Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations

—The composition of a biscuit or dry unleavened bread does not differ essentially from that of the ordinary bread except in the content of moisture. The biscuits are usually baked in thin cakes or loaves which become heated throughout and sometimes caramelize throughout a large part of their substance. This favors the expulsion of the greater part of the moisture which the dough originally contained. The average composition of biscuits is shown in the following data:

In the dry substance:

The above data show that biscuits vary in composition from bread chiefly in their content of moisture and fat or oil. The moisture, as is noted, is very low, while the quantity of fat which the biscuit contains is from 8 to 10 times as great as that contained in flour from which they are made. The salt content and the mineral ingredients of the biscuit are often higher than in bread or flour. Inasmuch as a large quantity of fat and salt are used commonly in the manufacture of biscuits the presence of these bodies cannot in any sense be regarded as an adulteration. In forty-eight samples examined only four were free of notable quantities of added fat. In one case over 16 percent of fat was found, and as it has been shown that all the fat which is added is not extracted by ether it is evident that in this case an amount of fat equal to 20 percent of the weight of the flour may have been used.

It appears, from a study of the composition of biscuits, that it is advisable to use them as a relish or delicacy for eating with cheese, etc., in ordinary daily life, while they become almost a necessity in some form or other in the preparation of emergency rations for marching armies, on shipboard, in logging camps, etc. It is not advisable to employ them in the daily diet to the exclusion of bread. Their nutrient contents have, in comparison with bread, a lower coefficient of digestibility, due largely to the added fat.

Amount of Sugar Lost in Fermentation.

—The total quantity of sugar and other carbohydrates lost in fermentation amounts to about 2 percent of the weight of flour used. Sometimes it is much greater and sometimes less than this. The nutritive value of the product is diminished in proportion to the extent of the loss of sugar. The carbon dioxid produced during fermentation has no food value, and the alcohol is largely lost in the form of vapor during the process of baking. About half the loss is due to carbon dioxid and half to alcohol. The alcohol, although lost mostly during the baking, serves a useful purpose,—in the expansion of the vapor it aids the carbon dioxid in making the bread more porous. The hydrolysis which takes place in baking converts some of the starch to dextrinoid or saccharoid conditions. It is evident that from 6 to 8 percent of total starch present in the flour is changed during the fermentation and baking into more or less soluble forms.

Texture and Size of Loaves Made from Different Kinds Of Flour.

—The variations in bread and size of loaves made from different kinds of flour when the conditions of fermentation and baking are the same depends upon the texture and quantity of the gluten material in the flour. The difference in the appearance and size of loaves is shown by a photograph of the cross-sections of three loaves of bread in Fig. 36.

It is seen that the loaves made from graham flour and entire wheat flour are somewhat coarser in structure and are less in size than those made from the same quantity of standard patent flour.

MACARONI.

The preparation of wheat flour of a high glutenous character and molded into various forms, usually tubes, cylindroids, or fine shreds, is known in the trade under various names such as noodles, spaghetti, and macaroni. An examination of a number of these bodies shows them to have the following average composition:

In the dry substance:

These bodies, it is seen, do not have a composition very different from that of a first-class bread except in their content of moisture and protein. They are made from various kinds of wheat, especially hard wheat which forms a tenacious gluten product well suited to molding into the different forms which these bodies have. Their nutritive value is practically the same as that of good wheat bread of the same moisture content.

Domestic Macaroni.

—The introduction of varieties of wheat with the properties suitable for making macaroni has been thoroughly exploited by the Department of Agriculture. The macaroni wheat grown as a subvariety is known botanically as Triticum durum. The durum wheats are not regarded as of equal value to the ordinary wheats for general milling purposes and command a lower price. The French name is Blé dur and the German name is Hartweizen. The wheat of this subspecies grows rather tall, having broad, smooth leaves of a whitish green color and a very hard cuticle. The heads are comparatively slight in most varieties, compactly formed, and occasionally very short. All the durum wheat is bearded and the beards are exceptionally long. The kernels are hard and glassy, often partly translucent. They are generally yellowish white in color, occasionally inclined to red, and the grains are generally rather large. In other aspects this wheat resembles barley and for this reason in Germany it is often called Gerstenweizen. The general appearance of these wheats both in the field and in the individual heads is shown in the accompanying figures.

Macaroni wheats are well adapted to semi-arid regions; in fact it may be said that they are the product of such an environment rather than adapted to it. For this reason they are wheats which are able to resist continued dry weather and high temperature. These wheats do not grow well in acid soils but flourish best in an alkaline soil of fine texture and well supplied with humus and the necessary plant foods. The largest quantity of macaroni wheat is grown in east and south Russia. These wheats have given very good results in the semi-arid regions of the United States. The appearance of the wheat as it grows in the field is shown in the accompanying plate.

The domestic macaroni is now made in many factories in the United States and there is a continually increasing demand for the domestic article. The hardiest varieties of wheat are used in the manufacture of this article in the United States, especially the hard Kansas winter wheat.

Composition of Domestic Macaroni.

—In the table below is given the mean composition of twenty samples of macaroni of domestic origin, made from domestic wheat. In the second column is given the mean composition of five samples of imported macaroni.

Preparation of Flour for Macaroni.

—The term Semolina or Semola (Italian) or Semoule (French) is usually applied to the flour used in the manufacture of macaroni. In the United States the flour which is used is obtained by selecting the hardest wheat and preparing the flour in the usual manner. In France and Italy the preparation of semolina is accomplished in separate mills. The devices for grinding are essentially the same as those for producing the best grade flour, the main difference being that the wheat is moistened slightly before grinding and the flour is less fine than ordinary baking flour.

Evidently very slight changes in the method of milling would enable the ordinary mill to produce a fine grade of macaroni flour either from the macaroni wheat or from any very hard glutinous wheat grown in the United States.

Manufacture of Macaroni.

—As practiced in the best districts of Italy, macaroni is manufactured according to the following method:[27]

The durum wheat is ground into semola and sieved to remove the starchy part of the grains and leave the clear, light amber, or glutinous part. Three or four grades of quality are made, and these depend on the size of the sieve meshes.

The semola is put into a special iron mixer, shaped like an old-fashioned artillery mortar, except that it is square instead of cylindrical, and furnished in the bottom with special screw-shaped fans with which to stir the paste or dough. Boiling water is added to the semola and the dough is mixed for about seven minutes. The mass is then put on a flat, circular kneading board and kneaded by two sharp-edged parallel beams which rise and fall as the table turns and press into the dough as they descend. A few minutes of kneading are sufficient and the homogeneous dough is then put into the cylinder and the piston descends upon the mass, forcing it in strings slowly through the perforated plate at the bottom. Fifteen minutes are required to convert the gallons of dough into thousands of feet of yellow macaroni. The yellow color is produced by the use of saffron or of a coal tar dye of which a very small quantity is put into each batch of dough. This is a reprehensible practice.

As soon as the strings of fresh paste which issue continually from the die are of the proper length they are cut and thrown over a reed pole and carried into the sunlight, if the weather is fair, or into sheltered terraces, protected by curtains from the rain, if the weather is unfavorable. On bright days the strings of macaroni are exposed to the sunlight only two hours. They must be dried out only slightly before being cellared for the night in dungeon-like underground vaults similar to the Bavarian beer cellars.

For twelve hours or more the poles of macaroni are kept in these damp places, until the dough has become moist and pliable again and the strings have lost the brittleness that the exposure to the sunlight has given them. From the cellars the poles are carried to shaded storehouses open on all sides to the air but not lighted from above. Here, in great masses of millions of strings, they hang for several days, from eight to twenty being required, depending upon the dryness of the atmosphere. According to the statements of a manager of a factory this process of drying is necessary to give to the brittle paste a horn-like toughness and fit it to withstand the rough handling to which it will be subjected without breaking into small pieces.

In all this simple process the one point at which bacteria might have a chance to play a rôle is in the first drying, cellaring, and subsequent slow drying in the shade. The theory that the water is responsible for the flavor must rest, it seems to the writer, on other than bacterial grounds, for from the appearance of the tank which supplied the hot water the inference is easy that the water is chalybeate, for the tank was incrusted with iron.

ROLLS.

The term rolls is given to bread usually leavened with yeast or baking powder, and usually eaten warm, or hot. The term biscuit is generally but improperly used in this country for hot bread made with baking powder. The composition of rolls varies greatly with their method of preparation. Those made with yeast have practically the same composition as ordinary fermented bread, while those made with a baking powder or with exceptionally large additions of milk, butter, or lard vary in composition accordingly. In the making of hot rolls with baking powder, lard or butter is commonly used to a very large extent as “shortening.” These fatty bodies render the gluten less tenacious, and the roll is thus easily broken and is without toughness or elasticity. Owing to this irregular use of shortening and of mineral matter, including salt, the composition of rolls of commerce is extremely variable. In eleven samples of rolls analyzed, for instance, the content of moisture varied from 7 to 34. Evidently the sample sold as a roll which contained only 7 percent of moisture was in point of fact a biscuit and not a roll. The percentage of ether extract in these samples varied from .43 to 7.55. The average composition of the eleven samples is as follows:

In the dry substance:

CAKES.

Wheat flour is one of the principal constituents of that class of sweetened bread known generally as cake. The kind and character of cake vary so greatly that no general statement of any very great value can be made respecting the average composition. In addition to the sugar and flour which are used in the manufacture of cake various flavoring ingredients or essences are employed, and usually excessive quantities of butter or lard for shortening purposes. In addition to this, other forms of cake are cooked in oil after the dough is made, thus adding an additional quantity of fatty matter to the material. Eggs are also a common constituent of cakes and these introduce into their composition additional quantities of protein and fat. Baking powder is very generally used in this country instead of yeast for the leavening of the cake and thus an additional quantity of mineral matter is introduced into their composition.

In the manufacture of sweetened cakes the flour is mixed with eggs and sugar and butter or lard to the proper consistency with or without the use of milk or cream. The cakes are baked in all kinds of sizes and shapes and may be eaten plain or in layers separated by a jelly, marmalade, or some other preserve. The exterior of the cake is often frosted with a mixture consisting of the white of egg beaten up with white sugar. The methods of mixing the ingredients of these cakes as well as the method of frosting are so various that it would not be possible to undertake any minute description of them.

For flavoring various materials are employed, either the real article or the imitation thereof, such as artificial strawberry, vanilla, etc. The cake or sweet cake is a very common dainty which is served at dessert. The ordinary cane sugar of commerce is the common sweetening matter usually employed in the refined state although sometimes yellow sugar is used. Honey is not so commonly used as a sweetening agent in this country as it is in European countries.

In the manufacture of one of the common varieties known as ginger cake sugar-cane sirup or molasses is a common ingredient.

An examination of a large number of samples of cake shows the following average composition:

In the dry substance:

A study of the individual data shows extremely wide variations from the mean. The ether extract in the moisture samples in some cases amounted to over 19 percent and in the dry substance to over 24 percent. The moisture in one case was over 64 percent while in the dry cake of biscuit character it sinks below 5 percent and in one case below 4 percent. The average data, therefore, are to be considered only as a representative of this class of bodies and not as a type of any particular variety.

Adulterations.

—It is difficult to speak of adulterations of a substance of the composition of cake. Any wholesome flavoring or sweetening ingredient or other wholesome ingredient may be used in the manufacture of a cake of this kind without being an adulterant. From this class of bodies, however, there is excluded artificial colors and artificial flavoring essences bearing the name of genuine. A yellow cake which does not owe its color to the eggs or other normal ingredients employed must be regarded as an adulterated article, especially if the dye used in producing the yellow is one of the coal dyes or coal tar derivatives such as naphthol yellow. The use of imitation fruit flavors such as the so-called strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, vanilla, etc., is also to be regarded as an adulteration. The adulteration of cakes may be regarded as confined particularly to these two classes of article assuming that all the other ingredients are wholesome and without injurious effects upon the digestion. The eggs used in cake making should be fresh and palatable. Too often passé storage eggs and eggs broken and preserved with borax or formaldehyde and unfit for consumption have been used by the bakers of cakes.

Mineral coloring matters have sometimes been found in cakes and these are more objectionable by far than the artificial colors above mentioned. Where molasses from sugar-cane factories is used in the manufacture of cake a considerable trace of chlorid of tin or of zinc salts may be found therein, derived from the wash used in the centrifugal when drying sugar crystals or from the process of bleaching the molasses. This must be regarded as a very serious adulteration and molasses of this kind should never be used in the manufacture of cake nor for edible purposes upon the table. Sulfurous acid may also be absorbed during the process of bleaching the sugar-cane juices.

It is needless to add that cake with its complex character should be eaten as a relish rather than a diet. There is no hygienic or dietetic objection to the mixture of sugar with the flour in the making of ordinary sweetened bread. Such bread must be regarded as highly nutritious and as differing from ordinary bread only in a disturbance of the natural food content of the loaf caused by the addition of a carbohydrate to the bread. Many of the cakes which are sold contain so small a quantity of sugar that they ought not to be classed with the sweet cake. Out of the whole number of samples used in the making up of the above average only four contained so little sugar as to be ineligible to bear the name of sweet cake or sweetened bread.

Breakfast Foods.

—A very large variety of cereal preparations are on the market under the general name of breakfast foods. These preparations are made directly from the cereals more or less completely ground by subjecting them to certain manipulations of a fermentative or culinary character by means of which the preparations are made ready for immediate consumption or at least with only a moderate degree of additional cooking. The changes which take place in the preparation of cereals for breakfast foods are of two general characters, namely, those produced by fermentative action with malt, yeast, or other ferments, and, second, changes produced by heating, either in the moist or dry state. Often both sets of changes are produced in the same product. The general difference, therefore, between a so-called breakfast food and the raw material from which it is made is found in the conversion of more or less starch into sugar and the change in the composition of the material produced by moist heat or dry heat. In the latter case the temperature may be raised to the state of considerable caramelization.

Breakfast foods may also contain added condimental substances, such as salt, sugar, etc., sometimes used in their preparation. Nearly all the cereals or mixtures of cereals are represented in these prepared foods. Oats probably occupy the first rank and the preparations of oatmeal have to a large extent in the United States taken the place of home-prepared oatmeal for the breakfast table. Wheat, barley, and Indian corn are not far behind oats in their contributions to the numerous varieties of breakfast foods.

The particular methods of preparation are usually trade secrets and at any rate the description of the extensive technical processes would be improper in this manual. The secrets, however, are merely methods of manipulation, since it is certain that the changes of a chemical nature which take place are of the general character or class described above.

Breakfast foods are usually sold under trade-mark names which may or may not give an indication of their origin or character. Sometimes, in fact, the trade name gives a false indication and the use of such trade names must be considered as entirely reprehensible. Whenever a name used is descriptive it should be used in a practical sense and not for the purpose of misleading or deceiving. Breakfast foods may represent practically the whole grain or the grain with a removal of a proportion of the outer covering or they may represent the refined flour from which all or a considerable proportion of the germ and some of the rich nitrogenous ingredients have been removed.

The attempt to give a list of the names which have been applied to breakfast foods would consume many pages and be of little value.

Composition of Breakfast Foods.

—In so far as possible the breakfast foods noted in the following tables have been arranged in accordance with the raw material from which they have been produced and the data given represent the average composition of breakfast foods of the classes mentioned. Individual variations from the average are often very great.

COMPOSITION OF BREAKFAST FOODS. [28]

Remarks on Table of Analyses.—

Class I, Indian Corn Products.

—The analytical data show that in the breakfast foods made from Indian corn products the germ has been quite uniformly removed. The quantity of fiber also shows that the maize flour produced has been very carefully bolted. The ash is almost normal, showing only a small addition, probably of salt. The mean quantity of protein is that which would be predicted of an Indian corn product ground by the most approved milling process in order to make as white a flour as possible. These methods of preparing the flour, although so common, are not to be preferred either by reason of palatability or nutritive properties of the products. The old-fashioned milling process makes a more palatable and more nutritious diet and affords a higher degree of heat and energy.

The analysis of the Indian corn products show that they are very much lower in protein than would be expected from an analysis of the whole kernels. The low content of fat in the products is doubtless due to the complete degermination of the grain during the milling and to the further fact that the baking and other preparation of the material tend to occlude the fat particles, making their extraction quite difficult.

Class II, Wheat Products.

—The study of wheat products used as breakfast foods shows that the wheat germ is not removed to any very great extent during the preparation of the raw material. In fact the quantity of ether extract appears somewhat greater than would be expected in pure wheat products, and this leads to the supposition that oatmeal or Indian corn must be mixed with the food product in small quantities, since the ether extract in the case of wheat products is more than three times as great as in the case of Indian corn products of a similar character. This is an indication either of the use of mechanical methods as stated above or else to the admixture of other bodies without mention. There does not appear to have been any notable quantity of mineral substance, common salt or otherwise, added during the process of preparation. The quantity of protein in the product is that which would be predicted from the composition of wheat flour from which the samples are supposed to be made.

Class III, Oat Products.

—The oat products have evidently been made without any extensive degermination, as is shown by the high content of fat or oil. The average composition of oat products shows that genuine oatmeal is used in their preparation and the probability is that little adulteration is practiced. The high content of oil and protein produces a corresponding depression in the quantity of carbohydrates. The high nutritive value of the product, both in respect of fat and of proteins, is fully illustrated by the analytical data obtained. The calories, as will be noticed, are very much higher than in the corresponding product from Indian corn, wheat, or in fact of any other of the breakfast foods.

Class IV, Products made of starch and tapioca

 show, in the analytical data, that very high-grade starch materials are employed in the preparation of these bodies. The protein, ether extract, fiber, and ash almost disappear. As shown in the data for the dry substance, more than 99 percent of the whole material consists of carbohydrates, chiefly starch. The calories are correspondingly diminished since starch and sugar have the least heat value of any class of food products, except those of a mineral character. Foods of this kind are highly unbalanced, that is, contain a large excess of starch and sugar, and are often very prejudicial to the health of persons whose ability to digest starch and sugar has been lessened by disease.

Class V, Noodles, spaghetti, and macaroni

 are often used as breakfast foods, though not by any means so universally as many others in this category. The analytical data show that these bodies correspond very well to the material, that is to the flour, rich in gluten, from which they are supposed to be made. The protein content is high,—the ether extract, fiber, and ash low, and the calories correspond to the chemical composition of the material.

Class VI, Barley Products.

—Barley products are not very commonly used as breakfast foods, but the malt used in the preparation of other breakfast foods is usually made of barley, since the barley malt has the highest diastatic value of any of the cereals.

Class VII, Miscellaneous breakfast foods

 are so called because the character of the materials of which they are made is not known or no statement is made by the manufacturer or dealer concerning them. The analytical data, of course, do not lead to any decision regarding the nature of the raw material employed. The percentage of protein, however, taken in conjunction with the rather low ether extract, indicates that they are probably made chiefly from wheat products.

Much may be said in favor of the use of prepared breakfast foods, for, in so far as I know, they are usually palatable, wholesome, and nutritious. There are many points which may be urged against their general use, chief of which is in regard to their cost. There is no cereal now in general use for edible purposes which is worth as much as two cents per pound in the markets of this country, yet breakfast foods, which are only prepared cereals, are often sold for 10 or 15 cents per pound. This is a high price in comparison with the cost of the raw material, but it must not be forgotten that the cost of manufacture is to be considered. In the second place the cereal foods are undoubtedly best at the moment they are prepared. Unless carefully packed, they may become infected with insects of various kinds, which certainly add nothing to their value and detract very much from their desirability. In moist climates they become infested with mould and even with bacterial growths. Inasmuch as necessarily a large proportion of the prepared cereals remain for an indefinite time unsold, the consumer is liable at any time to come into possession of one of these deteriorated packages. In the third place there is no reason to believe that a prepared breakfast food is any more digestible, nutritious, or favorable to the health of the healthy individual than the broken cereal itself properly cooked. Further than this it may be stated that there is no preparation of cereals better than those which are freshly made from the freshly broken or ground grain. If, therefore, one has the time to properly prepare the fresh grains of the cereals they will be more palatable and more nutritious and equally as digestible as any of the prepared articles. On the other hand, there are cases of diseased or disordered digestion in which the prepared cereals will be more digestible, but this is certainly not the case in a state of health. There is reason to believe, therefore, that the demand for prepared cereals will continue, but the old-fashioned method of preparation of the cereal from the grain will still have its advocates.

I think it may be said with certainty that the proper home preparation of a cereal as a breakfast food will not cost any more than the original cereal itself, and hence the price of this food ought not to be much more than 4 cents per pound without counting the added water in its preparation.

I believe, therefore, that our people of limited means can be safely advised on the score of economy, palatability, and nutrition to prepare their own cereals for ordinary breakfast purposes.