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Show What Army Eats Isn't 'Chow' Nowadays; GI Meals Must Be Tasty and Nourishing s it its! f , Quartermaster Corps Tests Insure Purity And Palatability. By.AL JEDLICKA Released by Western Newspaper Union. Wherever Johnny Doughboy may be fighting today, he's eating his fill of good, nutritional nutri-tional food. Whether it's in the South Pacific, Europe or the Mediterranean, Medi-terranean, he's finding his fare palatable and strengthening; strength-ening; maybe not quite like Ma's home cooking, but just what a fighting man needs to make him fight hard. If Johnny Doughboy is eating well, it's no accident. Rather it is the result of careful scientific study of the quartermaster corps' subsistence subsis-tence research and development laboratory lab-oratory in Chicago, which is chiefly contributing to the army's conquest of food problems arising from different dif-ferent climatic and storage conditions condi-tions throughout the world. - There was a time when the army wasn't so exacting about food, when fares were plain and repetitious. No farther back than World War I vets lost much of their enthusiasm for corned beef and salmon because of their constant serving. But thanks to the sympathetic understanding of Col. W. A. Point, who appreciated the value of a nutritional as well as a tasty fare for troops, the army instituted a subsistence school in 1920, which spawned the research laboratory in 1936. When the laboratory was opened that year, there were no indications that the U. S. would find itself in a , world-wide struggle five years later, fighting in jungles, mountains, deserts des-erts and snowy steppes. But when that day did come, the laboratory the regular army bread formula other oth-er than the omission of salt. Prior to the experimentation, however, the ocean water was treated with calcium cal-cium hypochlorite on the basis ol 0.5 grams to 31 gallons of the water, against possible content of algae, sea weed, etc. Proceeding on the principle that flour is the most important and the one indispensable ingredient to the production of baked products, the quartermaster corps tests samples from each car offered before acceptance. ac-ceptance. Made from either hard spring or winter wheat, the flour must produce bread with good volume, vol-ume, grain and texture, creamy white crumb color, and pleasing flavor fla-vor and taste, according to Technologist Technol-ogist Paul V. Holton. Containing about 12 per cent protein and one-half one-half per cent minerals or ash, the army flour is enriched with thiamin (vitamin Bl), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin and iron. One of the outstanding developments develop-ments was the production of a granular gran-ular dehydrated yeast for use overseas over-seas because it will keep well for a year if under refrigeration of 40-50 degrees F. and show no appreciable loss in baking strength if stored at 70 degrees or below for six months. If kept at higher temperatures, however, how-ever, the yeast quickly loses its quality. qual-ity. Other factors favoring granular granu-lar dehydrated yeast, which is manufactured man-ufactured in pellets and packed in two-pound size, moisture proof cans, are its quick action during baking and its greater leavening power per unit of weight. Canned Rations. To meet the needs of our soldiers under the varying conditions of war, rations have been developed. For instance, when establishing a beachhead beach-head there is no time for the preparation prepa-ration of a meal. The "K" ration which may be eaten cold, is designed de-signed for such an exigency. The "C" ration is intended for later use when the beachhead is established and the tension is not quite so great. The "C" ration which may be eaten cold but may be made more palatable palat-able by heating the canned components, compo-nents, requires a minimum of preparation. pre-paration. For scout troops or just-back-of-the-line eating, the 10-in-l ration is preferable. The "D" ration, ra-tion, a high calorie chocolate bar, is carried by the soldier to be used only in an emergency. Each of these rations has been developed only after the most careful research. They must be nutritionally adequate, of ' excellent keeping quality (at least six months under varying conditions condi-tions of climate), easy to carry, and palatable. One of the research laboratory's biggest tasks was in the improvisation improvisa-tion of packing to suit the various climatic conditions encountered. In early South Pacific fighting, many different types of packages deteriorated deterio-rated on the tropical beaches under un-der the elements of rain and heat. Through careful research, however, howev-er, various protective coatings and waterproofing materials, such as waxes, were developed, not only to guard against exposure on the beaches but also to enable many of the packages to be floated ashore to facilitate unloading operations. The laboratory has a cooperative project called the Guinea Pig Club, of which every employee as well as every officer in the laboratory is a VARIOUS chemical and physical tests of food samples are conducted constantly in the Quartermaster Corps laboratories, to determine their stability under differing climatic cli-matic conditions and other influences influ-ences that would affect their whole-someness. whole-someness. went still further with boneless beef under Dr. White's leadership, utilizing utiliz-ing the entire carcass for roasts, stews and sausages. Though the conservation of space was a factor then, it did not assume the tremendous-importance it did with the outbreak out-break of World War II, when the long supply lines imposed a severe strain on our transport system. As a result of Dr. White's sharpness, sharp-ness, the army achieved additional conservation of space through his suggestion for cutting pork loins in two and fitting one end in the slope of the other, thus forming a single package of half the former size. As a fruition of the effort to provide pro-vide a variety of food to troops, three times as many meat items have been developed under the direction di-rection of the research laboratory than existed during the last war. Before the war, packers professed difficulty canning pork luncheon meat in large containers, but careful care-ful research overcame the problem. Formerly, the lard in pork sausage had oozed from the meat and collected col-lected around the walls of the can, but this liquefication was also corrected. cor-rected. Heading off the inevitability of complaints from a continuous serving of Vienna sausages, a coarsely ground, finely spiced frankfurter frank-furter was developed for variety. With the extension of the fighting to the tropical climates, preservation preserva-tion of fats and oils have presented a difficult problem, but under the direction of the research laboratory remedies have been developed. 'Army Spread.' Most noteworthy of these developments, develop-ments, perhaps, is the socalled "army spread," a combination of butter, cheese curd and milk powder. pow-der. It was produced following a search for a palatable fat to replace the old "Carter Spread" composed of butter and hydrogenated cottonseed cotton-seed flakes, which tasted tallowy and stuck to the roof of the mouth. Although Al-though "army spread" has filled the bill for an appetizing fat, it is of no use as a shortening or in frying. Due to scientific methods in the preservation of lard and other shortenings, short-enings, troops afield now profit from the availability of high caloric biscuits. bis-cuits. The celebrated hardtack of old was nothing more than flour, water and salt, since no stable shortening had been discovered. But through the use of antioxidants, fats and notably lard have been so treated treat-ed that they would stay fresh and usable from six to nine months. Working in conjunction with processors, proc-essors, the dairy products section of the research laboratory under Lieut. Robert J. Remaley has developed de-veloped an evaporated milk with a concentration of 3.1, surpassing the old figure of 2.1. Of. value to the army in the economy of space, the new product should prove of equal advantage to women shoppers in the postwar world. Advancements also have been made in the production of dehydrated dehydrat-ed cheese. Previously sold primarily primar-ily to bakers for fillers, spraying, etc., the cheese retains its essential flavor. Lieutenant Remaley's department also has been active in the preparation prepara-tion of vanilla ice cream mixes, shipped in the form of dried powder to the various fronts, where fruits or other flavoring agents may be added. Sea Water for Baking. Technologists in the research laboratory's lab-oratory's baking department are engaged en-gaged in various experiments on cereals and other components of breadstuffs. One experiment concerned con-cerned the use of sea or ocean water in the production of bread, since there are many military baking installations in-stallations in the various war theaters thea-ters where fresh water is limited. After careful experimentation with ocean water provided from the country's coun-try's eastern and western coasts, it was discovered that the variation in salt content of ocean water was not sufficient to require any change in A MAJOR on the Quartermaster Corps laboratory staff places various vari-ous foods, such as navy beans, bacon, ba-con, raisins, plum jam and butter in a special testing box that can simulate either arctic cold or tropic trop-ic heat. was ready to undertake the vast task of adjusting the American soldiers' sol-diers' food to the different embattled regions. No less than 31 army officers and 61 civilians are at work in the research re-search laboratory chemists, bacteriologists bacte-riologists and vitamin experts, working work-ing in approximately a half-dozen different fields under direction of Col. Rohland A. Isker. In addition, there is an experimental kitchen for testing preparations and a dining room where help is served new food and asked to comment on its palatability. palat-ability. In the absence of Colonel Isker, who was on a mission in Europe, I Dr. Jesse H. White was in charge of the laboratory, and it was he who escorted this Western Newspaper Union correspondent through the premises. A retired army colonel who returned re-turned to duty at the research laboratory labora-tory without assuming his old military mili-tary rank when the war's pressing events forced a need for trained men, Dr. White has been associated with the quartermaster corps since 1907, and always in the forefront of the drive for progressive procedure. proce-dure. Originally a meat inspector for the navy, Dr. White first undertook under-took the study of canned fruits, vegetables vege-tables and other items for the army, and participated in Colonel Point's special subsistence schools. Boneless Beef. Although Dr. White has been in on the whole gradual development of the army's scientific food program, meat still remains his first interest, and to him must go the credit for the acceptance of boneless beef. It was only after Dr. White's insistence in-sistence that the army experimented experiment-ed with boneless beef during the maneuvers of 1936, eliminating the poor and expensive cuts and wastes in the carcass. In 1940, the army rn I : " i -i THE FOOD on Maj. W. E. Harper's Harp-er's plate is equivalent in bulk to the condensed "K" ration, which is contained in the little packages spread on the table. member. At noons, midmorning, or midafternoon, samples of proposed ration items are served. The tasters are instructed, in . the case of two items, to choose the one which they prefer. If only one item is under test, the taster is requested to tell whether he likes the item or not and why. Figures are tabulated statistically, statis-tically, and the popularity of an item may thus scientifically be obtained. |