SARDINES AS FOOD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143783, 6 May 1912, Page 3

SARDINES AS FOOD.

It matters not whether the “sardine” is or is not the real pilchard of Sardinia to which this name properly belongs; tho main thing is to have film packed in oil. Wo ougut to eat more oil, minks a writer in tho Lanoot, and tho sardine —bo he really herring, sprat, or what not—gives us tho opportunity and the excuse tor doing it. Oil, says this writer, is commonly excluded rrom a modern diet, lor some reason difficult to find. A . bland fat, ho toils us, affords an excellent physiological balance to nitrogenous foods, and tho reasonable use of such foods will help us to avoid many ills, diseases, and gouty dispositions. Wo read: “It prevents the overloading of the tissues with nitrogenous waste products, and a digestible fat favours nutrition considerably. Tho sardine supplies also an excellent proportion (25 per cent.) of nitrogenous material, and so it becomes a real and economical food. In addition to this, the sardine has appetising qualities, and where appetite servos, digestion follows. Luckily, its preservation in the cooked state in oil precludes contamination, even although it is brought to our shores in tlio tin. We 'nave examined a groat number of samples of tinned sardines, but not once have wo boon able'to find the slightest evidence of metallic contamination or of objectionable preservatives. The tins consist of no worse metals than iron and tin, both of which may bo regarded as practically outside the pale of poisonous metals. Oil is, besides, an effective guard against these metals being attacked: Physiologically it counts for very little if the sardine proves to be not a ‘scientific’ sardine and the oil is not the oil of tho olive. We have a suspicion that a preference would be exhibited for the genuine sardines and ‘l'huilc d’olive,’ but the fish substituted for the real Sardinia pilchards are, generally speaking, still of the herring family, and the cheaper oil used is wholesome, consisting often of peanut oil or sesame or cottonseed oil, which contain to a largo extent the same fatty principles as olive oil. This view must not be regarded for a. moment as favouring the practice of substitution in genera! while obviously in this case the consumer is not injured nor is he seriously cheated.

“Neither what wo know to lie a herring or sprat is a true sardine, and cottonseed oil is certainly not Thuile d’olivo.’ Strict ethical teaching, however, would require some declaration \is to the exact nature of the goods. But if that demand were enforced there would soon arise an unnecessary prejudice against I ho substitutes which, after all, arc very closely related to the genuine articles, and_which arc equally palatable and nutritions. If the real sardine wore as abundant as its congeners, the position might bo different. As it is, we may lie grateful for a plentiful and cheap supply of this appetising morsel, whether'sardine, sprat, or herring.”