FOOD REFORM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26242, 28 August 1946, Page 6

FOOD REFORM

LESS REFINED FLOUR WELCOMED BY DENTISTS “The dental profession in New Zealand is delighted and gratified that at long last a food reform has been instituted, at any rate for the time being," said Dr C. H. Tait, the president of the New Zealand Dental Association, during an address at the annual conference of the association yesterday. “ I refer, of course,” he said “to the provision of a better, more nutritious bread, the result of the higher extraction rate of flour. The only pity is that the Government policy did not follow that of the Home Government and give the people an extraction rate of 85 per cent. “We realise that there are very great difficulties,” Dr Tait said, “not the least of which is the supply of suitable wheats. The majority of wheats, grown in New Zealand are not strong enough to permit of making a good loaf from wholemeal or higher extraction flour unless there is a considerable alteration in the baking technique. There is also considerable controversy at present as to the merits of 85 per cent, extraction, enriched, and wholemeal breads. We are concerned with obtaining a better bread, but we must be content to leave the details to those scientists engaged in this particular field. An Economic Reform “But the unhappy feeling persists that this reform is not primarily a health benefit,” the speaker said, "but an economic one to save wh&at only, and that once the world position becomes normal we shall revert once more to what has been called ‘ poverty bread.’ During a recent debate in the House >of Lords on the nutritional policy of the British Government as it is related to bread, Lord Hankey (a former member of the .War Cabinet) made the interesting disclosure that, , following the relief of the Channel Islands, it was found that the teeth of the children were in excellent condition. There was also no evidence of deficiency in their general health. This happy state of affairs was due largely' to the fact that, during the occupation, the bread consumed by the Islanders was "made from flour of an extraction rate of practically 100 per cent. “The medical and dental professions, and everyone interested in the i betterment of health in our country,” Dr Tait continued, "should support the' move for better bread—our staple item of diet—and should insist that other food reforms be instituted. Now ~ is the opportune time when rationing is in force, and it has been proved that Governments can move, and have moved in this direction, even from the economic point of view. Where the health of the people is at stake it seems almost absurd that so little has been done. . Improved health would soon pay dividends and prove a true economy. Dietetic Stocktaking “That there is an urgent need for a dietetic stocktaking no one can deny. The health of our people is in a borderline state, whereas in a country like ours abundant and abounding health should be the lot of all. Unfortunately, we cannot discount the apathy of the’ people as a whole in these matters. They will not help themselves. But since all foodstuffs are regulated it should be a comparatively simple matter to stop overrefinement and demineralisation, and to see that all the health-giving accessory factors are conserved. “Man is a sick animal, even under good living conditions, and it is hard to get him to believe that he really I need not be, and that a good deal of his sickness must be laid at his own door, or that of his parents. The food habits of the parents have shaped to a large extent the food habits of the child, and it is quite criminal the way food prejudices and fallacies have been instilled into the minds of young children. It is in childhood that food habits are formed, and wise parents will provide a sufficient variety of foods for the child, so. that he will be familiar with a great many different ones. “The child,” he said, "must not be forced to eat a new food at its first introduction. Everyone has to learn to eat new foods, and the child is no exception. In fact, he is usually more intelligent than his parents when he refuses to eat vegetables which are cooked into an insipid, uninspiring mush. He will, in most cases, eat them raw of his own volition, which only goes to show that poor cooking methods ruin food, and build up poor food habits. Our ideas of taste are acquired, and parents must realise their responsibilities in this matter. They educate their children by long training, and even insistence as to what is to be eaten and what is good. And in many cases they are .wrong, not realising that their present taste for certain foods was acquired, and that not so long ago those same foods or the form they are eaten in, caused in themselves a feeling of revulsion.

Compulsion Necessary “ Even if an adult has digestive disturbances after eating raw fruit, raw vegetables, or wholemeal bread, a normal child has no such reaction. Dr Tait said. “ Why, then, force him to change his early habits? Even an adult can regain tolerance by a graduated intake, and thereby benefit m health. In most countries parents have shown a marked prejudice against wholemeal bread. They consult their own desires, not those or their children, who are forced to eat something of lower nutritional value. Education has failed to influence the public taste for wholemeal, even in the midst of acute food shortages. The use of a coarser flour had to be made compulsory for the conduct of the war- and so in peace compulsion must be retained in New Zealand, if necessary, for the good of our health.”