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Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 46, 6 February 1920, Page 4

One does P°t care very much to think that practical scientists are endeavouring to find out what, is best, that js most nutritious, in the way of food ter us humans by trying it, not “on the dog” according to the old phrase, but upon the rat. According to an exchange just to hand, great attention is being paid

by scientists in every country to the investigation of “food values,’.' uua remarlatble work, it is said, is being done in this direction by Professor Hopkins, at Cambridge, and by Professor McCallum, at Baltimore. Professor McCallum has carried out moat exhaustive experiments with the rat,, which, being omnivorous, is particularly suitable for use in investigating the varying values of animal and vegetable foods. One experiment consisted of feeding a given number rats on butter fat and. another lot on vegetable fats. These substances are, so it is stated, chemically identical. The results of the experiment were very striking. The rats fed on butter-fat thrived amazingly, and were in perfect health. The others were miserably wretched. Professor McCallum has 2000 rats in commission, and in summing up tne apparent lessons of his inexhaustible biological survey of many kinds of foodstuffs, says that “no family should spend money buying meat until every one of its members, has been provided with a pint of milk a day.” His investigations into the value of vegetable and animal proteins has been thorough. Obviously, these matters are of great social and industrial importance, particularly to wage-earning communities and countries which have to depend upon imported, fobds. The same article from which we have quoted makes reference to interesting experiments in freezing foods which are being conducted in London, with the object of improving the palatahility of frozen meat ana fish, and preventi ’ng lockage of the nutritive elements. With fish, these are said to have been exceptionally successful, the experiments pointing to the expediency of rapid freezing It would also seem as S some of the theories which accounted for the ‘weeping’ of frozen meat when thawed, will have to be jettisoned.