February, 1930] agricultural experiments 1929 13 



FINDING THE ENERGY AND PROTEIN CONTENT OF FOODS 



Aiuilysos of food samples available in Durham and surrounding com- 

 munities were made by A. Gertrude Farr in cooperation with Dr. PVancis 

 G. Benedict, director of the Nutrition Laboratory of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington. 



Five-cent packages of sandwiches, sold in waxed paper and consisting 

 of crackers with various fillings, were found to contain nearly 200 calories 

 each, or as much energy as the average 10-cent fresh sandwich. Fifteen- 

 cent servings of ice cream averaged about 200 grams in weight, 500 calo- 

 ries of total energy, and 7 grams of protein. The energy value per 10 

 cents of sundaes from drug stores was about 250 calories, nearly 100 cal- 

 ories less than in ice cream. 



On an average 450 calories for 10 cents can be obtained in the popular 

 candy bars selling for 5 or 10 cents. Five-cent bags of salted peanuts 

 furnished 13 grams of protein each, proving to be one of the more eco- 

 nomical sources of protein. 



Thirty-four dinners from the college cafeteria furnished from 517 to 

 1,610 calories and from 10 to 60 grams of protein each, not including the 

 butter and beverage. Twenty-nine dinners from three commercial res- 

 taurants in Durham contained 456 to 805 calories and 19 to 43 grams of 

 protein. Assuming that butter and a glass of milk were taken with these 

 meals, the calories for 10 cents ranged from 165 to 410 at the cafeteria and 

 from 145 to 245 at the restaurants, and the protein content for 10 cents 

 varied from 4 to 15 grams and from 6 to 11 grams, respectively. 



Twenty-two suppers selected at the cafeteria varied in energy and pro- 

 tein content for 10 cents in much the same manner as the dinners. Food 

 combinations served at the other restaurants at night yielded from 70 to 

 385 calories and from 2 to 13 grams of protein for 10 cents. 



The data on mixed meals indicate that the energy value of the total 

 food consumed a day, a week, or for any period of time, may be estimated 

 with a relatively high degree of accuracy by obtaining the air-dry weight 

 of a food mixture and multiplying it by the factor 5. This procedure does 

 away with the necessity of using either the bomb or the oxy-calorimeter 

 and gives the physician or the dietitian a simple means of calculating the 

 energy intake with a degree of accuracy sufficient for most purposes. 



Samples of the food wastes of students at a local sorority house were 

 collected and analyzed. An average of 51 grams of air-dried material was 

 wasted each day by student No. 1 ; 26 grams by No. 2; 44 grams by No. 3; 

 and 94 grams by No. 4. {Purnell Fund.) 



A STUDY OF PARALYSIS IN POULTRY 



Blood counts and chemical analyses of the blood of ten paralytic and 

 fourteen normal chickens, and chemical analyses of the bones of five nor- 

 mal and five paralj'tic birds, were made by C. L. Martin and F. S. Schlen- 

 ker. The phosphorus and calcium contents of the blood of the paralytic 

 birds were found to be lower than that of normal birds. The blood of the 

 paralytics contained 59 per cent as much calcium and 82 per cent as much 

 phosphorus as that of normal birds. 



The calcium and phosphorus content of the bones of paralytic and 

 normal birds was the same. 



