Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-04-06
OUR DAILY BREAD.

The widespread propaganda for the
purity of the food and drug products
OF this country has resulted in the
necessary attempt to standardize all
articles which enter into these cate
gories. In the case of certain famil-
/ lar materials like sugar and coffee this
has not involved any formidable diff
culties. The question as'to what con-
stitutes mince pie, on the other hand.
has aroused storms of claims and
counterclaims on behalf of the recipes
of different regions and generations.
Like numerous other illustrations
which might be cited. this experience
has served to call attention to the
really great diversity of our food con-
coctions and the pardonable laxness
in the use OF current terms that ap-
pear in the American menu.
II might be expected that so COM
mon an article OF diet as bread would
exhibit some uniformity of compost
ton. Yet the chemist OF the Connect
cut agricultural experiment station re-
ports that 200 loaves OF bread. repre-
senting the product OF 70 Connecticut.
one Springfield, Mass, and three New
York bakeries showed wide varia-
l4DuS III al llelT luBTcultnlS- + OF GA
ample. the moisture content ranged
from p TO 40 per cent. so that in some
instances the bread contained exces-
sfve amounts OF water. The fat pres
ent also showed a wide range, from
O.OS to 4.37 per cent. These differ
ences are largely due to the methods
OF the bakers. In some cases only
flour. yeast and salt are used, while
in others milk, butter, lard and sugar.
either alone or in combination, are en-
ployed. The variations in fat are also
due in part TO the fact that in the
process of baking a part of the fat IS
destroyed. In some samples the
amount OF fet found is much lower
than could have resulted from the use
Of any brand of -four.
A comparison OF the variations IN a
fye-cent loaf II bread is interesting in
other directions also. The actual
amount OF dry matter per loaf in the
Connecticut samples ranged from 10
to PIT ounces; the average weight. of
the loaf IN nine cities ranged from
12.9 20 1872 ounces. Tho cheapness of
the three and four-cent loaves fndi-
Gated q real saving. as far as quality
is concerned because the decrease
In price was greater than the decrease
&c weight. AS the price OF a loaf OF
bread has remained stable at five
cents. while the cost OF the ingred-
tents has increased. changes in the real
cost OF the nutrients OF bread must be
sought IN the changes OF size or COM
position OF the loaf. According to IN
vestigations made IN New Jersey in
1895. loaves costing four and FIVE cents
weighed from 1927 TO 21.s ounces, av-
erage 1874 ounces. IN 1895 IN New
Jersey IS per cent OF the fve-cent
loaves weighed over 16 ounces. and SO
per cent over IS. ounces. while in 1912
IN Connecticut only per cent weighed
over 16 ounces, and only 16 per cent
over 10 ounces. Assuming similar
conditions I'm these two states. the
average weight OF the five-cent loaf has
shrunk since 1895 from I6.4 TO Il
ounces, or Is per cent. When alJ~has
been said. observes The Journal OF the
American Medical Association. the
student OF nutrition Will doubtless still
remark that bread is cheap at any
price.