Evening star., 1941-02-01
Vital Pep-Produeer,
Vifamin B-1, May Be
Added 10 Bread Flour
British War Resistance
Believed Greatly Aided
By Its Use This Winter
mo. 4 OF q SerieS.)
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

by IhOMAS N. nENhIs
You can buy the life-giving, pep
promoting thianin chloride at the
corner drug store for about $l5 a
gram.
There are about 28 grams In an
ounce. The average adult needs
about a 7ooth of gram a day to
keep in good health. At less than
a 1,0OOth of q gram one is likely to
develop the deadly Oriental disease,
beriberi, of which few clinical cases
ever have been reported in the
United States - except recently
among chronic drunks.
But when you buy thiamin chlor-
ide you are buying, says DR.. w. n.
Sebrell of the United States Public
Health Service, a drug which you
should not be taking without a doc
tors prescription. You pay drug
prices. In wholesale lots, according
to latest reports to the Food and
Drug Administration, the price has
just dropped from 9S to so cents a
gram in about 5000, ,000-gram lots.
So minute amounts Of it can be
added to bread at small fraction
of a cent a loaf. 1t is proposed, IN
the new fortified flour specifications
being drawn up by the Food ana
Drug Administration with the CO.
operation of most Of the large mill
ing companies to put about 500 m1lli-
grams of it in each barrel. Tnls
will supply, on the average, about
fourth of the daily requirement OF
the American people.
One of Chemistry's Great Triumphs.
Thiamin chloride ;s synthesized
nitrogen and oxygen by a rather
complicated chemical process work.
ed out few years ago by DR.. Robert
r. Williams of the Bell Telephone
Co. The patents are in the hands
of the Research Corp. OF America,
which devotes the proceeds to fur
ther scientific research. There are
also some European patents on sup
posed improvements in the process.
The final Synthesis OF thlam1n
chloride. otherwise known as vitamln
B-1, is considered one of the great
est triumphs of modern chemistry.
It is valued not only as a preven-
tive of beriberi and a subcl1nlcal
type of the same disease which Is
suspected of being very widespread
in the American people but as a
guard against infection and as
definite pep builder"
Addition of the vitamin to flour
now is required in Great Britain and
is believed to have contributed
great deal to the Britons' stubborn
war resistans this winter. A recent
proposal was that very much larger
amounts be supplied to American
soldiers than is deemed essential
to the population in general.
Helps Burn Sugar In Body.
Thianin is an important part OF
one of the engines, or chemical
agents In the body, and is essential
for the normal and complete burn
ing Of sugar in the body cells. Prob
ably, according to nutrition experts
of the Agriculture Department, all
the symptoms due to lack OF the
vitamin are due to sugar clogglng
up the blood, with the result that
production of heat and energy are
decreased and various poisons ac-
cumulate in the cells.
One of the first signs Of thiamin
deficiency is a marked loss OF ap-
petite. The nerves get "jumpy."
The body temperature goes down,
the heart rate is slowed up and
pains and weakness occur in the
limbs The end result is an in
durable heart condition.
At the last meeting OF the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement
Of Science it was declared that 100
years ago an able-bodied man could
drink with impunity a quart OF
whisky in addition to the amount
he could drink safely today. Whisky
Is mostly sugar and the old diets
contained enough Of the vitamin TO
burn 1t up quickly.
Milling Wheat Destroys 1t.
There is considerable thiamin IN
unmilled wheat, but 1t Is almost
all destroyed in the milling process.
To preserve 1t would injure the
keeping qualities Of the flour, but
this is not true when the synthetic
vitamin Is added.
There are considerable amounts
of it, according to analyses Of the
Bureau of Home Economies of the
Agriculture Department, in lean
pork, chicken, kidney, liver, green
peas and lima beans, wheat, corn
and rye germs, rice polishings, bran,
oats, whole grain wheat, barley, pea
nuts, soy beans, COW peas and navy
beans. There are fair amounts in
egg yolk, brains, lean beef, Goldfish,
sardines and long list of fruits and