MISCELLANEOUS.
Mince Meat.
—Under the term “mince meat” is included a large variety of mixtures used chiefly for pie making and composed of meats, fruits, evaporated fruits, spices, and sometimes alcohol in some of its forms. It is not possible to describe any particular combination which would be entitled to bear the name alone, since each housewife and each manufacturer follows a method of her and his own. A general description, however, may be given of the manufactured article which, unfortunately, has largely displaced the mince meat of domestic manufacture.
Judged by the name alone, meat of some kind would be an important constituent of this substance. This, however, is not the case. Very few of the mince meats contain more than 10 percent of meat, a large number contain less and quite a large number contain none at all. Suet and tallow are sometimes employed as a substitute for meat, which apparently satisfies the conscience of the manufacturer even if it does not suit the palate of the consumer. Evaporated fruits, such as raisins, etc., form important constituents of the mixture and also fresh fruits, in domestic manufacture, are very often used. Spices of various kinds are also employed and the mixture is sometimes flavored with brandy or some alcoholic beverage.
Pressed Mince Meat.
—The mixture which is above described may be dried and pressed, or pressed without drying, into a hard firm cake which renders it more suitable for transportation and improves its keeping qualities. There is perhaps little difference between the unpressed and the pressed mince meat except in the matter of a binder. The binder consists usually of starch or flour, which serves not only to give additional weight to the mixture but also to hold the particles together. Starch or flour is sometimes used in unpressed mince meat also. There is another advantage in using starch or flour, namely, that these bodies absorb large quantities of moisture and thus increase the weight of the mixture. Mince meat cannot be recommended on sanitary grounds, since the method of manufacture is not always known and the materials from which it is made are not always selected with the sole view to the excellence of the raw materials and the health of the consumer. The meat when used often represents waste material from the table or factory and the fruits are not necessarily those which look best but probably are those usually of the worst appearance and the combinations are made with a view of meeting the ordinary demands of the market rather than of catering to the tenets of sanitation.
It is not the intention of this manual to discourage any kind of legitimate manufacturing industry, but, in view of the general character of substances of this kind, if they are to be used at all, it seems advisable that they should be made in the home, of material selected by the housewife and in a manner which requires no special treatment for its preservation, rather than to be purchased at random in the open market, made of materials of unknown origin put together by an unknown process.
Adulteration of Mince Meat.
—Assuming that the materials which have been selected are wholesome, sanitary, and of fine quality, the principal adulterations to which mince meat is subjected are the addition of chemical preservatives and artificial colors. Inasmuch as mince meat is not expected to be of any very definite color the use of artificial colors is not common. On the other hand when mince meat is made in large quantities, transported long distances, and sometimes kept for a long while on the shelves of the grocery, the subject of preservation becomes a matter of serious importance. It is naturally inconvenient to preserve a mixture of this kind by sterilization, though this has been accomplished. The method of drying and pressing has already been described. This, of course, detracts somewhat from the physical appearance of the product. The common method is the addition of a chemical preservative. At the present time I believe that benzoate of soda is the one very commonly used, and it will probably continue to be so used, by most manufacturers until national and state laws or an enlightened public opinion eliminate it from food products.
Pie Fillers.
—Nearly allied to mince meat in its character is a large class of substances known as pie fillers. Mince meat itself, as may be seen from the description which has been given of it, is nothing but a pie filler of a particular kind. Unfortunately the demand of the domestic cuisine is for substances prepared, or partially prepared, for immediate consumption. In this way the demand for predigested and precooked food has become a very general one and the pie filler is a legitimate effort on the part of the manufacturers to meet this growing demand. It is far easier for domestic purposes to make a pie of an already prepared material than to go to the trouble of constructing the material in the kitchen. A housewife loses sight of the fact that the fresh domestic pie is probably the only one which, for sanitary and other reasons, should be admitted to the table. As the pie fillers are as varied in character as the different kinds of pies from which they are made, no definite standard can be prescribed for them. Fruits are, naturally, the predominating constituent in these fillers and the condiments and spices used are certainly unobjectionable. If it be possible to prepare spiced fruits and keep them until used for pies there would seem to be no objection to the manufacture, long before using, of these substances in large quantities. The difficulty, however, of preserving the freshness and aroma of a fruit or other substance used for pie making is so evident as to need no particular emphasis.
Adulteration of Pie Fillers.
—The common adulterations in pie fillers are artificial colors, when they are designed to represent fruit of a special character, and preservatives. The same remarks which were made respecting these bodies in mince meat apply with equal force to all kinds of pie fillers. Bodies of this kind are evidently only properly made on the premises where they are consumed and immediately used after manufacture. The addition of artificial colors and preservatives in such substances, while apparently necessary in the present condition of trade, is wholly objectionable from every other point of view, and in such case trade conditions should properly give way to the demands of public and private sanitation and hygiene.
PART X.
INVALIDS’ AND INFANTS’ FOODS.
One of the most important subjects in connection with the food supply is the study of the foods which are offered for the use of infants and invalids. The demands of modern society, unfortunately, have deprived the American infant in many cases of the food which Nature intended it to have. It is, therefore, a condition, rather than a theory, confronting the feeding of the American infant. It often is a choice between starvation and an artificial food. A most self-evident fact in connection with infant food is that until an infant reaches the age when it is naturally weaned it should have as a food only milk. The common substitute for mother’s milk is cow’s milk. The important point in this connection is that the milk should be from a healthy cow, kept in a sanitary condition, and the milk should be secured in thoroughly sanitary ways. These methods of preparing milk are, in fact, the practical result of modern sanitary theories. The composition of cow’s milk is not that of mother’s milk. It contains more protein and less milk sugar than the normal milk of the mother. For this reason the cow’s milk is often modified to bring it into nearer relationship to the natural mother’s milk. When this is done under scientific directions and according to a prescription furnished by a competent physician or physiologist there is no objection to its use provided it is accomplished without exposure of the milk to bacteria or other contamination. The addition of drugs to milk in its preparation for infants’ use cannot be generally commended. The citrate of lime or limewater is one of the substances which is often added to milk, and that, too, by the direction of a physician. There are conditions of disease in infants where such a modification is advisable, but it is doubtful if it is ever so in the case of a healthy child. The same remark may be made respecting the limewater.
Composition of Modified Milk.
—Proteids and ash in cow’s milk are much higher than in human milk and are brought to the proper degree of reduction by blending with other milk and diluting the milk with water.
| Cow’s Milk. | Diluted Once. | Diluted Twice. | Diluted Three Times. | Diluted Four Times. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proteids, | 4.00 | 2.00 | 1.35 | 1.00 | 0.80 |
| Ash, | 0.70 | 0.35 | 0.23 | 0.18 | 0.14 |
The ingredients commonly employed for modified milk are (1) cream containing 16 percent of fat; (2) centrifugally skimmed milk by which the fat has been removed; (3) milk sugar or a standard solution of milk sugar of say 20 percent strength; and (4) lime water.
Formulæ.
—It is obviously impossible to establish formulæ universally applicable even to healthy infants, but the following may be regarded as typical, representing the composition of a modified milk, to suit the needs of an average growing infant during its first year:
| Period. | Fat. | Proteids. | Sugar. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | |
| 3 to 14 days, | 2 | 0.6 | 6 |
| 2 to 6 weeks, | 2.5 | 0.6 | 6 |
| 6 to 11 weeks, | 3 | 1.0 | 6 |
| 11 weeks to 5 months, | 3.5 | 1.5 | 7 |
| 5 to 9 months, | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 9 to 12 months, | 4.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
(Albert E. Leach, “Food Inspection and Analysis.”)
Solid Infant’s Food.
—A large number of infant foods in the solid state are upon the market. These have been studied very carefully by many observers with a view not only of determining their chemical properties but also their relative digestibility. These prepared infant foods are not always made in harmony with the natural demands of young children. As has just been indicated, they are not, as a rule, suitable for infants before the time of weaning, being better adapted to the use of young children. In the following tables are the data representing the chemical composition of some of the common infants’ foods.
Invalid Foods.
—The term “invalid foods” is applied to almost every kind of a concoction containing a food substance which is administered to an invalid or convalescent, often for medical purposes rather than for real nutrition. Chief among these invalid foods may be mentioned the meat extracts containing that portion of the meat soluble in hot water. These bodies consist chiefly of meat bases together with certain soluble salts and it has long been recognized that they have very little nutritive value. They are also found in concentrated or even a dry state. The unconcentrated invalid foods of this class sometimes contain glycerol (glycerine) or alcohol as a preservative. There are also many forms of meat juice supposed to be the direct extract by pressure or otherwise of the natural juice of the meat. Since these bodies could not be preserved otherwise than by sterilization, which would coagulate the albuminous portion, they are often preserved by the addition of glycerine or some other antiseptic substance. It is doubtful if any of these preserved bodies are proper food for a deranged stomach either in the case of a real invalid or of a convalescent.
In addition to these there are a great many so-called predigested or precooked foods which are largely advertised for certain forms of deranged digestion or malnutrition. The market is flooded with brain foods, nerve foods, etc., which, if they were as poor as their advertising claims are exaggerated, would be sorry substitutes for the natural food which grown people eat. Fortunately these foods are often far better than one would suppose and many of them are wholly unobjectionable in character in so far as composition is concerned, though the price which one must pay for these nutrients seems out of all proportion to the actual cost of the raw material. Following are data showing the composition of some of the more important foods which are advertised as having curative or medicinal qualities or as suitable for infants and invalids, and thus are brought prominently to the attention of the invalid or convalescent.
| Water. | Ash. | Fat. | Pro- teids. | Re- ducing Sugar. | Cold Water Ex- tract. | Dex- trin. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | |
| No. 1, | 3.76 | 3.02 | 6.30 | 9.21 | 52.50 | 78.76 | Much |
| No. 2, | 2.12 | 4.34 | 8.70 | 14.02 | 49.02 | 75.80 | „ |
| No. 3, | 1.96 | 3.85 | 0.60 | 11.06 | 57.96 | 81.10 | „ |
| No. 4, | 3.25 | 2.20 | 5.65 | 8.66 | ... | 82.00 | 11.50 |
| No. 5, | 1.37 | 1.63 | 4.75 | 9.13 | ... | 46.57 | 11.02 |
| No. 6, | 7.09 | 0.42 | 0.23 | 14.48 | ... | 3.58 | 1.74 |
| No. 7, | 5.73 | 0.86 | 1.00 | 10.41 | 26.32 | 34.57 | 7.30 |
| No. 8, | 1.55 | 1.20 | 1.10 | 5.69 | 57.57 | 50.05 | Much |
The above data give a general view of the relations of nutrient in foods of this class. The percentage of mineral matter varies chiefly in proportion to the varying content of common salt. The fat varies from one to about nine percent. Protein exists in quantities from nearly six to 15 percent. Sugar constitutes the predominant nutritive component of almost all these bodies, only one showing a small percentage thereof. It is evident that if any one of these types of food be regarded as a standard nearly all the others would prove objectionable. The foods in the following table are largely farinaceous in composition.
COMPOSITION OF INFANTS’ AND INVALIDS’ FOODS.
(As determined by A. McGill, Bulletin 59, Laboratory of Inland Revenue, Ottawa, Canada).
| Mean Results of Analysis.—Group I.—Farinaceous Foods. | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Num- ber. | Number of Samples Analyzed. | Moisture. | Fat by Petro- leum Ether. | Loss to Alco- hol. | Loss to Water. | Sum of Losses to Alco- hol and Water. | Total Albumi- noids from Nitrogen × 6.25. | Ash. | Starch, Fiber, etc. (by Differ- ence). | Starch, Fiber, Ash, etc. (by Differ- ence). | Sugar. | Remarks. | ||
| Reducing. | Cane Sugar. | |||||||||||||
| Expressed as | Percent. | |||||||||||||
| Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 13.96 | 0.29 | .. | 3.21 | 3.21 | 1.24 | 0.06 | 81.28 | .. | .. | .. | .. | Arrowroot starch. |
| 2 | 5 | 9.61 | 0.64 | 4.91 | 2.91 | 7.82 | 10.38 | 1.48 | 67.35 | 72.00 | Invert. | 5 | .. | Wheat starch. |
| 3 | 5 | 9.44 | 0.27 | 0.73 | 3.91 | 4.64 | 9.49 | 0.96 | 75.14 | 76.29 | A trace. | .. | Cereal starches. | |
| 4 | 4 | 9.71 | 0.14 | 9.95 | 3.60 | 13.55 | 8.54 | 0.80 | 67.46 | 67.88 | Maltose. | 3 | 10 | Cereal starch. |
| 5 | 5 | 6.04 | 0.72 | .. | 3.94 | 3.94 | 13.77 | 0.49 | 76.60 | .. | .. | .. | .. | Wheat starch. |
| 6 | 2 | 9.99 | 0.13 | .. | .. | 8.83 | 8.60 | 2.08 | 69.24 | .. | .. | .. | 3 | Maize and wheat starches. |
| 7 | 9 | 8.12 | 0.48 | 0.34 | 4.67 | 5.02 | 13.83 | 0.53 | .. | 72.01 | .. | .. | .. | Wheat starch. |
| 8 | 7 | 9.41 | 0.41 | 0.65 | 2.26 | 2.91 | 7.46 | 0.94 | 78.66 | 79.41 | .. | .. | .. | Barley starch. |
| 9 | 2 | 8.65 | 0.85 | 5.90 | 3.77 | 9.67 | 12.18 | 0.88 | 68.62 | .. | .. | .. | 5 | Wheat starch. |
| 41 | ||||||||||||||
| Group II.—Mixed Foods. | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | 2 | 6.84 | 1.17 | .. | .. | 25.96 | 8.75 | 0.76 | 56.83 | .. | Invert. | 3 | 20 | Wheat starch. |
| 11 | 5 | 4.22 | 3.49 | 27.89 | 6.00 | 33.89 | 7.19 | 1.05 | .. | 49.31 | Lactose. | 1 | 30 | Wheat starch. |
| 12 | 2 | 5.38 | 0.57 | .. | .. | 29.59 | 10.43 | 1.06 | 53.62 | 54.28 | Maltose. | 20 | .. | Wheat starch. |
| 13 | 2 | 4.26 | 1.60 | 35.28 | 4.73 | 40.01 | 11.38 | 2.82 | 40.51 | 42.10 | .. | .. | 35 | |
| 14 | 9 | 2.55 | 1.41 | .. | .. | 63.87 | 14.00 | 3.57 | .. | 15.68 | Maltose. | 49 | 8 | |
| 15 | 12 | 5.77 | 0.48 | 28.24 | 4.27 | 32.90 | 10.01 | 2.57 | 47.72 | 50.50 | Lactose. | 30 | Trace. | Wheat starch. |
| 16 | 8 | 4.72 | 0.30 | .. | .. | 82.06 | 10.10 | 3.50 | .. | .. | Maltose. | 50 to 60 | .. | |
| 17 | 4 | 2.89 | 22.26 | .. | .. | 60.10 | 12.19 | 3.85 | 1.45 | 4.44 | Lactose. | 50 | .. | |
| 18 | 2 | 4.92 | 8.10 | .. | .. | 46.30 | 9.00 | 2.08 | 31.02 | .. | Lactose. | 30 | 15 | Cereal starches. |
| 19 | 9 | 2.18 | 4.45 | 39.54 | 4.30 | 43.84 | 10.72 | 1.60 | 35.34 | 38.80 | Lactose. | 8.96 | 36.34 | Wheat starch. |
| 20 | 2 | 5.89 | 3.17 | 42.54 | 1.82 | 44.36 | 3.62 | 0.42 | 42.70 | .. | .. | .. | 40 | Maize starch and cocoa. |
| 21 | 3 | 0.80 | 0.04 | .. | .. | 96.60 | 1.13 | 0.90 | .. | .. | Lactose. | 80 to 90 | .. | |
| 22 | 2 | 5.69 | 2.18 | .. | .. | 38.21 | 16.60 | 2.78 | 34.54 | .. | Lactose. | 30 | 8 to 9 | |
| 62 | ||||||||||||||
APPENDIX A.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY—Circular No. 19.
STANDARDS OF PURITY FOR FOOD PRODUCTS.
Superseding Circulars Nos. 13 and 17.
Supplemental Proclamation.
Referring to Circular No. 13 of this Office, dated December 20, 1904, and to Circular No. 17 of this Office, dated March 8, 1906, the following food standards are hereby established as superseding and supplemental to those proclaimed on the dates above named.
James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture.
Washington, D. C., June 26, 1906.