Production of Oleomargarine.
—According to the report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue the quantity of oleomargarine taxed at 10 cents a pound produced in the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1905, was 5,584,684 pounds, and for 1906, 4,888,968 pounds. The quantity produced in 1906 taxed at one-fourth cent a pound was 50,545,914 pounds.
COMPOSITION OF OLEOMARGARINE.
| Specific Gravity at 40°C. | Water. | Insoluble Acid. | Sol. Acid by Washing Out. | Sol. Acid by Distillation. | Salt. | Albuminoids. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .90490 | 9.34 | 93.59 | 0.12 | 0.25 | 3.64 | 0.35 |
From the above data it is seen that the objections to the use of oleomargarine are more on the grounds of fraud and deception than in regard to nutritive and dietetic value. The components used in the manufacture of oleomargarine, when properly made, are all wholesome and digestible materials such as are consumed in eating various food products. It does not appear, therefore, that any valid objection can be made against the use of oleomargarine from a physiological or hygienic standpoint.
CHEESE.
Historical.
—The preparation of cheese is one of the oldest of the technical processes. It appears that it was known during the time of King David, at least a thousand years before Christ, and the Greeks were acquainted with it before the writings of Homer. Aristotoles and Hypocrates describe the curdling of milk which at that time appears to have been accomplished by the use of the juice of the fig. The use of cheese was very common in Rome in the earlier historical days but the most of it was imported from the North. Cæsar speaks of the preparation of cheese among the German tribes. Cheese must, therefore, be regarded as one of the very oldest forms of prepared food used by man. It probably is almost, if not quite, as old as wine. These historical facts are interesting in showing how from the earliest times man has made use of the natural ferments to prepare food from the raw material. Attention must be called in this connection to the fact that many people claim that such foods as these are not natural foods but wholly artificial. The fallacy of such a claim is not difficult to show. An artificial food is one which is prepared out of materials which, themselves, are not edible food products or, at least, are not digestible or of a character which does not naturally occur by ordinary processes. Artificial foods, therefore, are purely synthetic, that is, made up from the elemental substances, or they are mixtures or compounds. On the contrary a food like cheese or wine is not a mixture or compound but a natural product from materials which themselves are food products. Milk is the raw material of cheese as the must of the grape is of wine. Both milk and must are rich and nutritious foods. The changes which each undergoes are in many respects the same. The must of wine undergoes an alcoholic fermentation and the milk sugar of cheese is subjected to a lactic fermentation and its casein to a proteolytic change which materially alters its character.
Cheese products are a very important part of food materials of the dairy. The term cheese is applied to the solid product produced from milk by coagulation of the casein with rennet or lactic acid and subjecting the solid product thus produced to a process of fermentation and ripening by the addition of appropriate seed material, seasoning, and storage at convenient temperature for varying periods of time. In the precipitation of the casein of milk the fat particles become mechanically entangled and form a part of the precipitate. There is a certain quantity of other milk constituents incorporated in the form of water, milk sugar, and mineral matter in the precipitated mass. The greater part of the other bodies which the milk contains, consisting of the milk sugar and a considerable portion of the soluble mineral matter, are separated in the form of whey. The composition of fresh cheese is that of that part of the milk which is precipitated and which is entangled mechanically in the precipitated matter. The ripened cheese is changed in its chemical constituents mostly as the result of fermentative action upon its nitrogenous constituents, that is, the casein, albumin, etc., contained therein. The ferments tend to change the casein into a more soluble form of protein, while at the same time they develop a flavor and aroma in a way agreeable to the nostril and palate. Various forms of moulds and other organisms grow on and in cheeses which influence their palatability and character. The final product of the ripened cheese varies not only with the nature of the original material as determined by the milk itself but with the character of the preparation and the nature of the organisms and ferments which are active during the ripening period, and also with the time and temperature of storage.