CORRESPONDENCE.
BREAD OR BEER ?
[To THE EDITOR. OP TES " SPECTATOR.")
Ent,—At the present time it is worth inquiring whether a greater gain of food material can be secured by compelling millers to produce 80 ins bad of 70 per cent. of flour, or by using directly as human food the materials now employed in brewing. In former times the materials used in distilling would have had to be included. But it seems probable that in the near future the whole amount of the spirits distilled will be required for industrial purposes and for explosives, so that only a small amount of grain will be left for the production of potable spirits. By raising the standard of milling it was calculated, on the basis of the pre-war consumption of wheat, that there would be a gain to the nation of 93,000 metric tons of protein and the flesh-forming constituents of the food, and of roughly two million million calories of energy. On the present basis of wheat consumption the gain will probably amount to about 80,000 metric tons of protein and about one and a half million million calories. But the digestibility of the protein in 80 per cent. flour is lower than in 70 per cent. flour, 81 per cent. in the former, §9 per cent. in the latter, and thus the gain in digestible protein available to human beings at the present time is probably not more than about 30,000 metric tons, with loss than a million million calories of energy.
Turning now to brewing, we find that, in spite of the reduction in the output of beer to 26,000,000 barrels a year, the amount of barley and " grits " used still contains nearly 90,000 metric tons of protein along with 120,000 metric tons of sugar, together capable of yielding nearly four million million energy units. In brewing nearly all the protein remains in the grains which are used as cattle food, or is decomposed and lost. At most some 9,000 metric tons, probably considerably less, may be present in the beer— about 10 per cent. of that in the materials used for brewing. The alcohol and the sugar-like dextrins of beer if burned outside the body would yield some two million million calories. But the body can utilize the energy of alcohol only to a limited extent on account of the well-known action of this substance on the central nervous system. It is thus impossible to give any definite figure as to the amount of energy which human beings can make use of. It is probably under rather than over a million million calories. Brewers' grains and other waste products of brewing are chiefly fed to milk-cows, and agriculturists can calculate roughly the amount of milk which should be produced by the cows from these grains. Apparently between 5,000 and 6,000 metric tons of proteins in milk should be so produced, and thus, with the possible 9,000 tons in beer, might yield about 14,000 to 15,000 tons, or about 17 per cent. of the proteins in the materials used—a loss of 83 per cent. By milling the barley at present used in brewing and using the grits and sugar directly as human food, some 50,000 metric tons of proteins would be made available for human food. Taking the digestibility of this at as low as 80 per cent., lower than the wheat flour milled to 80 per cent., some 40,000 metric tons of digestible protein would be added to our stock. But the offal of the barley fed to pigs should yield some 4,800 metric tons of digestible protein, so that nearly 45,000 metric tons of digestible protein might be made available for human food by stopping brewing—about 40 per cent. over that added to the food supply by raising the standard of milling. Of the energy in the materials, something like three million million calories would be available, as against the one million added by improved milling. It is certain that any attempt to dilute wheat flour with other cereals in bread will be without success unless further and very drastic limitations in brewing are enacted. It is the brewers' demand for barley which is largely responsible for its present high price. But it would be necessary to ensure that the grain should be used for human food, for if used, as it might be, for feeding pigs, only some 14,500 metric tons of protein with 600,000 million calories of energy would be derived from the meat produced—a return of only about 17 per cent. of the nutrient value of the food given to the animals. The advantages of using the materials at present employed in brewing directly as human food is thus manifest. With a probable shortage in the supply of cereals, to allow of such a waste of foodstuffs is surely foolish and unjustifiable. Has this " Government of Efficiency " the courage to give the people bread
in place of beer ?—I am, Sir, &c., Cmnusr
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