FOODS HUMAN JN UTRITION . 657 



sul)stiiiic(>s, while (lic.v ni.iy not l>c injurious, nrc simply (liicktMiinj; lUMlcrial, 

 ;m(l serve to cheapen the piiiducl." 



The substance sold \>> tlii(kcn ice ci'eani was a wiiilr powder willi a slijihtly 

 sweet taste and used in the propc'rdon of mi oinn-e to to gallons of ice cream. 

 It consisted essentially of iiutw ti-a.uacanlli. whirh h:is the property of swelling 

 to u hir.i,'e hulk when niixcd with water. The powder contained 1.77 per cent 

 ash, hirsjely in the forin of linic 



Bleaching of flour, E. F. Ladd and K. E. Stai.lincs {Norlli JXtkota *S'/«. Bid. 

 7.'. pp. .tl'J-.i.i.'j. fi(/. 1). — Saniiiies of tlour bleached under known conditions 

 were examined and compared with unbleached flours, the bleaching being ac- 

 complished by the ordinary connnercial process employing oxids of nitrogen. 



In testing for the presence of oxids of nitrogen a weigluMl amount of flour or 

 bread was placed in a flask of distilled water and shaken at intervals for ;^0 

 minutes. After filtering, a di-op of concentrated liy(lro<lilori<- acid, 1 cc. of 

 sulphanilic acid, and 1 vc. of naphthylamin hy(b-ocidorid were added, the 

 mixture shaken, covered, and allowed to stand for :!(» ndniites. A known 

 amount of a standard solution of sodium nitrate was treated in tlie same manner 

 and the solutions compared with the standard in the colorimeter. In all 

 cases It was found that the nitrous oxids remained in the flour after bleaching 

 and the oxid or its salts were also found in bread baked from bleached flour. 

 Baking tests showed that bleached flour gave smaller loaves than unl>leacbed 

 flour. The quality of the wheat gluten was injured by bleaching. 



In general, the authors' results were regarded as unfavorable to bleachin.g. 

 The princii)al conclusions were in effect as follows : 



Bleaching is not an improved milling process but is the introduction of 

 chemical agents for the purpose of treating the flour which is analogous to the 

 bleaching of fruit and other food products. There is employed in the process 

 of bleaching a chemical agent which is physiologically quite active, namely, 

 nitrous oxid. 



Bleaching i>ermits of using low-grade flours in place of patents. Low-grade 

 flours produced from well-cleaned wheat can be successfully bleached to resem- 

 ble high grades or patents. 



"The processes for bleaching have been devised for bleaching and 'improv- 

 ing ■ the color of inferior flours. The manufacturers of these processes openly 

 claim that they (the millers) can increase the percentage amount of patent pro- 

 duced. From our tests it would seem that this could be done without the pur- 

 chaser becoming any the wiser because the clear grade of flour was susceptible 

 of being ' improved ' as well as the patents. . . . 



" The claim is made that nitrous acid will form in flour from the air. Our 

 experiments do not indicate this to be the case." 



Indian corn as food for man, L. M. Merrill {Maine Hta. Bid. 131, pp. 1-13- 

 I'l-'j). — The digestibility of corn meal prepared in different ways and of hominy 

 was studied. In some cases the corn products were eaten with sugar, milk, and 

 sometimes butter, and in otliers the diet was more varied, though the corn 

 product was its princi|i.il constituent. Wheat bread was also studied for pur- 

 l-v^.ies of comparison. In every case the digestion ex]ieriments were made with 

 healthy sub,iects. The following table sununarizes the results obtained for the 

 total diet and calculated for the corn products alone: 



2o577 — No. 7 — U7 5 



