower degree of digestibility may be the means of making it more wholesome 

 because it gives buoyancy and bulk to the meal and aids the digestive organs in 

 their peristaltic actions. 



Some of these foods are exceedingly palatable and we must recognize that such 

 points as these have a very important bearing on the selection of human food; and 

 man, for some time to come, will undoubtedly be willing to pay considerably 

 beyond the intrinsic value of the goods if they are but pleasing to the eye and taste. 

 He can be put on the engine basis so far as the fuel supply for his body is con- 

 cerned, but beyond this are his physiological functions to maintain ^.nd his aesthetic 

 nature to please. 



♦Adapted from an advertisement concerning Grape Nuts. 



tSee § note pdge 10. 



JDr. Gudeman in some artificial digestion experiments conducted with prepared foods vs. raw 

 foDds secured results wliicii he expresses in the foUowing language: "It was found that the raw 

 cereals, if sufficiently cooked, were as quickly digested as the best malted cereals, more quickly 

 thin the prepared cereals, and a large majority of the so called malted cereals." — Journal American 

 Chsmical Society, March, 1904. 



