THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS

Methods basedon theseconsiderationshave been extensively investigated,particularly in the feeding of infants and young children. A teamof workersunderthe direction of ProfessorR. A. McCance has made'an intensive study in West Germany on the production and use of milk substitutesmade from plant materials in the feeding of infants and young children. The mixtures were made mostly from soy-bean flour and some cereal and were eminently satisfactory for infants. This work has been reviewed in a "Current Comment" in this journal of November 28, 1953. Another method for enriching vegetableproteins, developedby Sure, is the addition of synthetic aminoacids to increase the intake of those aminoacidsin low amount in the proteins. This is a very artificial way of improving proteins,and at the present time expensive, but lysine-enriched wheaten bread is available on the market in the United Statesof America. Replacementof wheat and rice largely by soy-beanwould be a useful changeif the soil suitablefor soy-beanculture was available. Sure points out that the proteins of rye are of much greater value than those of wheat, and rye flour is commonly used in northern European countries. An important point is that rye will grow on soil too poor for wheat. A great disadvantageof rye flour is the lack of gluten, so that bread is very heavy if it containsmore than a certain amount of rye flour. Sure has recently found that the protein of buckwheathas the highest biological value of any vegetableprotein, and buckwheatwill grow on very poor soil where wheat and even rye will not prosper.