I48 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I902. 



and there seems no reason to doubt the truth of the assertion. 

 Since a long continued fermentative process would be likely to 

 produce undesirable flavor, it is probable that a large part of the 

 starch is still unacted on. The action can go on only when the 

 cereal is moist and warm and must cease when the product is 

 cooked., as ferments are destroyed by boiling. It is needless to 

 say that the average person should not depend upon predigested 

 foods. 



Brittle Bits, "a soluble, sterilized, predigested food scientifically 

 prepared from entire wheat and barley, producing that delicate 

 malt flavor." "It is ready to be absorbed the moment it is put 

 into the stomach." ''One pound of lean beef gives 447 calories 

 of heat units, while one pound of Brittle Bits gives about 1870 

 calories or heat units, therefore one pound of Brittle Bits is 

 equal to four pounds of beef steak." While the latter statement 

 is not far from the truth, it is too misleading to pass unchal- 

 lenged. If fat beefsteak had been chosen for comparison it 

 would have been found equal to Brittle Bits in the number of 

 calories yielded. Fat yields more than twice as many calories 

 as an equal weight of protein ; yet the protein is by far the more 

 valuable nutrient, costing more, and more essential. If Brittle 

 Bits is compared with lean beef on the protein basis, we find that 

 while the cereal food carries 14 per cent of protein, the meat car- 

 ries about 23 per cent, or one and two-thirds times as much. It 

 should be added that a food that ''requires no effort on the part 

 of the salivary or pancreatic glands to digest it, and makes it fit 

 for assimilation," is not well adapted for a person in health. 

 Nature gave us salivary and pancreatic glands and intended that 

 they should be used. 



Force. "A simple preparation of the whole of the wheat and 

 barley malt." "With Force the work of digestion is already half 

 done. It slips into the tissues and makes bone and muscles 

 almost as soon as eaten." The analysis given on the package 

 agrees quite closely with that obtained at this laboratory. 



MISCELLANEOUS PREPARATIONS. 



Cook's Flaked Rice, "made from Louisiana and Texas rice." 

 It has practically the same composition as raw rice, but is cooked 

 and quickly prepared for use. Rice is lower in protein than 





