
NUTRITIVE VALUE OF CEREAL PREPARATIONS. eal 
are learned by chemical analysis. During the past few years a 
very large number of analyses of cereal breakfast foods have 
been made, including a great variety of different brands, so 
that there is now available a large amount of definite informa- 
tion regarding the composition of this class of food products. 
Although all of this information has been considered in the 
preparation of the present discussion, a complete compilation 
of analyses is not given because it is too large for the present 
purpose. In place of this a sort of summary is presented in 
Table 90 below, which is sufficient to afford an intelligent idea 
of the composition of this class of food products. Although 
the number of different brands included in the table is small in 
comparison with the total number on the market, a sufficient 
variety is given to allow a fair comparison of similar products 
from different sources. ‘The brands here included were taken 
almost entirely at random, the only care in selection being 
given to include a fair proportion of preparations that are more 
or less common in this region. 
The different kinds of cereal preparations are grouped in the 
table according to the grain from which they are made. The 
greatest variety is found in the wheat products. These are 
arranged in the table in two divisions, one including those prod- 
ucts that are either uncooked or only partially cooked when 
purchased, and require more or less cooking to prepare them 
for the table, and the other including brands that when pur- 
chased are sufficiently cooked to be eaten'as taken from the 
package. ‘The former division is much the larger, because the 
preparations of this character are the more numerous. The 
straight wheat preparations that are ready to eat are not so 
numerous as those composed of wheat and barley malt. The 
malted products are given in a group by themselves. 
The group of corn products likewise comprises two divisions, 
corresponding to those of wheat. The corn preparations that 
require some cooking are also more numerous than those that 
are ready to eat. For purposes of comparison, the composition 
of boiled hominy as commonly eaten is given in the table. 
The oat products comprise old fashioned oatmeal, that was 
entirely uncooked, and rolled oats, which are partially cooked 
by steam in the process of preparation. The composition of 
boiled rolled oats is given also. 
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