The question is often asked, "What kind of
bread furnishes the greatest amount of digestible
nutrients ?"
Among the earliest and most famous experi-
ments made to test this question are those con-
ducted by Meyer and Voit, of Munich, about
forty years ago. They used different kinds of rye
and wheat bread, and reached the conclusion,
which all later work has verified, that the digest-
ibility of bread depends upon its lightness.
The work done at the Maine and Minnesota
experiment stations throws much light on the
comparative value of different kinds of bread.
Many experiments were made to learn how gra-
ham, entire wheat, and patent flours compare in
digestibility. The flours used in these compari-
sons were milled from the same lots of wheat,
and mixed and baked in the same way.
The results all show that patent flour yields to
AND THEIR LOW COSTS 87
the body a larger proportion of its nutrients than
the kinds which include more or less of the bran.
Of the protein in bread made from standard
patent flour, 88.6 per cent was found to be actu-
ally utilized by the body, as against 82 per cent
from entire wheat and 74.9 from graham. Of
the carbohydrates, 97.7 per cent from the stand-
ard patent, 93.5 per cent from the entire wheat,
and 89.2 per cent from graham were utilized. Ap-
parently, then, as regards the digestibility of the
more important nutrients, the patent flours are
superior to those containing bran. It is interest-
ing to notice that the digestibility of these three
kinds of bread varies in the same order as the
lightness of the loaves. The patent flour makes
the most porous loaf, next comes the entire
wheat, and last of all the graham.
The claim is made that the coarser flours,
owing to the particles of bran or some other prop-
erty, often increase the peristaltic action of the in-
testine and thus tend to prevent constipation.
This to a certain extent is true, but the claim of
superiority on the basis of nutritive value is not
warranted. Certainly no plea can be made for
them on the ground of economy, for entire wheat
and graham flours are not cheaper than white
flour.
88 TRUE FOOD VALUES
Experiments similar to those with the flotirs
mentioned have been made with different grades
of patent flours. It was found that the percent-
ages of digestibilitj- differed very Httle, and that J
as far as nutritive value is concerned the cheaper I
grades are fully as good as the more expensive. '
The bread made from them is as light as that
from the finer flours, but not quite so white and
appetizing. A\1iere rigid economy is necessary J
the cheaper grades can be safely used.
When the selling price of bread and the cost of \
its ingredients are compared, the results are quite
striking. In two experiments made in New Jer-
sey it was found that two lots of bread made from .
materials costing, respectively, $2.28 and $2.56tl
were sold for $5.86 and $6.08. This represents aJ
profit of 116.5 P^r cent over the cost of the ma-
terials, or, to put it in dollars and cents, the baker
received $216.50 for bread the materials of whi?h
cost him $100. In Pittsburgh the average in- J
crease in price over the original cost was no per.l
cent. Even subtracting from this the cost of I
labor, rent, fuel, etc., the profits of the baker were I
so high that, to quote from the Pittsburgh report : |
"It would seem that in the case of very poor families
an important pecuniary saving would result if bread were
made at iiome. To the man in ordinary circumstances it
must always be more a question of convenience and taste
i
t
1
1
i
r
h
I
A
AND THEIR LOW COSTS 8g
than of cost. In short, each family can best determine for
itself whether it Is desirable to pay the baker for the
trouble of making the bread and delivering it, or whether
the labor of making and the extra fuel for baking can
best be provided at home."
Page 24
Presented as published in 1916. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The question is often asked, "What kind of bread furnishes the greatest amount of digestible nutrients ?"
Among the earliest and most famous experiments made to test this question are those conducted by Meyer and Voit, of Munich, about forty years ago. They used different kinds of rye and wheat bread, and reached the conclusion, which all later work has verified, that the digestibility of bread depends upon its lightness.
The work done at the Maine and Minnesota experiment stations throws much light on the comparative value of different kinds of bread. Many experiments were made to learn how graham, entire wheat, and patent flours compare in digestibility. The flours used in these comparisons were milled from the same lots of wheat, and mixed and baked in the same way.
The results all show that patent flour yields to
the body a larger proportion of its nutrients than the kinds which include more or less of the bran. Of the protein in bread made from standard patent flour, 88.6 per cent was found to be actually utilized by the body, as against 82 per cent from entire wheat and 74.9 from graham. Of the carbohydrates, 97.7 per cent from the standard patent, 93.5 per cent from the entire wheat, and 89.2 per cent from graham were utilized. Apparently, then, as regards the digestibility of the more important nutrients, the patent flours are superior to those containing bran. It is interesting to notice that the digestibility of these three kinds of bread varies in the same order as the lightness of the loaves. The patent flour makes the most porous loaf, next comes the entire wheat, and last of all the graham.
The claim is made that the coarser flours, owing to the particles of bran or some other property, often increase the peristaltic action of the intestine and thus tend to prevent constipation. This to a certain extent is true, but the claim of superiority on the basis of nutritive value is not warranted. Certainly no plea can be made for them on the ground of economy, for entire wheat and graham flours are not cheaper than white flour.
Experiments similar to those with the flotirs mentioned have been made with different grades of patent flours. it was found that the percentages of digestibility differed very little, and that J as far as nutritive value is concerned the cheaper I grades are fully as good as the more expensive. ' The bread made from them is as light as that from the finer flours, but not quite so white and appetizing. A\1iere rigid economy is necessary J the cheaper grades can be safely used.
When the selling price of bread and the cost of \ its ingredients are compared, the results are quite striking. In two experiments made in New Jersey it was found that two lots of bread made from . materials costing, respectively, $2.28 and $2.56 were sold for $5.86 and $6.08. This represents aJ profit of 116.5 P^r cent over the cost of the materials, or, to put it in dollars and cents, the baker received $216.50 for bread the materials of which cost him $100. In Pittsburgh the average in- J crease in price over the original cost was not per cent. Even subtracting from this the cost of I labor, rent, fuel, etc., the profits of the baker were I so high that, to quote from the Pittsburgh report : |
"It would seem that in the case of very poor families an important pecuniary saving would result if bread were made at iiome. To the man in ordinary circumstances it must always be more a question of convenience and taste
t
r h
A
than of cost. In short, each family can best determine for itself whether it Is desirable to pay the baker for the trouble of making the bread and delivering it, or whether the labor of making and the extra fuel for baking can best be provided at home."