Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-04
WAR BREAD HAS
FOOD VALUES
Little Difference in Nutri-
ment, Says Commits
Sioner Dixon

In nutritiVe value the difference
between mixed flour bread and the
all. wheat flour bread is very slight.
Their food value is practically the
same" says Dr, Samuel G. Dixon,
State Commissioner or Health, in a
discussion of war breads, DIR. Dix
on says that the war has caused new
breads to be tried as conservation
measures and suggests that corn
flour be employed. Bread and rolls
made with as high as one-tifth corn
flour have no corn taste, he says,
and he says that it is easily obtain
able and has a decided advantage
over some other forms of flour.
For months DR.. Dixon has been
studying foods and their relation to
the health of the people of the state
because of conditions brought about
by the war, and his recent talks on
food values followed n series on the
importance Of keeping well and Mt,
eschewing eScesseS and getting eN-
ercise and sleep in regular amounts
and above all fresh air.
Concerning the war bread DR.. Dix
on writes:
Facing the great economies that
must be practiced in the time Of war
and in the future as the population
Increases and the natural produc-
tions of the earth become depleted,
il will be necessary for us to adjust
what we have in the way of essen
tials. especially is this so of food
stuffs.
1T therefore becomes important
to know what combinations can he
made and the relative food value of
such com binations with our standard
foodstuffs. One of Phila adelphia' 5
able chemists has given me a bread
combination, which he has worked
up with his wife's cooperation.
They use corn flour, which here
tofore has been almost unknown in
our domestic bakeries, and it would
seem to open the way for very
large saving of our wheat flour. 1t
must be distinctly understood first
that there is a great difference be-
tween corn -four and corn meal.
The corn flour in composition is
practically the same as the corn
meal. but it contains a little more
protein and starch, and a little less
moisture and fat, the shortage OF fat
being due TO the fact that the germ
is extracted before grinding. 1t
must be further understood that you
cannot replace all of the wreat flour
with corn flour, as the corn contains
no gluten, which is the constituent
in wheat -four that makes it possible
to obtain a raised dough.
However, bread and rolls made
With twenty per cent. of corn flour
have little or no corn taste, and this
is the percentage which has been
found after long experiments, to pro-
a. y, 1.
portion can be used also for griddle
cakes, pastry and cakes.
TO make bread as il is made in
the average household. where a
sponge is set and no accurate meas
ure of the flour is made, the better
plan is to. mix a quantity OF the two
fiourS, keep it on hand, and use the
mixture instead Of wheat flour. For
q twenty per cent. mixture, take one
quart OF corn flour and four quarts
OF wheat flour, mix thoroughly, pre-
f"r' N'N hv putting through a flour
sitter three or four times. OF course,
larger quantities may be mixed at
one time, keeping the proper pro-
portion. In pastry even larger pro-
portions of the corn flour may be
used. In making bread, pastry, etc,
use this mixture in exactly the same
proportions and treat it exactly as
you would ordinary flour.
In nutritive value, the difference
between the mixed flour bread and
the all-wheat flour bread is very
slight. Their food value is practic-
ally the same, and if white corn flour
is used. the bread has the same ap-
pearance as the all-wheat bread.
This bread has a decided advan-
tagc for every day consumption
over most of the war breads made of
whole wheat, oat flakes, bran, etc,
by being free of the roughage, and
consequently it is not irritating
when used meal after meal and day
after day and would not be apt to
tire of eating it every day.
Corn flour can be obtained from
grocers, or they can get it for you as
it is regularly on the market and is
being made by a number of milling
companies and in cost should he
cheaper than wheat flour. 1t should
be ground as fine, or nearly as fine,
as the wheat -four which you are in
the habit Of using.
This bread makes a twenty per
cent. saving of the wheat with no
practical loss in food value and
without any of the Objectionable
features of the coarser meals"