COOKING KILLS GERMS IN MEAT 89 



a large quantity of water, which can be drained off later and used 

 as a basis of soup. In vegetables like onions, the extracts are 

 too strong to be desirable and the water should be poured off 

 several times and replaced by fresh water. In doing this we lose 

 something in nourishment, but what we gain in milder flavor 

 more than balances the loss in nutritive material. 



Starch and sugar. Green apples and all unripe fruits con- 

 tain raw starch, and when eaten disturb the system rather 

 than help it. Ripe apples, on the other hand, contain starch 

 which has been transformed by nature into sugar, a substance 

 easily digested. Plant foods, like ripe fruits, in which the 

 starch has been converted into sugar, are digestible without 

 cooking. In vegetables, whether ripe or unripe, and in 

 cereals the transformation of starch into sugar has not taken 

 place, hence vegetables and cereals should be cooked. 



Cooking kills injurious animals and germs in meat. Small 

 animals and germs injurious to the body are sometimes present 

 in meats ; pork, fcr example, may contain small worms called 

 trichinae; both pork and beef may contain young tapeworms, 

 and all meats may contain disease germs. If the meat which 

 contains trichinae, tapeworms, and other parasites is not cooked, 

 the living animals and germs get into the body and cause trouble. 

 Trichinae make their way to the intestines, where they reproduce 

 rapidly; the young trichinae bore through the walls of the 

 intestines, enter the blood, and are carried to muscle cells 

 which they bore into and kill. Young tapeworms fasten 

 themselves to the walls of the intestines, absorb food which is 

 meant for human cell growth and repair, and rapidly grow 

 into long tapelike worms. Cooking kills trichinae, tapeworms, 

 and disease germs, and makes meat containing them safe and 

 harmless. 



Some states have rigid inspection of all farm animals 

 intended for food, and cows, pigs, and sheep which are 



