


NUTRITIVE VALUE OF CEREAL PREPARATIONS. Za 
small. Of course, if such an analysis as the one given for 
Crescent wheat flakes, with 9.3 per cent. protein and 76.3 
per cent. of carbohydrates, were compared with the one for 
White’s wheat flakes, with 15.6 per cent. of protein and 69.4 
per cent. of carbohydrates, there might appear to be a decided 
advantage in favor of the latter because of the higher propor- 
tion of protein, this being the more important nutrient. It 
should be observed, however, that this comparison is between 
only one analysis of each sample. Although the figures show 
the relative merits of the two particular lots from which the 
samples were taken, it would not be fair to draw final conclu- 
sions regarding these or any other brands from a comparison 
of single anaylses. The composition of the same brand of 
goods from the same factory may differ so much that a compar- 
ison of two other samples might show these figures reversed. 
For instance, in the five analyses of Granose flakes included in 
the average composition given for this brand, the protein con- 
tent ranged from 11.5 to 15.6 per cent., and that of carbo- 
hydrates from 69.7 to 76.8 per cent. Similar differences 
were also found in separate analyses of other brands. ‘The 
first point to be observed, then, is that the same brand from 
the same factory is hardly more uniform in composition than 
similar products from different factories. 
In considering different brands, therefore, the fairer compar- 
ison is that between averages of several analyses of the same 
product, obtained in different markets or in different seasons. 
Among the wheat preparations, the average of eight analyses 
of Wheatena is almost identical with that of six analyses of 
_ Parched Farinose; and the average of nine analyses of Wheat- 
let is practically the same as that of six analyses of Ralston’s 
Health Food. ‘The widest range in average figures in the 
wheat products here included is between the Shredded Wheat 
with 10.6 per cent. of protein and 78.0 per cent. of carbohy- 
drates and Parched Farinose with 14.3 per cent. of protein and 
73.2 per cent. of carbohydrates. This difference is appreciably 
smaller than the one noticed above between separate analyses. 
Among the corn products, in the eight analyses of Hecker’s 
Hominy, the range of protein was from 6.8 to 9.5 per cent. 
and that of carbohydrates from 77.3 to 81.4 per cent. This is 
by no means a wide variation, and the agreement of five of the 
