PURITY IN FOOD

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 126, 30 May 1928, Page 4

PURITY IN FOOD

AN IDEAL DIET THE HYGIENE INSTITUTE INTERESTING- ' MUSEUM (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON,. 21st March. It was an eminent German doctor who said: "You are a wonderful x^eople to be able to run nn institution like this purely 011 a voluntary basis." Pie was speaking of the Institute of Hygiene, that organisation in London which has for its object the maintenance of purity in food. Not only is it financed by voluntary subscriptions, but there is no compulsion placed upon the proprietors of foods to apply for a certificate from the Institute. Yet every manufacturer who takes a pride in his preparations looks for a certificate of the Institute for purity, quality, merit, and to maintain that certificate ho must permit the Institute's officials to' inspect his factory at any time. 'Moreover, a sample of the food iv question may be bought at any retailer's shop at any time and subjected to analysis by the Institute. If it is not up to standard the manufacturer loses his certificate. .Since the Institute took over a very fine new home in Portland place, it has developed considerably. A visit to their museum is instructive. This has been greatly extended, and no place devoted to the study ; of domestic affairs is so up to date. There are two large rooms devoted to the illustration of focd values and factory hygiene; another room to the history of clothing; ana in *the basement there is a room devoted to kitchen uten.sils, stoves, baths, and such things, and another room to scullery appliances. Two finely-equipped kitchens provide accommodation for, lectures on cooking which are conducted from time to time by experts. PROPRIETARY FOOD. As an example of the exhibits in the food section there is a neatly-arranged glass cabinet lighted by electricity at will. The central . glass container shows a certain well-known proprietary food. On a shelf above are shown the ingredients from which it is made—a glass jar containing malted barley, another four eggs, another cocoa, and another new milk. From the malted barloy coloured ribbons lead off to smaller containers on a shelf above. These illustrate the ingredients of the barley —maltose, proteins, malto-dextrin, diastose,' and the intangible substance vitainin B. The' ribbons from tho eggs lead to jars of fat, proteins, phosphatides, and vitamins A and B From cocoa there is theobromine, fat, starch, and proteins; and from new milk, proteins, sugar, vitamins A, B, and C, mineral salts, •and fat. ;''l)6wn one' 'side- of -'the- cabinet are transparencies ' showing the hygienic conditions under which the firm's employees work. On the other side are transparent photographs of certain white mice which thrived or starved, according to whether they had certain constituents of the food in question. Again, the calorific value' of a pound of certain cheese is graphically illustrated. Beneath aro models of the equivalents in calorific value—ljlb of steak, 24 eggs, 36 apples, a basket of potatoes, and three ivhite loaves. ROMANCE OF CLOTHING. The Institute has recently received as a gift from a well-known firm a comprehensive exhibit respecting clothing. This commences with specimens of fabric dating back to 1000 B.C. There are interesting specimons of mummy -wrappings dated about 600-300 B.C. Of a later date—Boo to 1000 A.D. —-are tapestry weavings in cloth. Ancient Roman sandals show tho stud I nails iv the sole, not unlike the hob J nails of ' to-day.' -The -exhibits trace the'buildirig of aHoot or'shoe from the original prepared skin used for the uppers to'the finished boot. The hat is dealt with .equally thoroughly. Thus the jnanufacturo of the silk hat, the bowler and the. straw hat is well exhibited by a series of models in consecutive stages of manufacture. One, section of the exhibit shows tho work accomplished in the bad days of sweated labour.1 There are collars made of paper and cotton, priced at Id each; ladies' cotton stockings at 3Jd a pair; men's cotton pants at Is each and vests at 6Jd. Tho whole science and art of clothing is dealt with, however, in a series of exhibits and diagrams which cover almost every' conceivable phase of a very important and fascinating subject. Particularly interesting diagrams are those illustrating' the respective heat retentivity, powers of moisture absorption, and perosity to air of various fabrics. Students of domestic economy and cognate subjects find the museum a most useful, place for study. Classes from technical schools and colleges are conducted . round the exhibits ,by the curator almost daily, and lectures are delivered. ■ WHAT FRUIT DIET LACKS. -From time to time the members of tho institute (practically all. medical men) air their views without the fear of being reported in the public Press. These discussions, however, may be read in the journal of the institute. A shor^t time ago an eminent physiologist delivered a lecture on diet. Some of his remarks may well be quoted. He showed how a man of sedentary occupation might thrive on 2000 calories a day, whereas a labourer might require double that amount. "There are those," he said, "wlio would have us eat nothing but fruit, claiming for this diet more nutrition, and, therefore, more energy and bodybuilding functions than the ordinary mixed diet adopted by the average person. While in no way deprecating the value of fruit in diet, still its use to the exclusion of other constituents must necessa^iy strike us as being wrong when we look at the percentages of the main' constituents contained therein. Thus, with the exception of nuts, most fruits contain about J to 1 per cent, of protein, -J to 1 per cent, of fat, and 5 to 20 per cent, of carbohydrates. The main proportion of fruit, therefore, is composed of water —roughly 80-90 per cent. Nuts contain about 5-12 per cent, of protein, 25-28 per cent, of fat, and 10 per cent, of protein, 25-28 per cent, of fat, and 10 per cent, of carbo-hydrates. Without nuts, it would bo difficult to arrive at a diet of 4000 calorics from fruit alone." WHITE AND BROWN BREAD. "There is, undoubtedly," the expert continued, "a condition known as the 'dyspepsia of starvation,' which has arisen, from? some fad ■ on; the part of the patient. Vegetarian diets are, on the whole, faddists' diets. It is almost impossible for anyone to get sufficient amount of calory value from a purely vegetable diet. A vegetarian diet is a bulky one. This throws an increased amount of work on the digestive organs. * "Fruitarian diets are limited to nuts and fruit. This demands strong digestive organs, as nuts aro difficult of digestion, and in such a diet must form the greater part. •"A word about brown bread, j Brown bread contains more protein and minerals, and is richer in vitamins, than white bread. White bread is easily digested and is more pleasing to the ey e _it is usually better .absorbed than {

brown broad, and since it contains no bran, is not as irritating to the intestines. If one were to rely upon bread to the exclusion of all other articles of food, it would then be better to eat nothing than brown bread, but for those who are able to indulge in a variety of foods in which there is no lack of vitamins, tho choice between brown and white bread is of no moment." In subsequent discussion the lecturer gave tho following as being a practical diet of, very roughly, 2000 calories: Breakfast—l rasher bacon, 1 fried egg, 2 slices toast and butter, 2 cups of tea or coffee. Lunch—l plate soup, 1 savoury omelette containing 2 eggs, 2 or 3 biscuits, and loz cheese. Tea —2 cups of tea, 2 slices of bread and butter, with watercress or lettuce. Dinner —8 to 10o? broth or soup, fish, e.g., half a sole or half a plaice, meat 4 oz, 2o;: potatoes, 6 to Boz green vegetables, 3oz fruit, and a glass of custard.