BOUILLON CUBES I THEIR CONTENTS AND FOOD VALUE. 7 



The relative cost of the commercial and homemade preparations of 

 meat is shown in the following table: 



Table III. — Relative cost of commercial and homemade meat preparation*. 



Sam- 

 ple 

 No. 



Substance. 



Amount. 



Cost. 



Amount 

 of meat 

 extract ob- 

 tained for 

 10 cents. 



Best grade bouillon cubes 



Poorest grade bouDlon cubes 



Best grade semisolid meat extract 



Poorest grade semisolid meat extract . 



Best grade fluid meat extract 



Poorest grade fluid meat extract 



Commercial meat juice 



.do. 



Ounce 



Homemade beef broth ' 



Homemade meat and vegetable soup ! 



Cents. 

 20 

 10 

 23 

 13 

 18 



11.5 

 25 

 35 



4.5 



1 



Ounce. 



1 These two preparations are diluted and ready to serve. The others are all to be diluted with water 

 before serving. 



2 Cups. 



SUMMARY. 



One-half to three- fourths of bouillon cubes is table salt. The cubes 

 are not concentrated beef or meat essence, as many people believe. 

 They are valuable stimulants or flavoring agents, but have little or 

 no real food value. Bouillon cubes, therefore, are relatively ex- 

 pensive. 



Semisolid meat extracts sold in jars are not concentrated beef. 

 They are stimulants and flavoring adjuncts and have only a slight 

 food value, owing to a small amount of protein (muscle-building 

 food) which they contain. They are more expensive than homemade 

 soups. 



Fluid meat extracts are dilute solutions of semisolid meat extracts. 

 They are sold in bottles and are flavored. They are more expensive 

 than the semisolid meat extracts because they contain more water. 



Commercial meat juices are largely deprived of their most valuable 

 food constituent — the coagulable protein, or muscle-building food. 

 They are similar to fluid meat extracts, and some makes cost more. 



Homemade meat broth is more nutritious and provides more meat 

 extractives, protein, and fat at less expense than the commercial 

 preparations. 



Homemade meat and vegetable soup contains much more food and 

 is therefore much cheaper than the bouillons or soups prepared from 

 commercial cubes, extracts, or juices. 



ADDITIONAL COPIES of this publication 

 xA- may be procured from the Superintend- 

 ent of Documents, Government Printing 

 Office, Washington, D. C. , at 5 cents per copy 



WASHINGTON" : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1913 



