UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 469 $ 



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Contribution from the States Relations Service 

 A. C. TRUE, Director 



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Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



December 15, 1916 



FATS AND THEIR ECONOMICAL USE IN THE 



HOME. 1 



By A. D. Holmes and H. L. Lang, Scientific Assistants, Office of Home Eco- 

 nomics. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



General nature of fats 2 



The place of fats in the diet 3 



Digestibility of fats 4 



Sources and kinds of edible fats 6 



Animal fats 8 



Vegetable fats 12 



The selection of edible fats 15 



Economy in the use of fats.... 17 



Utilization of waste fats 20 



Rendering and clarifying fats 22 



Savory fats 23 



Softening hard fats to make them more satis- 

 factory for shortening purposes 24 



Care and storage of fats in the home 25 



Summary , 26 



INTRODUCTION. 



The fats in the ordinary diet fall naturally into two groups, those 

 eaten because they happen to be components of foods, like the fat in 

 milk, meats, or fish, and those like butter, salad oils, or lard, which 

 are added to other foods in cooking or serving. The housekeeper 

 interested in the economical use of fats in the home must take into 

 consideration fat as contributed by both groups. Obviously, the 

 kind and quantity of the first group of fats eaten are determined 

 by the foods making up the diet, and this is governed largely 

 by individual tastes and local or family food habits. As regards 

 this group, economy involves chiefly the proper selection and 

 combination of foods containing fat in abundance with other foods 

 containing little of it, so as to secure a diet supplying the proper pro- 

 portions of protein and carbohydrate as well as fat. As this matter 



1 Prepared under the direction of C. F. Langworthy, Chief, Office of Home Economics. 



Note. — This bulletin contains information regarding the character, selection, and use of 

 •edible fats in the home, much of the material being based on investigations made in the 

 laboratory of the Office of Home Economics of the States Relations Service. It is of 

 interest to teachers and students of domestic science, housekeepers, and others concerned 

 sv_Lth the problems of food selection and preparation. 

 S1287°— Bull. 469—16 1 • 



