216 , Kansas Academy of Science. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



1. When we stop to study the composition of the majority of proprie- 

 tary foods for infants we are impressed with the fact that they are com- 

 paratively useless and in some cases harmful to children under one year 

 of age. 



2. There is no doubt but that the use of these kinds of foods for in- 

 fants sets up a disturbance of the child's delicate digestive organs. 

 First, because of an excess of starch in an insoluble emulsion. Second, 

 the lack of available mineral salts. Third, because of the deficiency in 

 fat, which is needed for fuel value. 



3. Most investigators have agreed that cow's milk is the only food 

 supply, apart from mother's milk, that is available in this country, from 

 a practical standpoint, for the nourishment of infants under one year 

 of age. 



4. Eminent specialists say that there is little necessity for predi- 

 gested foods. 



5. From analyses by American, English and Canadian chemists, it 

 is proven that there is no proprietary food for infants on the market 

 that can anywhere near compare with cow's milk as a substitute for 

 woman's milk, especially in the physiological fuel value. 



6. The deficiency in fat and available mineral matter in most of 

 these proprietary foods for infants may give rise to rickets or to in- 

 fantile scurvy. 



7. The economic question is at issue in that most of these proprietary 

 foods for infants contain a ridiculously small amount of nourishment at 

 the retail price paid. 



8. The majority of claims for proprietary foods for infants are largely 

 fallacious. 



9. The heating required in the making of condensed or evaporated 

 milk or in the making of milk powders or proprietary foods for infants 

 which contain dried milk destroys the important enzymes which are said 

 to have anti-scorbutic properties. In other words, excessive heat kills the 

 milk enzymes naturally found in raw milk, which are said to have a 

 tendency to prevent scurvy. This does not mean that heated or sterilized 

 milk will cause scurvy, but scurvy may be prevented if excessive heat 

 is not used. 



10. Investigators have proven that even in a ten per cent solution of 

 these proprietary foods for infants, a homogeneous mixture cannot be 

 obtained. In some of the products which contain starch, this is due to a 

 formation of a pasty or emulsified condition due to the swelling of the 

 starch grains. 



11. Proprietary infant foods should never be used except on a physi- 

 cian's advice. Such products are not for the laity to use according to 

 manufacturer's formula. They are as bad a menace to the public as 

 so-called patent medicines. One should know what is needed for the child 

 before feeding a food that has no advantage over good cow's milk. 



Topeka, Kansas. 



