The Republican journal., 1904-07-28
FOOD VALUE OF FISH.
Especial Interest in View of Butchers
Strike.

Especial Interest in View of Butchers
The strike of the employees of the
great meat packers will undoubtedly
increase the demand for fish. The
price of fish may go up as that of meat
did as soon as the strike went into
eff ect, but there is one consoling fact
about this condition, the fish can be
obtained when meat cannot.
Fish, with few exceptions, is far be-
low meat in nuritive value in proper
ton to bulk, but the same elements
are contained in both. 1t is only neces-
sary to eat enough fish to secure the
same amount of essentials. The nutri-
ents Of the human body are proteine,
fat and carbohydrates. Besides
these practically all foods contain a
large percentage of water and small
percentage OF mineral matter.
The fish containing the most nutri-
ment are Spanish mackerel, sailed and
dried cod, homeless goldfish" caviare,
sailed, smoked and dried herring, salt
ed, smoked and dried halibut, and of
the canned fish, sardines, salmon, fresh
and salt mackerel, funny, haddock,
lobster, crab and shrimp. Nearly all
OF these mentioned are equivalent in
nutrltlve value to an equal amount of
veal. California salmon, No. l sailed
mackerel, caviare, sailed, smoked and
dried hallbut, canned salmon and cam
ned salt mackerel are equivalent to
the average of beef, veal and mutton.
Caviare, indeed, contains twice the
nutriment OF almost all meats, and is
almost equal to side pork, which con-
talns the highest amount of nutritive
elements of any meat. The large pro-
portion OF the nutrlment in pork, how
ever, it may be incidentally remarked,
is fat, it being the lowest in the scale
as regards proteine, the most valuable
nutrlenL.
| According to government publca-
lions based Oh investigations made by
| Prof. w. o. Atwater and the New Jer-
sey Fish Commission, the percentage of
actual nutrients in preserved fish is
much larger than in the corresponding
| fresh fish, while canned fish. which III
effect is cooked fish, compares favora-
| bly, with fresh fish.
| Shelliish resemble meat and food fish
III general composition. A quart of
oysters, roughly estimated, contains
about the same quantity of actual nu-
| trltlve substances as a quart of milk or
| three-fourths of a pound of beef, or two
pounds of fresh Goldfish, or pound OF
bread. Oysters come nearer to milk
than almost any other common food
material as regards both the amounts
and the relative proportions of rutri-
ents. Many oysters are 'fatt ned"
after being taken from the beds ahd be-
fore being sold, by floating them about
rty-eight hours in fresh or brackish
water. BY this process the oyster ac-
qulreS plumpness and its bulk and
weight are protitably increased. Oyster
men commonly believe that the oyster
by this process actually does become
fatter and gain in flavor. Careful ex-
periments indicate that what the fresh
water actually does is to dissolve salt
from the tissues of the oyster and dis
tend them with water This increases
the weight and reduces the nutritive
material from one-eighth to one-fifth.
Many consumers think the improve
ment In flavor compensates for the de-
crease III nutritive value. "The ''fat-
tenlng'' also decreases the vitality of
the oyster. Green oysters are not in
furious, as some suppose. This coloris
uuO w JIG green PAM lie on which
oysters sometimes feed.
Experiments indicate that in the
case of man fish and beef are about
equally digestibie, and that salt fish is
less thoroughly digested than fresh fish.
Most psychologists regard fish as par
tlcularly desirable food for persons of
sedentary habits. The widespread no.
ton that fish contains large proper
ton of phosphorus, and is therefore
especially valuable as food for the
brain, is not accepted by many physi-
ologists. There is no experimental
evidence to warrant this assumption.
There are several species of fish
which are actually poisonous, but few
OF them are found in the United States,
and the chances of their being offered
for sale are small. Fish may contain
parasites, some of which are inju-
rlous to man. Thorough cooking,
however, destroys these. To in
sure freedom from ptomaine pois
onlng, care should be taken to eat fish
only when it is in perfectly good condi-
ton. Fish which has been frozen and,
after thawing, kept for time before
II is cooked is especially likelyto con-
tain ptomaines. Canned fish should
never be allowed to remain long in the
can after opening, but should be used
at once. Oysters when ''floated'' or
''fattened," should never be placed in
water contaminated by sewage.-N. Y.
Tribune.