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 py 1 
 
 FOOD FACTS 
 
 MBTROPOLITAN LIFE 
 INSURANCE COMPANY 
 

FOOD FACTS 
 
 BY, 
 
 DONALD B. ARMSTRONG 
 
 M.D., M.A.,M.S. 
 
 Printed and Distributed by the 
 
 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company 
 
 For the use of its Policy-holders 
 
 1917 
 
The author takes this opportunity to 
 acknowledge the generous assistance 
 of his associates in the preparation of 
 this booklet. Special mention should 
 be made of the many helpful sugges- 
 tions regarding diet and cooking 
 by Professor Henry C. Sherman and 
 Dr. Graham Lush, as well as by 
 Miss Lucy H. Gillett of the New 
 York Association for Improving the 
 Condition of the Poor. 
 
 Copyright, 1917, by thb Mbtropolitan Lips Insurance Company 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER ONE 
 
 Where to Buy 
 
 CHAPTER TWO 
 
 How to Buy Cheaply 
 
 CHAPTER three' 
 
 Clean Food and Disease 
 Prevention 
 
 CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 Wise Food and Health 
 
 CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 Cooking Foods 
 
 CHAPTER SIX 
 
 Good Food Habits 
 
 3 
 
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW 
 ABOUT FOODS? 
 
 In BUYING food, you ought to 
 know: 
 
 How to Buy 
 Where to Buy 
 When to Buy 
 What to Buy 
 
 In SELECTING and USING 
 food, you ought to know: 
 
 How to Choose a Safe Food Store 
 How to Select the Food You Ne^d 
 How to Keep Food Clean and Sweet 
 How to Cook to the Best Advantage 
 How to Avoid Food Dangers 
 How to Get the Most Food Value 
 for the Money 
 
 This booklet tells you these 
 things. 
 
 4 
 
Where to Buy 
 
 w 
 
 HAT kind of a food store What Your 
 
 should you patronize? Of ^^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 r J ^ Should Be 
 course your rood store 
 
 should sell pure products. In addi- 
 tion, it^can comply with the law and 
 supply clean food at low prices: 
 
 1 If through being clean very little is 
 wasted by rotting, etc. 
 
 2 If the dealer buys in large quan- 
 tities, and gives you the advantage 
 of lower prices. 
 
 5 
 
3 If you pay cash, so that nothing is 
 lost because of unpaid bills. 
 
 4 If you take your things home, so 
 you do not have to pay the expense 
 of delivery. 
 
 Does your store do these things f Are 
 the bread and vegetables covered? Is 
 the floor clean? Are the clerks healthy? 
 
 Get Your You are entitled to cleanliness and 
 
 z},^^^ rr ^oodi protection in your butcher shop. 
 Clean Up . , ,. . .,, 
 
 in your delicatessen, in your milk store 
 
 and wherever you buy food. Remem- 
 ber that the stores where you trade 
 will clean up if you object to J:he dirt. 
 Tell your grocer and your butcher 
 / that things will spoil and rot if he does 
 not protect his foods from dust, dirt, 
 flies and dirty hands. This means that 
 his show-cases should be covered, that 
 his packages should be carefully 
 
 6 
 
wrapped, and that his cuts of meat 
 should be kept in the ice-box and not 
 on hooks outside. 
 
 CLEAN FOOD PAYS because ///s 
 people like to buy clean food. Your Cheaper to 
 butcher, your milk dealer or any one Clean 
 else can increase his business by hav- . 
 ing a clean, safe and decent store: 
 
 1 Because he will have more cus- 
 tomers. 
 
 2 Because his stock will keep better. 
 
 3 Because he will be saved trouble 
 with the Board of Health by obey- 
 ing the law. 
 
 Three things go together: cleanli- 
 ness, good business and LOW 
 PRICES TO YOU. 
 
 Buy clean food from a clean store. 
 
 Tell your neighbors to do this too. 
 
The Pound 
 Price Is 
 a Great 
 Saving 
 
 How to Buy Cheaply 
 
 I 
 
 N a clean store where the bins are 
 dust and vermin proof it is safe to 
 buy certain things by the pound. 
 It is not only safe but a great saving 
 to do this. The table on the next page 
 shows how much more you can get of 
 some things at one food store if you 
 buy from the bin instead of by the 
 package. 
 
 OLEOMARGARINE is cheaper 
 than butter. Most people do not 
 object to the taste of oleomargarine 
 
 8 
 
on bread and no one objects to it in Oleomar- 
 
 cooking:. It is cleaner than some S^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 , , Uood and 
 
 butter and contains just as much food Cheap 
 
 value. It is made from fat and has to 
 
 be made from fresh material— butter 
 
 can be made from material that is not 
 
 fresh. Look at the difference in cost: 
 
 For the cost of one pound of but- 
 ter you can often get one and a half 
 pounds of oleomargarine. 
 
 Try it. Ask the grocery clerk to 
 show you the package. 
 
 ARTICLES AdvertisedPackage ^Z<Z7 
 
 Price and Quankiy ^^ ^Jj^ 
 
 Farina 10 cents 1 lb. 2 lbs. 
 
 Oatmeal 10 cents li lbs. 2i lbs. 
 
 Yellow Meal and Hominy 10 cents If lbs. 3 J lbs. 
 
 BREAD. You can save money in 
 buying bread if you use the day-old 
 bread. This contains just as much 
 food value as fresh bread and is 
 
 9 
 
Ask Your better for you. If you live in the city 
 
 tsaner ror y^^j. nrrocer can get day-old bread 
 
 Day-old [ u- 1 1 j n • 
 
 Bread trom his baker and can sell it to you 
 
 much cheaper than fresh bread. Ask 
 
 him for it. 
 
 Buy in Buy your foods in as large quan- 
 
 {luati I les |.j[|.j^g ^g yQ^ }^^y^ space to keep them 
 
 at home — you can usually get things 
 cheaper this way. This is especially 
 true in the winter time and applies to 
 such things as cereals, canned goods, 
 potatoes, flour, sugar, etc. Even 
 though you buy your foods where 
 they do not deliver, you will save 
 money by hiring a boy with a cart or 
 baby carriage once a week to take 
 things in larger quantities to your 
 home for you. 
 
 10 
 
Clean Food and 
 Disease Prevention 
 
 T 
 
 O preserve health, CLEAN YourHealth 
 
 FOOD is important. That is ^^^^^^es 
 
 , 111 1 Clean Food 
 
 why we have the laws about 
 
 clean food and why the food stores 
 must obey them. 
 
 REMEMBER that dirty, dusty, 
 fly-specked, much-handled food may 
 carry tuberculosis, typhoid fever 
 and diarrheal disease or summer 
 complaint. 
 
 11 
 
How to One- tenth of all the people die 
 ^ from tuberculosis. Typhoid fever 
 
 Food caused 332 deaths last year in New 
 York City alone. 3,173 babies died 
 from diarrheal disease or summer com- 
 plaint last year in New York City, or 
 one in every 44 babies born. 
 
 A certain number of these deaths 
 was due to unclean food. That is why 
 clean food is important. To get clean 
 food : 
 
 1 Insist at the store and at home, on 
 food protected from the three dan- 
 gerous F's: Filth — Flies — Fingers. 
 
 2 Buy your groceries, meats, fish, 
 milk, vegetables, etc., from a store 
 where they fight the three deadly 
 D 's : Dirt — Disease — Death . 
 Another thing that is important is 
 
 decent food. Indecent and dirty food 
 is food covered with dust, food to 
 
 12 
 
which flies have carried dirt and dis- 
 ease germs and food that unwashed 
 hands have handled. 
 
 You may get ^istzsc— typhoid fever 
 and tuberculosis — this way, but even 
 if you escape that, do you want to eat 
 fruit or candies or meat upon which 
 flies, probably from a near-by garbage 
 pail, have feasted? 
 
 Remember that milk with the "real Babies 
 
 country taste" is often dirty milk. i!J"^^ ^f.^f 
 
 Clean Milk 
 
 For babies, in particular, you must 
 have decent, clean milk. Use milk that 
 comes in bottles. Use pasteurized 
 milk — milk that has been heated to 
 kill disease germs. 
 
 If a clean store is important, so is a 
 clean home. You want CLEAN 
 FOOD IN YOUR HOME because 
 (1) It prevents disease, (2) It prevents 
 waste and saves money, (3) It is decent. ^ 
 
 13 
 
 y 
 
Remember The main points to be remembered 
 These „.„ jjj, 
 
 Points 
 
 are tnese : 
 
 1 Put covers and screens over your 
 food to keep oii flies and dust. 
 
 2 Keep the milk covered and cold. 
 
 3 Wash your hands before you eat! 
 This means hot water and soap. 
 
 4 Do not handle food any more than 
 is necessary in the shop or at home. 
 
 5 Do not allow sick relatives or 
 friends to prepare or handle food 
 to be eaten; don*t allow the nurse 
 for a sick member of the family to 
 handle food without washing her 
 hands. 
 
 14 
 
Wise Food & Health 
 
 IN NEW YORK CITY alone last What Foods 
 year there were 76,000 deaths Shall I Buy? 
 altogether ; about two out of five 
 of these could be prevented if we all 
 did the ri^ht things. This means that 
 there were about 760,000 cases of 
 sickness, one-half of which could be 
 prevented if we did the right things. 
 We have discussed dirty food and 
 sickness* It is even more important, 
 however, that our food be of the right 
 
 kinds. 
 
 15 
 
Rules for The amount of food which you 
 
 Purchasing ^^^j depends on the kind of work 
 Food ^ 
 
 you are doing; not only the amount, 
 
 but also the kind is important. To 
 
 help you get the right kind of food, 
 
 we suggest the following : 
 
 Spend a fair amount of your total 
 income for food. The ordinary city 
 family of five people, with an annual 
 income of $700, ought to spend about 
 $300 for food. This means about $6 
 a week, or about forty cents for food 
 out of every dollar you have to spend. 
 
 Buy the right things with the money 
 you spend. It is found that a great 
 many families do not get enough to 
 eat, not because they don't spend 
 enough money for food, but because 
 they don't get enough food value for 
 the money. It is found that these 
 same families with no increase in their 
 
 16 
 
food expenditures, but by spending A WelU 
 the same amount of money in a ^^^^'^^^^ 
 different way, could have sufficient 
 food and be well nourished. 
 
 Bread and cereals (with a reasonable 
 amount of cheaper fats) give the most 
 food value for the money — the more 
 you wish to economize the mpre you 
 ghould spend for these foods. 
 
 To have a well-balanced diet, eat 
 bread and cereals freely and spend 
 most of the remainder of the money to 
 be spent for food as follows : 
 
 Spend as much or more 
 
 1 For FRUIT and VEGETABLES 
 as for meat and fish. 
 
 2 For MILK as for meat and fish. 
 Such a method of expenditure will 
 
 give you a wise and safe diet. Figure 
 out your expenditures and see how 
 near you are coming to this rule. 
 
 17 
 
Remember, as much or more for 
 (1) fruit and vegetables as for (2) milk 
 or (3) meat and fish ; the rest will take 
 care of itself if you use plentifully 
 such foods as bread, cereals, oleomar- 
 garine, cotton-seed oil, etc. 
 
 18 
 
Cooking Foods 
 
 THE way things are cooked is 
 very important for it affects 
 food value, appetite and diges- 
 tion. We would make fewer mistakes, 
 especially as regards meats, if we 
 cooked them according to their quality. 
 
 ROASTING or BAKING in the Tender 
 oven : Use a hot oven at first to sear Meat, such 
 
 the outside quickly and thus keep in ^^ Steaks 
 1 . . o 1 inn ^^^ Roasts 
 
 the juices. Salt, pepper and tlour all 
 
 over. Fat, not water, should be put in 
 
 19 
 
the roasting pan and the meat should 
 be basted frequently with this. 
 
 To BROIL, hold over a very hot 
 fire, searing first one side and then the 
 other. Then reduce the heat and turn 
 the meat frequently. Do not season 
 until done, as salt draws the juice out. 
 
 To PAN BROIL, use no fat, heat 
 
 the pan to smoking, then sear the 
 
 meat on both sides and broil as above. 
 
 Medium STEWING (for good gravy and 
 
 Tender good flavor) . Brown the meat in a f ry- 
 
 Meat: Rump. . • i i . • i .. /i 
 
 Round, etc ^^^ pan quickly to give better flavor 
 
 to the stew. Put in boiling or cold 
 salted water, boil five minutes, then 
 reduce the temperature to simmering. 
 Long, hard boiling makes meat fibers 
 tough. For SOUPS, cut in small 
 pieces, soak in cold water one-half 
 hour without salting, then salt, bring 
 slowly to the boiling point and boil 
 
 20 
 
gently for from five to ten minutes. Tough Meat: 
 
 Reduce to simmering and cook slowly. Shank. Neck, 
 
 ^. Shm.etc. 
 
 A^cld vegetables, cut m small pieces, 
 
 one-half hour before removing from 
 
 the fire, and boil gently until done. 
 
 Note: Avoid frying. Fried foods 
 are hard to digest. If it must be done, 
 use deep fat rather than shallow fat. 
 Have fat smoking hot and enough fat 
 to prevent soaking. 
 
 Remember that tough meat is often 
 cheap meat for it has good food value. 
 You may have some left over after 
 making soup, and this can be used in 
 stews, or can be chopped up for use in 
 croquettes, nieat balls, sandwiches, etc. 
 
 Cook vegetables so as to make them 
 as digestible and palatable as possible. 
 Start in boiling, salted water. 
 
 Vegetables with a pleasant flavor 
 should be cooked in a small quantity 
 
 21 
 
Cooking of water with the cover on the pan to 
 Vegetables j^eep the flavor in the vegetable. On the 
 other hand, vegetables with a strong 
 odor may be cooked in a large quan- 
 tity of water with the pan uncovered 
 to draw out some of the strong flavor. 
 Do not fry vegetables, especially in 
 a small amount of fat. 
 
 Save the water in which vegetables, 
 such as potatoes, are boiled, for soups 
 and meat gravies. This water has 
 dissolved some of the most valuable 
 food materials (especially salts) which 
 may be saved in this way. 
 
 Long soaking of dried vegetables 
 in cold water will save fuel . Soaking of 
 cereals in cold water overnight will 
 save fuel. Cook in the water in which 
 soaked. This method, however, necessi- 
 tates constant stirring, while coming to 
 the boiling point, to prevent lumping. 
 
 22 
 
If started in boiling water, pour the Cooking 
 cereal slowly into boiling salted water ^^^^^^ ^^^ 
 and stir until as thick as mush. Then 
 steam over boiling water until done. 
 The longer the cooking the more 
 digestible the cereal. Rice should not 
 be allowed to cook until it is mushy. 
 
 Dried fruits are very economical. Dried Fruits 
 For one thing, you yourself add the 
 water for which you pay in fresh fruit. 
 To prepare, soak in cold water 24 
 hours and cook slowly in the water 
 in which soaked until tender. 
 
 Let us emphasize here the greater 
 value of fresh cooked fruits and vege- 
 tables over the expensive "embalmed*' 
 foods which you buy in the delicates- 
 sen store. Further, food which is pre- 
 pared at home can be eaten hot, which 
 is much better for you than the cold 
 delicatessen foods. 
 
 23 
 
Things You 
 Yourself 
 Can Do 
 
 Good Food Habits 
 
 K 
 
 RE you making the most of the 
 food you eat? In earlier chap- 
 ters we discussed the dan- 
 gers of dirty food and of the bad 
 choosing of food. 
 
 There are many other things of 
 importance in food hygiene which 
 we now want to take up, such as the 
 use of milk, water, etc. You will see 
 that most of these are things which 
 you yourself C3.n do. 
 
 24 
 
One important food that is much Milk a 
 neglected and misused is MILK, ^^^^^^f^l 
 You will remember that in Chapter 
 IV we pointed out that it is wise to 
 spend as much money for milk as for 
 meat and fish or for fruit and vege- 
 tables. Remember that: 
 
 1 Milk is a g^o(?^/ci(?^, one of the most 
 perfectly balanced foods we have. 
 Milk and eggs are the only foods 
 which can supply practically all 
 the needs of the body. 
 
 2 Milk is a cheap food. You can get 
 as much food in a quart of milk as 
 you can in a pound of lean beef- 
 steak. Besides', milk costs 11 cents 
 and steak 35 cents. 
 
 3 Milk contains also many valuable 
 salts, which you have to have if you 
 are to live normally, 
 
 25 
 
Clean Milk 4 Milk is the most important food for 
 
 and Healthy babies. In cities pasteurized milk 
 Babies ., i i -n i t 
 
 (heated to kill the disease germsj 
 
 for babies should be bought in 
 bottles or at milk stations. You 
 should wash the top of the bottle 
 before opening. It should be kept 
 cold, should be used only when 
 fresh and should be protected from 
 flies and dirt. The number of 
 babies dying can be greatly re- 
 duced with a cleaner milk supply. 
 Let Water WATER is another important 
 
 Wash Away thing.' Remember that water is good 
 
 Disease jj j . u 
 
 externally and tnternally. 
 
 It is important to drink plenty of 
 
 water because it dilutes our food, 
 
 improves digestion, gives the stomach 
 
 and intestines a much needed** wash 
 
 out*' and helps to keep our blood and 
 
 tissues in good condition. 
 
 26 
 
You should drink at least eight 
 glasses of water a day, both between 
 meals and with meals. It is all right 
 to drink a little water with meals so 
 long as you don't use it to wash the 
 food down. 
 
 Just a few words about other drinks 
 taken as flavors or stimulants. 
 
 1 Beers and liquors, etc. These are Other 
 
 not desirable foods, because they Common 
 
 , , , Drinks 
 
 are expensive, and because they 
 
 contain alcohol which is a poison- 
 ous drug. They are responsible for 
 much disease, crime, poverty and 
 unnecessary death. 
 
 2 Tea and coffee. These are stimu- 
 lants, are bad if used to excess, 
 causing nervousness, indigestion, 
 etc. In addition they are particu- 
 larly bad for children ,and are 
 luxuries because they are not food. 
 
 27 
 
3 Cocoa and chocolate. These are 
 fairly cheap foods, are quite nutri- 
 tious and not nearly so injurious 
 as tea and coffee. Of course, these 
 drinks, particularly chocolate, are 
 rich and should be used moderate- 
 ly, especially by children. 
 In this country most people eat 
 three times a day. But remember: 
 
 Eat at 1 Eat at regular hours and not be- 
 
 Meal Time— tween meals. . 
 
 2 Do not eat too fast, but chew your 
 food well. Remember that "your 
 stomach has no teeth.'' 
 
 3 Do not eat when excited or angry, 
 for you won't be able to digest the 
 food well. 
 
 4 Do not '*wash down" your food 
 with water, milk or coffee. It inter- 
 feres with the digestion of the food. 
 Drink after the food has been 
 swallowed. 28 
 
 Not Between 
 
It is the food digested not the food Taste Is 
 
 swallowed, that really counts. Now, '^^S^^V 
 
 ,. e ^ II 'c* Important 
 
 you digest rood much better it it tastes 
 
 good, for that makes the digestive 
 juices flow properly. 
 
 Variety in eating is also important. 
 A monotonous diet often does not 
 contain enough salts. By salts we 
 mean not only ordinary salts, but also 
 other minerals as iron, calcium, phos- 
 phorus, etc. They keep your blood 
 and bones in good condition and if 
 you do not get enough of them, sick- 
 ness or even death may result. 
 . Now, you do not get these salts 
 separately, but you can be sure of 
 getting enough if you eat plenty of 
 vegetables, especially green and fresh, 
 and fruits, milk, bread and cereals. 
 
 In the digestion of food many 
 things are left over, some of which are 
 
 29 
 
Get Rid of poisonous and must be got out of the 
 Fotsonous {^Q jy^ 'Pq gg^ these out you need some 
 
 non- digestible, bulky material left in 
 the intestines, material which will 
 scrape the intestinal walls and stimu- 
 late them to action. This is especially 
 necessary if one is constipated. 
 
 This bulk or **roughage'' you can 
 get in such things as brown bread, 
 the cereals, bran muffins, cabbage, 
 apples, etc. 
 
 You will remember the rules in 
 Chapter IV about the selection of 
 food in the store and about the wise 
 purchasing of foods. Now, all this 
 can, of course, be spoiled by having 
 a one-sided diet — such as too much 
 starch or sugar, or too much fat. 
 
 REMEMBER that a good meal 
 can and should be a wise meal. Good 
 eating is wise eating. 
 
 30 
 
REMEMBER that other and Building 
 cheaper foods (eggs, milk, cheese, ^ ^^^ 
 beans, split-peas, nuts, etc.) can take the 
 place of meat and fish in a healthy diet. 
 
 A Meat Meal: Codfish balls, spin- 
 ach, bread and butter, cocoa, peanut 
 cookies (home-made). 
 
 Non-Meat Meals: Eggs scrambled 
 in milk, potatoes, bread and butter, 
 cheese and jelly. 
 
 Split-pea soup (made with milk), 
 bread and butter and stewed apricots 
 (dried). ^ 
 
 REMEMBER that only one kind 
 of food at a meal makes tiresome and 
 stupid as well as unhygienic eating. 
 
 REMEMBER that different kinds 
 of foods are needed in the same meal. 
 For instance, have potatoes and beets, 
 not potatoes and rice; beans and 
 spinach; not beans and peas. 
 
 31 
 
REMEMBER that vegetables 
 (especially green vegetables) and 
 fruits are as much needed by your 
 body as meat. 
 
 Below you will find some typical 
 menus illustrating these points: 
 
 1 Crisp salt pork, milk gravy, potatoes, 
 beets, custard. 
 
 2 Salmon, potatoes, chopped cabbage, 
 fried cold cereal and brown sugar. 
 
 3 Baked beans, spinach, apples (evap-* 
 orated) and raisins cooked together. 
 
 4 Bean soup (made with milk) fla- 
 vored with carrots and onions; 
 apple pie. 
 
 5 Rice, bacon and tomatoes (cooked 
 together), bread and peanut-butter 
 or cottage cheese. 
 
 32 
 
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