



Pret bai. ce vee 

NUTRITIVE VALUE OF CEREAL PREPARATIONS. 239 
In comparing the breakfast foods with some of the other food 
materials included in the table, the uncooked preparations may 
be compared with such articles as the wheat flours, macaroni, 
dried beans and peas, and the cooked preparations with bread 
and crackers. It will be seen that the amounts of protein and 
energy for ro cents are about as large in the bread and crackers 
as in the moderate priced cooked cereal preparations, and larger 
than in the higher priced ones. The wheat flours for the same 
sum furnish almost twice as much protein and energy as the 
uncooked wheat preparations, and considerably more than even 
the oat preparations, being surpassed only by rolled oats in 
bulk and samp. ‘The beans and peas supply almost as much 
energy and much more protein than the oats in bulk. 
SUMMARY. 
The difference between the various cereal preparations is 
principally one of process of manufacture. Some contain the 
whole of the grain, whereas with others the bran and germ 
have been removed in their preparation. Some are entirely 
uncooked, some are partially cooked, and some are wholly 
cooked and ready to eat as purchased. Among the latter are 
the so-called ‘‘ predigested’’ or ‘‘malted’’ preparations. 
The composition of the different products depends upon that 
of the grain from which they are made, and the extent to which 
the brah and germ have been removed in the manufacture. In 
general the prepared product from any grain has much the 
same composition as that of flour or meal from the same grain. 
Different brands of similar nature when made from the same 
_grain do not differ in average composition any more widely than 
different lots of the same brand. 
Different prepared products from the same grain show no 
marked differences in respect to the amounts of nutrients that 
may be actually digested. The differences in actual nutritive 
value of the products from the same grain are therefore on the 
average so small that they may be disregarded in choosing be- 
tween them. However, the oat preparations contain noticeably 
larger proportions of nutrients and energy than those of other 
grains, and as they are when properly cooked no less thoroughly 
digested, the actual nutritive value of the oat preparations ap- 
pears to be greater than that of the preparations from other 
grains. 
