CEREAL BREAKFAST FOODS Cereals are cultivated grasses, but the seeds of these grasses are often called cereals. Sometimes, the term includes all products of cereals such as flour and macaroni as well as the grains themselves. Common usage, how- ever, often makes the word cereal synonymous with break- fast food. The seeds of the cultivated grasses are the part of the plant used, because they are packed with nutriment for the embryo. The grains commonly used for breakfast*1 food are wheat, oats, corn, rice, and, occasionally, barley. Rice contains a larger amount of starch than the others, but little fiber, and it is on this account easily digested. Of the three grains most commonly used for breakfast foods, wheat, oats, and corn, oats furnishes most protein and fat, and has the highest calorie value * per pound. Wheat, however, does not differ very greatly in nutritive value and contains less fiber and so is more easily digested. Corn has a very tough fiber and ranks below the other two in calorie value. All these differences are comparatively small, and we can rank cereals together in their place in the diet, with the following average composition : * The calorie value of a food is the amount of energy, meas- ured in calories, which a given food furnishes to the body. 54 FOOD STUDY Water 10-12 per cent. Protein 10-12 per cent. Carbohydrates 65-75 per cent. Fat 2-8 per cent. Mineral Matter 2 per cent. These figures are for the raw grains. Mushes and porridge contain a great deal of water. Cooked oatmeal contains nearly eighty-five per cent of water, but shredded wheat and the flaked breakfast foods have practically the same composition as the original grains. The cost of breakfast foods varies somewhat with the cereal from which they are made, the cost of those made from corn being least, those from oats next, while wheat is the most expensive. Cost, however, differs even more with the amount of preparation that has already been made. From this point of view, breakfast foods may be divided into four classes. In the first are foods like oat- meal or cracked wheat in which the grain has been husked but not cooked. Next, comes the class of partially cooked foods. These have been steamed until they are somewhat softened and then, if they are to be put on the market as flakes, they are passed between hot rollers which flatten the kernels. Rolled oats is an example of this class. The third class is composed of those which are sold ready to eat, as grape nuts or shredded wheat. Sometimes malt is used in the process of manufacture and is supposed to change the starch into sugar and so start the process of digestion. In most breakfast foods which are malted, not much change in the starch will be found to have occurred, and since, for the healthy person, it is of little moment whether this change has occurred or not, this fourth class, called predigested, is not of great importance. Breakfast foods which belong to the third class cost much more per pound than those in the first class, because more trouble CEREAL BREAKFAST FOODS 55

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Cereals are cultivated grasses, but the seeds of these grasses are often called cereals. Sometimes, the term includes all products of cereals such as flour and macaroni as well as the grains themselves. Common usage, however, often makes the word cereal synonymous with breakfast food. The seeds of the cultivated grasses are the part of the plant used, because they are packed with nutriment for the embryo. The grains commonly used for breakfast*1 food are wheat, oats, corn, rice, and, occasionally, barley. Rice contains a larger amount of starch than the others, but little fiber, and it is on this account easily digested. Of the three grains most commonly used for breakfast foods, wheat, oats, and corn, oats furnishes most protein and fat, and has the highest calorie value * per pound. Wheat, however, does not differ very greatly in nutritive value and contains less fiber and so is more easily digested. Corn has a very tough fiber and ranks below the other two in calorie value. All these differences are comparatively small, and we can rank cereals together in their place in the diet, with the following average composition : * The calorie value of a food is the amount of energy, measured in calories, which a given food furnishes to the body. Water 10-12 per cent. Protein 10-12 per cent. Carbohydrates 65-75 per cent. Fat 2-8 per cent. Mineral Matter 2 per cent. These figures are for the raw grains. Mushes and porridge contain a great deal of water. Cooked oatmeal contains nearly eighty-five per cent of water, but shredded wheat and the flaked breakfast foods have practically the same composition as the original grains. The cost of breakfast foods varies somewhat with the cereal from which they are made, the cost of those made from corn being least, those from oats next, while wheat is the most expensive. Cost, however, differs even more with the amount of preparation that has already been made. From this point of view, breakfast foods may be divided into four classes. In the first are foods like oatmeal or cracked wheat in which the grain has been husked but not cooked. Next, comes the class of partially cooked foods. These have been steamed until they are somewhat softened and then, if they are to be put on the market as flakes, they are passed between hot rollers which flatten the kernels. Rolled oats is an example of this class. The third class is composed of those which are sold ready to eat, as grape nuts or shredded wheat. Sometimes malt is used in the process of manufacture and is supposed to change the starch into sugar and so start the process of digestion. In most breakfast foods which are malted, not much change in the starch will be found to have occurred, and since, for the healthy person, it is of little moment whether this change has occurred or not, this fourth class, called predigested, is not of great importance. Breakfast foods which belong to the third class cost much more per pound than those in the first class, because more trouble

Food study