368 THE BOOK OF CHEESE 



in small quantities as an accessory to the diet, and that 

 in large quantities it is likely to produce physiological 

 disturbances. The question of digestibility was made 

 the subject of a special investigation by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 1 Calorimeter experiments 2 

 were made to test the digestibility of several varieties of 

 cheese and some of these varieties at various stages of 

 ripening. All forms of cheese were found to be digested 

 as completely as most of the usual forms of food. Ap- 

 proximately 90 per cent of the nitrogenous portion (casein) 

 was retained in the body. Unripe cheese in these experi- 

 ments was apparently digested as completely as the ripened 

 forms. These experiments make clear the possibility 

 of making cheese a more prominent article in the regular 

 dietary than is usual in America. They especially point to 

 the desirability of the use of the skim and partially skim 

 cheeses, which as cheap sources of protein when properly 

 combined with other foods, may be made to replace 

 meats as a less costly source of proteins. Cheese is then 

 to be classed with meat and eggs, not with condiments. 

 An ounce of Cheddar 3 cheese roughly is equivalent to 

 one egg, to a glass of milk, or to two ounces of meat. 

 It is properly to be combined with bread, potatoes and 

 other starchy foods, lacking in the fat in which the cheese 

 is rich. These experiments included Roquefort, fresh-made 

 and ripe Cheddar, Swiss, Camembert and Cottage cheese. 

 336. Cheese flavor. " Cheese owes its flavor to the 

 fatty acids and their compounds which it contains and 

 to ammonia-like bodies formed during ripening from the 



1 Doane, C. F., et al, The digestibility of cheese, U. S. Dept. 

 Agr. Bur. An. Ind. Circ. 166, pages 1-21, 1911. 



2 Langworthy and Hunt, loc. cit. 



3 U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 487, page 38. 



