The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 1 of 2

by Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry

THE FEEDING VALUE OF SANATOGEN COMPARED WITH COMMERCIAL CASEIN WITH RESPECT TO MAINTENANCE AND GROWTH

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John Phillips Street, M.S.

Chemist Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

NEW HAVEN, CONN.

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The proprietary preparation “Sanatogen” is claimed to consist of about 95 per cent. casein and 5 per cent. sodium glycerophosphate. The analysis of C. B. Morison[122] is as follows:

Water	9.97
Total nitrogen	12.81
Nitrogen, ppt. by acetic acid	12.54
Casein	80.01
Ether extract	0.11
Ash	5.59
Sulphur, total	0.73
Sulphur in casein	0.64
Phosphorus, total	1.49
Phosphorus in casein	0.69
Phosphorus in inorganic form	0.11

In connection with the above analysis it was demonstrated that sodium glycerophosphate was present. Sanatogen, therefore, consists essentially, on the water-free basis, of about 90 per cent. casein and 5 per cent. sodium glycerophosphate, with a small amount of an unidentified nitrogenous compound containing both sulphur and phosphorus, and a small amount of phosphorus in organic combination. The manufacturers claim that the two essential ingredients exist in Sanatogen as a definite chemical compound. Certain authorities, on the other hand, have insisted that the casein and glycerophosphate have not been chemically combined and that Sanatogen is simply a mechanical mixture of the two. Which claim is correct we will not consider here, for indeed it is of little importance, for whether or not chemically combined the action of the digestive fluids of the body would speedily break down the alleged compound into its constituents, and the body would have casein and the glycerophosphate offered for its use, just the same as though they had been offered as a mere mechanical mixture.

It being apparent that Sanatogen consists almost entirely of casein and sodium glycerophosphate, the former well-known ingredient making up nine-tenths of its weight, the question naturally arises how a mixture of these two common substances can acquire, simply by that admixture, unusually valuable properties not possessed by the two components. Leading physiologists quite generally agree that phosphorus in the form of glycero­phos­phates influences metabolism very little. Furthermore, it is obvious that the food value of the small amount of glycerin present must be slight. It is apparent therefore, that whatever nutriment or energy Sanatogen supplies must be dependent on its main constituent casein.

Sanatogen is commonly sold at retail in 100 gm. or 200 gm. packages for $1 and $1.90, respectively. It is possible that in larger quantities these prices might be shaded somewhat, but the fact remains that the ordinary retail purchaser of Sanatogen pays for it about 1 cent per gram, or about $4.50 per pound. If the value of Sanatogen depends on its casein, one might ask, in all fairness, why should the patient pay $4.50 per pound for Sanatogen when he can secure ordinary commercial casein for 8.5 to 10 cents per pound! (The Casein Mfg. Co. of New York quoted to me their No. 60 casein at 10 cents per pound in 5-pound lots, 8.5 cents per pound f. o. b. Bainbridge, N. Y., in 100-pound lots, and 8.5 cents per pound, freight paid, in 500-pound lots.) I have purchased Sanatogen from a wholesale druggist at the rate of $2.75 for 400 gm., or $3.12 per pound, so that under the most favorable conditions the cost of Sanatogen is more than thirty times as great as the commercial casein in question.

Is the consumer justified in paying this exceedingly high price for purified casein? The following feeding experiments were carried out to answer this query.

FEEDING EXPERIMENTS

White rats were chosen for the experimental animals because of their adaptability for tests of this kind, as shown by the extended successful experience of Osborne and Mendel, and also because, by using white rats, I could take advantage of the equipment and the experience of my colleagues, Dr. T. B. Osborne, Prof. L. B. Mendel and Miss Edna L. Ferry.

The value of Sanatogen as compared with commercial casein was studied from two points of view:

1. Its value in maintaining the weight of mature rats.

2. Its value in promoting the growth of young rats.

I. THE MAINTENANCE OF WEIGHT OF MATURE RATS

The Sanatogen used contained 12.88 per cent. of nitrogen, and the casein, 12.82 per cent., so that from the point of view of nitrogen content they were practically equivalent, gram for gram.

Six healthy male animals were selected, Rats 1, 2 and 3 being fed the casein ration and Rats 4, 5 and 6 the Sanatogen ration. At the beginning of the experiment the casein rats were 257, 360 and 376 days old; the Sanatogen rats, 249, 321 and 275 days old, respectively. These weight conditions, if anything, slightly favored the Sanatogen rats, as they were slightly less mature, and a greater growth might naturally be expected.

The rations fed had the following percentage composition:

Ration 1			Ration 2
Casein	20		Sanatogen	20
Protein-free milk*	28		Protein-free milk*	28
Lard	8		Lard	14
Unsalted butter	18		Unsalted butter	18
Corn starch	26		Corn starch	20
* Osborne and Mendel: Feeding Experiments with Isolated Food Substances, Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Publ. 156, 1911, Part 2, p. 80.

The rats were weighed twice a week for nine weeks, a record of the food consumed also being kept. Table 1 shows the weekly weights of the casein rats, the weekly gain or loss, and the weekly consumption of food. Table 2 gives similar data for the Sanatogen rats.

TABLE 1.—WEIGHTS OF CASEIN RATS, ON RATION NO. 1, OVER A PERIOD OF NINE WEEKS*

Date	Rat 1					Rat 2					Rat 3
	Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Food Eaten, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Food Eaten, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Food Eaten, gm.
1/2	240.0	.....		.....		264.6	.....		.....		314.1	.....		.....
1/9	250.8	+10	.8	73	.7	270.9	+ 6	.3	85	.2	314.6	+ 0	.5	95	.7
1/16	264.3	+13	.5	89	.3	284.9	+14	.0	99	.2	308.7	- 5	.9	117	.9
1/23	274.9	+10	.6	90	.7	293.5	+ 8	.6	107	.7	313.8	+ 5	.1	116	.5
1/30	278.6	+ 3	.7	80	.2	304.5	+11	.0	100	.5	322.2	+ 8	.4	116	.7
2/6	278.3	- 0	.3	82	.4	294.2	-10	.3	97	.0	311.2	-11	.0	119	.9
2/13	288.7	+10	.4	85	.5	281.5	-12	.7	94	.2	308.2	- 3	.0	125	.6
2/20	286.4	- 2	.3	86	.1	293.3	+11	.8	86	.8	309.0	+ 0	.8	126	.8
2/27	287.6	+ 1	.2	81	.1	297.6	+ 4	.3	100	.7	303.4	- 5	.6	129	.3
3/6	292.6	+ 5	.0	80	.1	307.4	+ 9	.8	103	.1	292.4	-11	.0	101	.0
Total	.....	+52	.6	759	.1	.....	+42	.8	874	.4	.....	-21	.7	1,049	.4
Average per week	.....	+ 5	.8	84	.3	.....	+4	.8	97	.2	.....	-2	.4	116	.6
* The growth curves of Rats 1, 2 and 3 are given in Chart 1.

Chart 1.—Growth curves of Rats 1, 2 and 3, on Ration 1: Casein.

TABLE 2.—WEIGHTS OF SANATOGEN RATS, RATION NO. 2, OVER A PERIOD OF NINE WEEKS*

Date	Rat 4					Rat 5					Rat 3
	Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Food Eaten, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Food Eaten, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Food Eaten, gm.
1/2	251.8	.....		.....		290.6	.....		.....		294.0	.....		.....
1/9	257.1	+ 5	.3	73	.4	297.2	+ 6	.6	86	.3	289.1	- 4	.9	58	.4
1/16	262.4	+ 5	.3	89	.8	292.4	- 4	.8	88	.9	286.1	- 3	.0	76	.8
1/23	274.4	+12	.0	97	.3	295.7	+ 3	.3	92	.8	287.6	+ 1	.5	85	.8
1/30	282.7	+ 8	.3	95	.5	299.5	+ 3	.8	92	.3	298.6	+11	.0	90	.9
2/6	279.8	- 2	.9	97	.7	284.2	-15	.3	87	.7	292.9	- 5	.7	89	.8
2/13	271.2	- 8	.6	96	.1	280.0	- 4	.2	94	.9	295.1	+ 2	.2	99	.7
2/20	257.5	-13	.7	91	.6	274.9	- 5	.1	96	.4	296.0	+ 0	.9	93	.9
2/27	258.0	+ 0	.5	93	.5	273.0	- 1	.9	103	.3	295.0	- 1	.0	95	.1
3/6	270.9	+12	.9	94	.8	278.1	+ 5	.1	94	.9	306.3	+11	.3	89	.4
Total	.....	+19	.1	829	.7	.....	-12	.5	837	.5	.....	+12	.3	779	.8
Average per week	.....	+ 2	.7	92	.2	.....	- 1	.4	93	.1	.....	+ 1	.4	86	.6
* The growth curves of Rats 4, 5 and 6 are given in Chart 2.

Chart 2.—Growth curves of Rats 4, 5 and 6, on Ration 2: Sanatogen.

Certainly the above data show no superiority of Sanatogen over commercial casein. In fact the results might be taken to suggest a slight advantage for the cheaper article, if one were warranted in drawing fine distinctions from a limited number of animals.

To conclude, a comparative feeding of six male white rats during nine weeks showed no nutritive superiority of Sanatogen, costing $3.12 per pound, over commercial casein costing 10 cents per pound.

II. THE PROMOTION OF GROWTH IN YOUNG RATS

In the second series of experiments ten male rats were used with four different rations. In these, casein and Sanatogen were compared, using both Osborne and Mendel’s “protein-free milk” and their “artificial protein-free milk IV.”[123] Butter fat was also substituted for the unsalted butter used in Rations 1 and 2.

The percentage composition of the rations fed was as follows:

Ration 3			Ration 5
Casein	20		Casein	20
Protein-free milk	28		Artificial p.-f. milk IV	29
Lard	8		Lard	8
Butter-fat	18		Butter-fat	18
Corn starch	26		Corn starch	25
Ration 4			Ration 6
Sanatogen	20		Sanatogen	20
Protein-free milk	28		Artificial p.-f. milk IV	29
Lard	14		Lard	14
Butter-fat	18		Butter-fat	18
Corn starch	20		Corn starch	19

Two male rats were used with each of Rations 3 and 4, and three with each of Rations 5 and 6. They were all healthy young rats ranging from 57 to 71 days old. As in the first series of experiments the rats were weighed twice a week and a record kept of the food consumed. Rations 3 and 4 were fed for seventy-seven days, Rations 5 and 6 for thirty-five days.

Table 3 shows the weekly weights and gains or losses of the rats fed Rations 3 and 4.

Rat 8 suffered more or less from diarrhea during a considerable part of the experiment, covering a period from March 16 to April 9, and from April 13 to May 11. The food intake correspondingly decreased during those periods.

TABLE 3.—COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS OF RATS FED RATIONS 3 AND 4

Date	Weights of Rats, Ration 3, Casein, Protein-Free Milk						Weights of Rats, Ration 4, Sanatogen, Protein-Free Milk
	Rat 7			Rat 8			Rat 9			Rat 10
	Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.
3/9	142.2	.....		108.0	.....		127.8	.....		107.0	.....
3/16	152.8	+10	.6	120.3	+12	.3	129.1	+1	.3	116.0	+9	.0
3/23	165.7	+12	.9	135.1	+14	.8	144.6	+15	.5	134.5	+18	.5
3/30	178.6	+12	.9	140.4	+5	.3	160.0	+15	.4	149.8	+15	.3
4/6	187.8	+9	.2	148.8	+8	.4	173.1	+13	.1	143.8	-6	.0
4/13	198.5	+10	.7	157.6	+8	.8	185.6	+12	.5	166.1	+22	.3
4/20	204.6	+6	.1	164.6	+7	.0	194.8	+9	.2	179.4	+13	.3
4/27	210.3	+5	.7	167.2	+2	.6	204.6	+9	.8	191.0	+11	.6
5/4	223.0	+12	.7	179.6	+12	.4	222.9	+18	.3	204.7	+13	.7
5/11	223.6	+0	.6	191.6	+12	.0	236.4	+13	.5	210.8	+6	.1
5/18	231.5	+7	.9	203.6	+12	.0	240.0	+3	.6	218.6	+7	.8
5/25	237.4	+5	.9	213.9	+10	.3	247.3	+7	.3	226.7	+8	.1
Total	.....	+95	.2	.....	+105	.9	.....	+119	.5	.....	+119	.7

Chart 3.—Growth curves of Rats 7, 8, 9 and 10 on Rations 3, Casein, protein-free milk, and 4, Sanatogen, protein-free milk.

The difference in the gains in weight shown by the four rats are not great and certainly do not warrant the conclusion that Sanatogen possesses any marked superiority over the commercial casein in promoting growth. The slightly increased gains shown by Rats 9 and 10 are entirely incommensurate with the cost of the Sanatogen. All of the rats showed a vigorous growth and exceeded the average weight expected for rats of their respective ages, based on the long series of observations of Osborne and Mendel, as shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4.—WEIGHT OF RATS 7 TO 10 COMPARED WITH
AVERAGE WEIGHT OF RAT OF SAME AGE

Rat	Age in Days	Final weight, gm.	Average Weight for rat of Same Age, gm.
7	148	237	204
8	138	214	201
9	145	247	204
10	134	227	197

The results secured by Rations 5 and 6 compared with Rations 3 and 4, the only difference being that natural protein-free milk was used in the latter and artificial protein-free milk in the former, are most striking. Such results were anticipated from the experience of Osborne and Mendel in feeding similar materials. All of my rats, except Rat 13, a casein rat, showed a decided loss in weight after five weeks’ feeding on rations containing artificial protein-free milk. These losses amounted to 19.7, 9.0, 23.1, 6.7 and 27.6 gm., whereas rats fed on the same rations, except for the form of protein-free milk, gained, during the same period of five weeks, 56.3, 49.6, 57.8 and 59.1 gm. The fact that one casein rat fed on the artificial protein-free milk showed a substantial gain is without significance, as such exceptions to the general rule occur occasionally, and, furthermore, this rat also during the last week of the experiment likewise lost weight. The extent of these losses compared with what the average normal male rat weighs at a corresponding age is shown in Table 7.

TABLE 5.—WEIGHTS OF RATS FED RATION 5, CASEIN, ARTIFICIAL PROTEIN-FREE MILK*

Date	Rat 11			Rat 12			Rat 13
	Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.		Gain or Loss, gm.
3/9	132.1	.....		110.0	.....		99	.0	.....
3/16	130.4	-1	.7	116.8	+6	.8	110	.3	+11	.3
3/23	136.8	+6	.4	130.8	+14	.0	108	.6	-1	.7
3/30	137.1	+0	.3	138.0	+7	.2	100	.2	-8	.4
4/6	127.1	-10	.0	143.9	+5	.9	95	.5	-4	.7
4/13	112.4	-14	.7	143.6	-0	.3	90	.0	-5	.5
Total	.....	-19	.7	.....	+33	.6	.....		-9	.0
4/20	146.7	+33	.7	170.7	+27	.1	104	.0	+14	.0
* Date 4/20 covers use of mixed food.
Rat 13 suffered more or less from diarrhea throughout the whole experiment, and Rat 16 suffered similarly during the first two weeks.

TABLE 6.—WEIGHTS OF RATS FED RATION 6.—SANATOGEN, ARTIFICIAL PROTEIN-FREE MILK*

Date	Rat 14			Rat 15			Rat 16
	Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.		Weight, gm.	Gain or Loss, gm.
3/9	118.4	.....		111.3	.....		101.3	.....
3/16	126.2	+7	.8	116.2	+4	.9	100.0	-1	.3
3/23	126.6	+0	.4	123.4	+7	.2	98.0	-2	.0
3/30	124.7	-1	.9	123.3	-0	.1	98.7	+0	.7
4/6	110.2	-14	.5	112.3	-11	.0	88.7	-10	.0
4/13	95.3	-14	.9	104.6	-7	.7	73.7	-15	.0
Total	.....	-23	.1	.....	-6	.7	.....	-27	.6
4/20	130.3	+35	.0	135.3	+30	.7	106.4	+32	.7
* Date 4/20 covers use of mixed food.

Chart 4.—Growth curves of Rats 11, 12 and 13, on Ration 5: Casein, artificial protein-free milk.

Chart 5.—Growth curves of Rats 14, 15 and 16, on Ration 6: Sanatogen, artificial protein-free milk.

TABLE 7.—WEIGHT OF RATS 11 TO 16 COMPARED WITH
AVERAGE WEIGHT OF RAT OF SAME AGE

Rat	Age, Days	Final Weight, gm.	Average Weight of Rat of Same Age, gm.
11	106	112	167
12	106	144	167
13	99	90	162
14	106	95	167
15	92	105	153
16	96	74	158

That these losses in weight were not due to any inherent weakness in the rats is shown by the fact that by feeding Rats 11 to 16 for one week after the termination of the experiment with Osborne and Mendel’s “mixed food” (a mixture of dog bread, sunflower seeds, vegetables and meat) very large gains were secured in every instance, ranging from 14 to 35 gm.

The growth curves for Rats 7 to 16 are shown in Charts 3, 4 and 5.

To conclude, a comparative feeding of four male white rats during eleven weeks, showed, if anything, a slightly greater, but insignificant, increase in weight for Sanatogen over commercial casein. In a ration in which artificial had been substituted for natural protein-free milk, Sanatogen showed no advantage over commercial casein in checking the failure in weight of the rats.​—(From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 21, 1914.)

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