Patent Foods by A. B. Olsen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Apr 3, 1913

Patent Foods

By A. B. Olsen

A. B. OLSEN, M. D., D. P. H.

All patent and proprietary foods and drinks, including baby foods, belong with very few exceptions to the category of expensive and sometimes harmful luxuries. There are lactated, albuminized, peptonized, malted, and dextrinized foods of all sorts; there are proteid foods, animal and vegetable, almost without number; and there are infant foods in abundance, most of which are too farinaceous to be wholesome or to form anything like an adequate diet for the baby. And then we have innumerable medicated foods, brain foods, nerve foods, muscle foods, skin foods, hair foods, etc. It seems unnecessary to say that there is no necessity for all these more or less artificial preparations, and that the plain, simple foods, prepared fresh in the home and from known ingredients, are not only far cheaper, but in the vast majority of cases also the most wholesome and satisfying. Simplicity in the selection and preparation of food is always the key-note to good digestion, and we seldom find an abstemious person living on frugal fare who is not fit for service and in possession of exceptional health and strength.

Infant Foods

The natural food of an infant is breast milk, and there is no “perfect substitute for mother's milk,” a common description of patent baby foods. The wise mother will not allow herself to be deceived, for she understands that at best anything but breast milk is only an artificial substitute. The composition of human milk is as follows:—

PER CENT Water .................... 88.3 Proteid .................. 1.5 Fat ..................... 3.5 Sugar .................... 6.5 Mineral matter ........... .2

This is the standard of baby food. Undoubtedly the best substitute is humanized or modified pure, clean cow's milk; but if this is not obtainable, the best brands of condensed whole milk, without the addition of any form of preservative, is the next best substitute.

Dried breast milk contains,— PER CENT Proteid .................. 12.2 Fat ...................... 26.4 Sugar .................... 52.4 Mineral matter ........... 2.1

When offered proprietary infant foods, it is well to note their composition, and compare them with these figures.

Of the numerous more or less farinaceous proprietary baby foods on the market, most of them contain too much sugar and starch, too little fat, and often a varying quantity of indigestible starch. An infant is not capable of digesting starch in the early months of life, and its presence in the food accounts for much of the colic and other forms of indigestion from which the little one suffers when artificially fed. The analyses of proprietary foods, although honest enough, rarely give anything like a true picture of what is likely to take place in the stomach when the food is eaten, and it is well to bear in mind that “the human brain and the human stomach are the only analysts which never make mistakes.”

Wiederhofer tells us that “the numerous infant foods, although much be-puffed, are of no value whatever.” A strong statement, but not very far from the truth.

Breakfast Foods

There has been a marked increase during the past few years in the consumption of so-called breakfast foods, and their number, as well as the vast sums spent in advertising them, indicates an enormous sale. We recognize that many of these breakfast foods are perfectly wholesome as well as nutritious, and that they are easily and quickly prepared for the table, and usually possess a pleasant flavor which makes them attractive to both children and adults, but they are none the less expensive luxuries, and the same amount of nutrition can easily be obtained from the plain cereals. Most if not all proprietary foods are purely money-making adventures, and little attention is paid to the selection of the material from which they are prepared, except to obtain it as cheaply as possible. Few recognize that an ideal health bread can be readily prepared in any home. All that is necessary is to cut stale bread, Graham, whole-meal, or white, into slices of suitable thickness, anywhere from one fourth to half an inch, and toast them in a slow oven. Bread prepared in this way is dextrinized, and therefore more easily digested than ordinary bread. This toasting can often be accomplished by piling the bread slices loosely in the oven after removing the dinner, so that there will be no additional fuel expense.

Furthermore, by the aid of an ordinary coffee- or nut-mill it is possible to reduce the toasted bread, which is called zwieback, to crumbs of uniform size, and this makes an ideal breakfast food which is nutritious and tasty, and at the same time inexpensive. Fresh and crisp from the oven and served with milk, cream, or stewed fruit, it forms one of the most appetizing and valuable breakfast dishes.

Nut Foods

During the past twenty years much attention has been given to the use of nuts as a food, and many factories are now turning out immense quantities of prepared nut foods. For the most part, peanuts form the foundation of the majority of proprietary nut foods, probably because they are both cheap and rich in proteid and oil; but walnuts, hazelnuts, pine-kernels, and pecans are also utilized for the same purpose. For those who are wanting in good grinding teeth, or who find ordinary nuts indigestible, some of the best of these nut preparations are very acceptable. There is no doubt, however, that most of them are commercial enterprises, but little attention being paid to quality of nuts and cleanliness in preparation; and the most satisfactory way is to buy the nuts and prepare them in the home. Peanuts are readily ground in an inexpensive nut-mill, and can be cooked and made up into numerous tasty and wholesome dishes. We believe, however, that those who have good teeth will prefer the fresh nuts in their natural state. Most forms of cooking neutralize or destroy to a large extent the delightful flavors of nuts. Nuts should be considered an important part of the daily fare. They are natural substitutes for animal flesh, since they are rich in both proteid and fat. Being concentrated foods, they should be taken sparingly.

Artificial Proteid Foods

Many extravagant and sometimes fraudulent claims are made in behalf of various proprietary proteid foods, which are being manufactured in increasing quantities each year. Most of these are prepared from animal flesh, milk, or eggs, and the best of them from milk, in my opinion. If they are anything like what is claimed for them, they are concentrated foods; and when added to the ordinary diet, provide more proteid than is desirable for health. An ordinary natural diet, including cereals, breads, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and the dairy products, contains all the proteid that the average person requires or can use to advantage.

Much of the gluten that is sold on the market is a fraud, and contains little more proteid than the best whole-meal bread. A good grade of macaroni, containing from sixteen to eighteen per cent of pure gluten, is superior to many brands of more or less expensive gluten. It is well to bear in mind that anything like a pure gluten meal or gluten bread or biscuit is necessarily very expensive. But the price alone is by no means a safe criterion.

The basis of a large number of proteid foods is simply dried skimmed milk, which is not an expensive preparation until it has been given a new and strange name and advertised extensively. There seems to be no objection to using dried skimmed milk or whole milk in moderation in place of fresh milk when the latter is not obtainable. Indeed, dried milk possesses at least one great advantage over the fresh milk in that it is sterile.

Medicated Foods

Of all proprietary foods the so-called medicated foods are the most expensive, and also the most dangerous. It is astonishing to see how readily people are humbugged by the extravagant and fraudulent claims that are made on behalf of these expensive preparations. In truth, there is no such thing as a brain food per se, or skin food, or hair food, or any other special food for certain tissues or organs. All useful and wholesome food nourishes the entire body alike, the brain as well as the muscles, the nerves and the skin. My counsel is to strictly avoid all medicated foods, no matter what claims are made for them.

Medicated Wines

Medicated wines are even more dangerous than medicated foods, for they invariably contain a considerable amount of alcohol, and it is a well-known fact that they have been the means of creating the alcohol habit in many persons who otherwise would never have acquired it. Unfortunately, a large number of ignorant persons have taken these medicated wines as a medicine, and have failed to realize that their chief influence is that of an alcoholic beverage.

Caterham, England.