372 FOOD AND NUTRITION 



age of fat in whole corn meal causes the meal or flour to become 

 rancid in warm weather and hence unfit for food. Besides the 

 corn consumed as flour, there is much of it worked up into break- 

 fast foods, while a still larger part of the grain is carried through 

 various chemical transformations for the making of starch, 

 corn syrup, alcohol, and vinegar. There is every reason for 

 believing that corn food products will be more extensively used 

 in the future. But by far the largest part of the corn crop of 

 this country is now consumed on the farm as stock feed. 

 From it, are produced the various animal products so useful 

 to man, including beef, pork, and dairy products. Food for 

 man thus produced indirectly from corn, is much more expen- 

 sive than when corn is used directly as food. 



421. Corn Flakes. The well-known corn flakes represent a 

 successful attempt to produce a food from the corn which is at 

 once palatable and nutritious. The operation of making corn 

 flakes begins with the hominy, or corn grit, mills which are 

 usually located in the "Corn Belt" of our country. Here the 

 shelled corn is steeped in water until it is soft. It is then put 

 through mills which loosen the germ and the skin which are 

 removed from the remainder of the grain. The germ contains 

 nearly all of the fat of the grain and much of the protein. 

 The germs and skins are made into cattle feed, much being 

 consumed on dairy farms. The hominy, or grits, of the corn* 

 are dried and shipped to the flaking mill. Here the grits are 

 steam cooked until soft; then the cooked material is put 

 through flaking machines which convert the grits into flakes 

 as thin as paper. The flakes are then toasted in great gas- 

 heated ovens and packed in air-tight packages while crisp. 

 In this condition they are delivered to the consumer. Large 

 quantities of corn are thus flaked and find their way to the 

 breakfast tables of American homes. 



422. Corn Starch. Most of the starch used in the United 

 States is prepared from corn, although wheat and potatoes are 

 also used to a limited extent. In Europe, the potato is ex- 

 tensively used. Corn contains about 55 per cent, starch, while 



