Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-20
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.
BY next spring the United States will
of dried eggs year.
There will be 125 factories engaged in
taking the water out of close to 1000 OOO,-
600 eggs.
Thus, under Government auspices,
vast new industry is arising. Two years
ago there were u small plants producing
less than 100000 pounds annually of
whole dried eggs and about 100000 of
dried yolks and egg whites.
Meanwhile, due to constant scientific
research and experiment, THO quantity of
keeping qualities of the product have
been doubled. The Department of Agri-
culture is operating large laboratory
in Chicago where a sample of every lot
manufactured is subjected to chemical
tests and corps Of tasters is maintained
Some of each sample is mixed up and
cooked as scrambled eggs, and these men
and women whose trained tongues have
provided them with an entirely new pro-
fession score it gastronomically.
In cooperation with British experts
score sheet has been prepared which
states the moisture and solid content, the
number of bacteria, the taste, etc., of
each lot.
Also a mobile laboratory is being
maintained which is on the road con-
tinually between the drying plants, To-
Gated in all the egg producing centers
OF the country, to locate the trouble when
any substandard product is received.
Now practically the entire output is
shipped to Great Britain. Eggs are
among the richest and most concen-
trated foods known to man. With the
dried product, shipping space is cut down
approximately four-flfths and there is
no need for refrigerated ships, which are
very difficult to obtain.
But the Department OF Agriculture
workers have been motivated not only
by the desire to provide concentrated
food for the British but by the vision of
major American industry after the
""A' AAAoo AL eAlC AllCllSdll pCOplc
themselves have had little opportunity
to sample their rapidly improving prod
ucts. Use of dried eggs in this country
in the past has been restricted largely
to the baking and confectionery indus
tries.
One OF the latest developments, the
Department Of Agriculture specialists
point out, is in grading. At first dried
eggs were dried eggs They were shipped
in bulk. Now all lots which rate above
a certain mark on the British American
score card are being put up in five ounce
packages-each package representing a
dozen eggs-for use as scrambled eggs
packed in barrels for cooking.
At first there were complaints that
while the product remained fairly palat-
able for month or two it deteriorated
rapidly afterward. The source of this
difficulty has been located. The Depart
ment of Agriculture chemists have found
that when the dried product is kept for
any appreciate time at temperature
of IS or more it rapidly loses its solubil-
ity-its ability to come back to liquid
egg when mixed in water. At tempera-
lures below so this deterioration is
greatly retarded and dried egg a year
old tastes like fresh. The lack of solubil-
ity does not interfere with cooking quail
tiles.
The enormous Crackerjack packing
plant in Chicago has been taken over for
packaging the dried eggs for table use,
and essentially the same methods are
being used as were employed for the
CONNECTION so widely sold at baseball
games.
An important criterion is the number
OF bacteria in any sample. A certain
number is inevitable but it has been
found that when this is exceeded, deteri-
Grafton is much more rapid. If the
bacteria count from any factory begins
to increase, the mobile units of chemists
are dispatched there post-haste to deter
mine in what part of the process the
contamination arises.
When Department of Agriculture spe-
cialists took over the present program
with the beginning of lend-lease ship
ments they had to start from the ground
up. Before the last war very small
dried-egg industry had begun in the
United States but had not prospered and
had been taken over by the Chinese with
cheaper eggs and cheaper labor. There
was a considerable market for the prod
ucts dried egg yolk chiefly in the
doughnut industry and dried white in
the candy and ice cream businesses. But
there had been no chronological develop
ment. The industries seemed satisfied
with the grossly inferior Chinese prod
uct.
1t was from this point that Australia
started egg drying to feed Britain early
in the present war Now 80 factories
in the United States are working q
hours day and IS others are nearing
completion.
Wants British Empire Wrecked
And World State Suhstifuted