THE FOOD PROBLEM 271 



need not of necessity compose a part of this ration, and its 

 place can be supplied by various other animal protein, such as 

 milk, cheese, and eggs, and also partly by vegetable proteins, 

 nevertheless, the dietary habits of the nations of Western 

 Europe being what they are, it is highly desirable to include a 

 certain proportion of meat in the ration of any people long 

 accustomed to its use. 



As regards fat, the Commission agreed that a desirable 

 minimum of fat would be 75 grams a day. It recommended 

 that this fat ration be composed primarily of vegetable fats 

 and if there is an insufficiency of these available, the deficit 

 should be made up by animal fats. 



For the special rations in the army and navy it was agreed 

 that for the troops, both naval and military, behind the fight- 

 ing lines, the minimum rations should be that of the " average 

 man," that is to 'say a ration to produce 3300 calories and con- 

 taining at least 75 g. of fat. For the actual combat troops 

 the value of the ration should be increased by 600 calories and 

 the fat content by 25 g. For troops fighting in high mountains 

 the calories should be further increased to the extent of 200. 



The Commission discussed at much length the subject of 

 the milling rate, or rate of extraction, of flour from grain. 

 The usual extraction rate for bread grains in practically all 

 countries is considerably below 100 per cent. That is to say, 

 from a given amount of wheat or rye or other grain, anywhere 

 from 50 to 85 or 90 per cent, of the berry goes into the flour, 

 the rest, 'which is composed chiefly of the outer coats of the 

 berry, composing the " offals," or '* roughage," which is mostly 

 fed to animals. When there is need, however, of " stretch- 

 ing " the grain, the extraction rate is raised until it may, as 

 in actual whole wheat flour, be composed of all of the grain. 

 This means that the flour contains a certain part, even up to 

 all, of the offals normally kept out of the flour. The 

 question is, what is the highest extraction rate that may be ad- 

 visably used, from a physiological point of view, at times 

 when there is a shortage of grain, in order to obtain as large 



