—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.