FoodNet

Foods, their selection and preparation

1935

Page 257

Presented as published in 1935. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Studies in this country as well as in Eng¬ land have shown that flour from the second¬ ary middlings and those from the end- streams and the final- break flours contain more of the B vitamins than the patent flours containing only the streams from the primary middlings. According to Bailey,1 80 per cent extraction flour contains one half the thiamine, two fifths the riboflavin, and one quarter the niacin content of the wheat from which it is made with the presently used methods of milling, whereas a 60 per cent ex¬ traction good-grade patent flour would retain only one tenth of the original thiamine and niacin and two tenths of the riboflavin. In this speech Bailey suggested the possibility that flour millers, who are custodians of much of the B factors in natural foods, would even¬ tually find a way to adapt milling methods so as to transfer more of these vitamins from the grain to the flours they produce. Such a step would improve nutritive value of the flour with little if any loss in breadmaking quality. In January, 1945, the British Ministry of Food, in collaboration with other depart- JC. H. Bailey, speech reported in Chemical and Engineering News , Vol. 42, p. 1059 (April 25, 1946) [283] Table LVII1 • Composition of Flour of Varying Extraction2 Period Extrac¬ tion Calories Protein Fat Iron Calcium Thia¬ mine Niacin Ribo¬ flavin Fiber Per cent Gram Gram Milli¬ gram Milli¬ gram Milli¬ gram Milli¬ gram Milli¬ gram Gram 1940-March, 1941 . 73 342 12.3 1.8 1.4 14 0.09 0.9 0.05 0.10 March, 1 94 1— April, 1942 .... 75 342 11.8 1.3 1.4 15 0.12 0.9 0.06 0.15 April-Septcmber, 1942 . 85 340 12.3 2.2 2.4 21 0.33 1.9 0.17 0.70 October, 1942-December, 1943 . 853 340 11.4 1.6 2.4 81 0.30 1.7 0.15 0.55 January-September, 1944 .... 853 340 10.7 1.6 2.1 76 0.29 1.7 0.13 0.50 October-December, 1944 .... 82^3 340 12.6 1.6 1.9 79 0.26 1.8 0.10 0.31 January, 1945-February, 1946 . . 803 340 12.0 1.4 1.6 73 0.24 1.6 0.08 0.21 March 1-15, 1946 . 82^3 340 11.6 1.5 1.9 79 0.26 1.8 0.10 0.31 March-May, 1946 . 853 340 10.7 1.6 2.1 76 0.29 1.7 0.13 0.50 May-August, 1946 . 903 330 13.0 1.9 2.8 86 0.33 3.6 0.14 0.90 After August 11, 1946 . 904 330 13.0 1.9 2.8 148 0.33 3.6 0.14 0.90 ments, convened a conference to establish regulations which might have to be made with regard to flour and bread when wartime control ended. This conference reviewed the wartime experiences. It was apparent that the nutritive value of the wartime loaf had made an important contribution to the health of the British people, and it was hoped that the same nutritive contribution could be retained in the postwar loaf. The report5 of this conference gives a good summary of the comparative nutritive value of high-extrac¬ tion and enriched flours. This conference proposed a standard for flour in terms of thi¬ amine, niacin, and iron. The amounts of these were stated at a level the group de¬ cided would provide in the postwar loaf Wfagnus Pyke, "Principles of Nutritional Reha¬ bilitation,” Journal of American Dietetic Association 23, No. 2, pp. 90-95 (February, 1947).