No abstract

Values for the ascorbic acid content of a number of foods sold in diverse markets were determined by titration against 2: 6 dichlorophenolindophenol in acid solution. The results showed that the least expensive material was not necessarily the poorest source of vitamin C and might be more valuable than expensive foods. Samples of cabbage from the cheap market contained 329% as much vitamin C as samples from expensive sources. These results on comparison with figures recorded for fresh garden produce showed that market foods have lost some of their vitamin C content on exposure for sale, but still contain satisfactory amounts of ascorbic acid when purchased.Results from different samples of fruits and vegetables showed wide variation. No data relating to storage before purchase were available, so limiting figures were used for each food. Mean values were calculated for purposes of comparative tabulation.The effect of household storage after purchase was noted for foods from inexpensive and fashionable markets. The values obtained showed that the loss of ascorbic acid in foods stored in the home after a period of exposure for sale, though marked, was not as serious as has previously been indicated.An irregular fall in the ascorbic acid content of some of the material examined was noted and investigated. Wide variations in the amount of ascorbic acid present in different parts of individual fruits and vegetables were observed. In view of experimental results it is recommended that foods be purchased and prepared for consumption immediately before use.Canned foods from diverse markets were examined to determine their ascorbic acid content, and it was shown that the vitamin is distributed throughout solid and liquid. Although a percentage of vitamin is destroyed on heating, those fruits and vegetables initially high in ascorbic acid retained sufficient vitamin to afford a better, and frequently cheaper, source of vitamin than unheated samples with a low ascorbic acid content. Considerable quantities of vitamin C are lost when the liquid from canned vegetables is discarded. When the syrup from cans is used as well as the fruit the vitamin available to the consumer is frequently greater than the amount yielded by the same weight of raw fruit from market sources.Raw and canned plant tissues from cheap and expensive sources were compared for their antiscorbutic value in the human diet, and for the cost of the daily requirement at ruling market prices. It was found that a day's ration of ascorbic acid could be purchased at a cost as low as a farthing to as high as a pound.

An untrained tasting panel reported that sucrose was the most acceptable sugar, maltose the least acceptable, fructose the sweetest and lactose the least sweet.With added flavouring oils a higher concentration proved acceptable and there was more uniformity of opinion. Flavouring agents differed in their appeal. t o members o! the panel.The addition of very small amounts of comnion salt t o flavoured sugar solutions apparently increases the strength of the added flavour, the sweetness of the solution and, t o some persons, its acceptability. Stronger flavours masked the taste of salt, weaker ones did not. More than half the panel found that higher concentrations of sugar enhanced the flavour of orange and lemon oil.

There is a dearth of information on the percentage of waste during preparation of food by the average woman. Such figures would be of value in dietary surveys, since some food tables give analyses for raw foods only 'as purchased', so that edible portions on dietary records must often be converted to 'as purchased' amounts before conversion to calories and nutrients.During two long-term dietary investigations, records of wastage in food preparation were made and results are presented for comparison with existing tables or as a supplement to them.In addition, alterations in weight during cooking are of great importance when the nutritive value of edible portions of food is to be calculated. Alterations are chiefly due to loss or absorption of water or other liquid and also to loss of weight when fat melts and connective tissue hydrolyses to gelatin. Outer layers of old potato may slough away and fish may break apart. EXPERIMENTALGeneral. Loss or gain of weight during cooking has an effect on the nutritive value of a given weight of cooked food. As an example, two rice puddings consumed during the survey are cited. Both were made to the same recipe, but one lost 3'4% and the other 49% of its original weight: the first was cooked alone in a slow oven and the second was placed below other foods in a moderately hot oven.Recipe: 568 g milk, 57 g sugar, 42 g rice, 14 g butter. Total weight 681 g. Pudding I. 3'4% loss of weight. Portion consumed 142 g. Foods contained in this portion: 122 g milk, 12.3 g sugar, 9.0 g rice, 3-0 g butter. Unless allowance is made for evaporation during cooking, there is thus likely to be great inaccuracy in calculating the nutrient content of composite dishes. T o avoid this error, each dish cooked during the survey was made with weighed ingredients and the whole was weighed before and after cooking. Weighing a raw mixture allowed a correction to be made for any part of the whole adhering to the mixing bowl.Scope of the survey. Results in the present investigation cover the years 1949-52, and the average value for all figures computed in these years is given for each commodity. Care was taken to ensure that all edible parts were utilized, although, unfortunately, such care is not always practised by the average woman.

SPONTANEOUS INTRA-ABDOMINAL HAEMORRHAGE M, Nierenlagers,"' and was later classified into four categories by Ponfick (quoted by Coenen, 1910). Case 3 is an example of Ponfick's haematoma renis extracapsulare. Coenen, who collected 12 cases of perirenal haematoma and reported one of his own, mentions nephritis, renal sarcoma, arteriosclerosis, renal tuberculosis, chronic splenomegaly with gastritis, and haemophilia as the associated conditions. Heilmann (1930), who reported four cases of perirenal haematoma, suggests spasm of the capsulaT vessels as an aetiological factor. Cases of gross suprarenal haemorrhage have been reported in adults (Keele and Keele, 1942; Burnett, 1948). Eleven cases had previously been described. Only three of these cases, including those of Keele and Keele, were unilateral, as was the case under discussion, and in no instance was there a haemoperitoneum. In addition to atheroma and a possible spastic mechanism owing to hypertension, thrombosis of the suprarenal vein as in Keele and Keele's case should be considered as the proximate cause. Sumary' Three cases of intra-abdominal haemorrhage are reported. All three had evidence of hypertension. The first case was one of spontaneous intraperitoneal haernorrhage with no morbid anatomical source for the bleeding apart from hypertensive changes in the smaller vessels. The second case showed intramuscular haematomata; hypertensive arteriolar disease was sufficient to account for the haemorrhage. The third case showed a haemoperitoneum from rupture of a perirenal haematoma. The origin of this is discussed. There was clinical evidence of severe hypertension.