Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-07-18
New Ideas About Cheese.


tific experimentation.
Ii IL we'll known nowadays that I'M
adulterated milk is six.ssvenths water,
and that the one-seventh, which Is the
food material In milk, Is cheap a. COM
pared with most other foods and ID very
wholesome. 1t contains the different
food elements In good proportion and
In easily digestible form. But milk 10
such food that it is popularity regarded
as beverage, rather than food, except
for infant feeding. The excessive
moisture Ia frequently removed, to rem
der the substance less bulky and. when
the fat is removed by itself with only
about one-seventh of water in the
product, We have butter. When all OF
the elements In the milk are allowed to
remain and the water is evaporated TO .
considerable degree, condensed milk 10
the resultant; it usually Is from three
quarters to two-thirds water. When
most of the natural food elements OF
milk are retained and the curd Is coagu-
lated, and the water drawn of as whey,
the product Is cheese. But there are 80
many differences in the details Of hand
ling the cheese that 4S4 varieties are list
ed in official dairy publications. These
variations are due largely to the different
methods Of "ripeniDg," or to the differ
ent forms of bacteria that are called In
to assist in the process. These different
kinds of cheese have q wide range OF
texture and vary in flavor from the mild,
pleasantly acid cottage cheese to the
rank Limburger.
The most common cheese of commerce
is the cheddar, of which there are sever
al varieties, some of the distinctive diff.
ferences being due, to considerable ex-
tent, to the form in which they are put
on the market. Most of the other kinds
are somewhat roughly classified as soft
cheeses, and they, for the most part,
come under the classification OF fancy
cheese, although few Of the cheddsr
type are also properly termed fancy
cheeses. Familiar types of the fancy
soft cheeses are Brie and Camembert.
These soft cheeses are almost ex-
clusively used as relish, and this Is true
of some of the cheddar type. But the
common American cheddar Is food as
we'll as relish. 1t is highly concen.
trated food, containing roundly one-third
casen, one-third fat and one-third water
as against six.sevenths water in the
milk from which the cheese is made.
Cheese contains twice as much nutrition
az beef, mutton or fish and four times as
much as chicken. 1t Is nutritious
food, and having no waste 1t Is very
economical. In countries where meat is
scarce and high cheese has an important
place in the diet of the people. This is
the case, whether the cheese Is made
from whole milk or skim milk. The
protein element of food, that Is the ele-
ment which is necessary for tissue build
ing, Is supplied by cheese at much less
cost than by meat, aud this is especially
true of skim milk cheese.
In this country the food value OF
cheese has not been fully or sufficiently
More than that prejudice
has existed against 1t on account OF
its alleged or supposed indigestibility,
particularly when not completely "trip.
ened." One of the best dairy suthori-
ties in the country said not many years
ago, that "In the majority Of cases In
digestibility comes from eating uncured
cheese. The people of England and con-
tinental Europe eat largely of cheese, but
it is of good age and we'll cured. Old
cheese is considered to be an aid to d..
gestion. The high livers of England
finish their heavy dinners with bit of
rich old cheese and Q cracker. New
cheese is known to be very indigestible
and sometimes suspends the peristaltic
action of the bowels. All cheddar made
cheese is hard, unpalatable and indi-
gestible when young. The rennet must
have time to predigest and break down
the curd." This quotation aptly states
what has been the prevailing belief for
years.
This popular opinion is now shown to
have no basis in fact. The national
dairy division has been studying the d..
gestibility of cheese for several years and
has recently issued bulletin giving the
results of 1874 experiments on 65 persons.
These experiments were carried on with
a diet OF bread and bananas, because
these foods have been carefully studied
and are we'll understood. 1t has been
hard to explain why, when the solids Of
milk are digestible and make a perfect
food, the process of cheese making, by
the addition of rennet, and the develop
ment of Tactic acid, should transform
them into indigestible solids. 1t has
also been hard to explain why green
cheese should have any unusual tendency
to cause constipation. But the expert
ments carried ON by the Department OF
Agriculture show that as q matter of
fact there Is ''little or no difference In
the comparative digestibility Of cheese at
different stages Of ripening. The per-
fectly green curd, evidently, and as far
as nutritive value was concerned, was as
good food as the same cheese at any
stage of ripening. The casein of cheese
either fresh from the press or thorough
~ ripened is very highly digestible. The
cheese was eaten In comparatively large
quantities, but it was we'll assimilated."
Allusion is also made TO the evident di.
gestibility and food value of skim milk
cheese and the economical value Of this
kind Of food put on the market in way
to induce the laboring classes to buy 1t.
These experiments omit one feature In
the case and that 10 the proper mastica.
ton of cheese. The digestive juices can
not work we'll upon food that Is not we'll
broken up by chewing. This Is the
cause Of the difficulty in digesting hot
breads, especially those raised with
yeast. Green or rubber.like new cheese
may be more difficult to break into small
particles In the mouth-or there may be
more Of tendency to imperfectly mssti.
cate this kind of cbeese-and hence 1t
may be swallowed in Jumps. This may
be the cause of the general prejudice
against such cheese.