PLACE OF CHEESE IN THE DIET

Evening Star, Issue 22026, 11 May 1935, Page 25

PLACE OF CHEESE IN THE DIET

(Article contributed by the Home Science Extension Service.)

From the day cheese was discovered, people have eaten it because they found it good. Composition. Because it is essentially a concentrated form of milk, the most nearly “ perfect ” of all nature’s foods, cheese is a fundamental food in the diet of human beings. It should not. of course, be looked upon as a milk substitute, but for those who do not like the flavour of milk, cheese provides one way' of introducing into the diet, the chief constituents of this most valuable food-, namely, the protein, fat, and the mineral- salts —calcium and phosphorus. Digestibility. Prepared, cooked, and served in the right way, cheese should offer no difficulties of digestion. A high protein content necessitates cooking at a temperature high enough only to melt the cheese, not to toughen or harden it — and in order to shorten the cooking period, the cheese should always be grated or cut in small pieces. Place in the Meal. Because of its flavour, cheese is often regarded as a condiment and served with other foods merely to add zest to a meal. It should be remembered, however, that cheese is a concentrated food and, therefore, is properly used in the diet much as meat should be. That is to say, it should be used not merely as a ‘‘ tit-bit,” but as an integral part of a well balanced meal. Combination With Other Foods. Because of its high content of protein (body-building material) cheese should be used in combination with foods which belong to other “ food classes,” i.e., with carbohydrates such as rice, bread, and the starchy and leafy vegetables. Economy. The fact that New Zealand is itself a dairying country-—manufacturing and exporting many hundreds of tons of cheese each one reason alone why cheese should be given a larger place in the New Zealand dietary, Furnishing as it does.an economical, concentrated source of high nutritive value, it can and should appear two or three times on the weekly menu.