s 585 -4^ iX . cS » ^^\xnJi aju> ^ P.Xiy^ Qass. Book. c P BULLETIN OF THE u. No. 27 Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry, Carl L. Alsberg, Chief November 5. 1913. BOUILLON CUBES: THEIR CONTENTS AND FOOD VALUE COM- PARED WITH MEAT EXTRACTS AND HOME-MADE PREPA- RATIONS OF MEAT. P.y F. C. Cook, rjii/siolof/ictil Clicniist, AiiiiiKil I'lnisiahiiiicul ('liciiiistry lAihoniUiry. INTRODUCTION. As the true dietary value of commercial meat preparations, espe- cially bouillon cubes, fluid and semisolid meat extracts, commercially bottled meat juices, and similar preparations offered for sale, is not generally understood by the people, and as these articles are errone- ously believed to be convenient forms of concentrated meat, the Bureau of Chemistry has undertaken to determine their actual food value. Complete analyses have been made of ten of the leading brands of bouillon cubes manufactured in the United States and Germany, and collected on the New York market in 1912. One pm-pose of this investigation was to determine wdiether the term "■ bouillon," which is defined as a broth prepared from meat, may justly be used for many of these cubes which, while not nutritious, have a certain value as a flavoring medium and as a stimulating and appetizing drink. Bouillon cubes as sold by most grocers are wrapped in tin foil, l)arafRn paper, or both. They will keep indefinitely, although cer- tain makes are likely to lose their form during warm weather. COMMERCIAL BOUILLON CUBES. The i-esults of the analyses of these cubes are expressed in the accompanying tables and diagrams in common terms, as salt, water, fat, plant extract, and meat extract. It will be observed that com- mon salt is the greatest constituent, being from 49 to 72 per cent of the total weight of the cubes. The amount of meat extract present ranges from 8 per cent in the poorest brands to but 28 per cent in the best brands. The third important ingredient is plant or vege- table extract which constitutes from 3 to 30 per cent. This plant extract is useful because of its flavoring properties but has but slight, if any, nutritive value. The amount of meat stock or meat extract 02is° i:; 1 r n SALT 62% MEAT EXTRACT 2d % PLANT EXTRACT ^.rsyo Fig. 1. — Best grade bouillon cube (2r) cents a flozcii.i. 2 BULLETIN 27, U. S. DEPARTMEXT OF AGRICULTUEE. in the poorer cubes is small and the amount of salt and plant extract large. Table I makes it very clear that none of these cubes is a concen- trated beef juice or essence. The dietary value, as is apparent from the table and from -f^TA }A/ATER S.2S% jhg tignres, 1, 2, and 9 y^. 6). lies largely in the fact that they act as a stimulant. As they also contain a small amount of pro- tein (muscle-building substances) in the meat extract, they may be said to possess slight nutritive value. Most of these cubes have no advertised claim to be concentrated beef broth or essence. Many people, however, believe them to be highly concentrated meat and therefore to possess a high nutri- ^ z^-tat^ water S.so"/. live value, especially for invalids, but this is not true. As the meat ex- tract is the element which provides any nutritive value these cubes possess, it is apparent that the cubes numbered 1 to 5 have slightly greater nutri- tive value than the cubes numbered 6 to 10, the latter being made largely from plant extract, salt, and flavoring substances. Table I. — The composition of commercial bouillon cubes. -SALT 72% MEAT extract 8./e§''/(> -PLANT EXTRACT /LSS^^ Fig. 2. — I'oorfst grade bouillon lube (If) cents a d(»z<'ii). Cube No.i 10 Source of manufacture. United Stales . . Germany United States.. do do do do Gennanv United States.. do Salt. Per cent. 62 65 65 67.5 59.2 49.25 53 72 72.5 72 Water and fat. Per cent. 5.25 9 5.75 4.1 5.5 8.5 8.5 -Approxi- mate amount of meat extract present. Approxi- mate amount of plant extract present. Per cent. 28 23 18 17.8 17.8 15.33 14.6 14 8.33 8.17 Per cent. 4.75 3 9 9.7 16 29.66 28.3 8.5 10.92 11.33 1 Cubes arranged in table in order of content of meat extract. 0. or 0. 13 i^J8 Fig. {fat 0.9^ 'Vo \y\/ATER 2/./^ % SALT 3.// ya -MEAT EXTRACT S6.&S% -Best ;;ra(3e KCinisolid meat extract (45 cents for 2 ounces.) 6o (y Qj TbOUILLON cubes : THEIR CONTENTS AND FOOD VALUE. 3 COMPARISON OF NUTRITIVE VALUE AND COST OF BOUILLON CUBES WITH SEMISOLID MEAT EXTRACT, FLUID MEAT EXTRACT, AND COMMERCIAL MEAT JUICE. SEMISOLID MEAT EXTRACT. The ordinary meat extracts sold on the market in, jary contain from i5 to 65 per cent of meat extract, 15 to 25 per cent of water, 5 to 20 per cent of salt, and 10 to 20 per cent of ash other than salt. The best meat ex- tracts , therefore, contain more than twice as much meat extract as the best of the bouillon cubes, and one - tenth as much of the table salt. Bouillon cubes are commonl}^ made from semisolid meat extracts b}^ the addition of varying amounts of plant extracts, salt, and flavoring matter. The cost of semisolid meat extracts at retail is 45 cents for 2 ounces or more. The bouillon cubes on the market are sold at from 1 to 2 cents each and it takes from 15 to 20 cubes to weigh 2 ounces. This would make the cost of 2 ounces of bouillon cubes 25 to 40 cents. It is, therefore, apparent that the cubes which contain about two-thirds salt and never more than 28 per cent meat extract, are an expensive form of securing meat ex- tract. The 45 cents, if spent for semisolid meat extracts, will purchase two to three times the amount of meat extract that it is possible to ob- tain for the same money in the form of bouillon cubes. Those wishing to make bouillon from the semisolid meat extract can do so at practically no additional cost by adding salt to the extract and water to suit their own taste, making a bouillon of greater value at a much smaller cost, which differs from the commercial bouillon prepared from cubes only in that it does not contain plant extract and does not have the special flavor characteristic of the cube. Bouillon pre- pared in this way possesses stimulating value equal to or gi-eater Vu:. 4. -SALT/a32 yo -AS// OT//E/? T//AA/SALT /2.60% MEA TEXTT?AC7-^e.€9% -Poorest fjrade semisolid meat extract (Ti:'. cents for 4 ounces. I BULLETIN 27, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE, WjTiT-f than tliat prepared from the more exi:)ensive commercial cubes. As a flavoring agent the semisolid meat extracts are added to gravy and soup and are better than bouillon cubes because the soup, when pre- pared from vegetables, already contains the flavoring derived from the vegetables. FLUID MEAT EXTRACT. Fluid extracts of meat are a more expensive product than the semisolid meat extracts. Commercial fluid-meat extract consists of at least one-half water and is sold at about the same price, volume for volume, as the semisolid meat extract wliich contains not more than 25 per cent of water. COMMERCIAL MEAT JUICES AND OTHER LIQUID MEAT PREPARATIONS. Commercial meat juices and other liquid meat preparations are also expensive dietary products when the amounts of food actually present in them are consid- ered. One reason for this is that in making these com- mercial juices the coagulable protein, oi' nuiscle - building foot] elements, which are pressed out of meat and are present in freshly made meat juice, are partly or entirely removed by the manufacturer in order to make a product which will keep. Therefore, the most valuable food elements of the meat juice usually do not reach the consumer. V>»-W These commercial meat- juice prepara- tions cost from 50 to 75 cents for 2 ounces of liquid, which makes them much more expen- sive than the semi- solid meat extracts. These commercially prepared meat juices are fre- quently fluid extracts of meat — tiiat i>, dilute solutions of the semi- solid meat extracts. \wATf:R ^7^.94 °/o SALT 7.02% ASHOT/^£/? T/YAA/ SALT a^ayo MEAT £:XTf?ACT 3^.//% Best grade iluid meat extract C ounces) . cents for Poorest FAT O.OS'y.^ IVATER E7.75yo SALT 3.27 °/o AS//077y£r/? T/M/VSALT&.96'y<:^ /^EAT EXTRACT 2-^.93 % a'ade fluid meat extract (4ti <-enls for 3i evinces). BOUILLON CUBES : THEIE CONTENTS AND FOOD VALUE. COMPARISON OF THE FOOD VALUE AND COST OF A HOMEMADE BEEF BROTH AND A HOMEMADE MEAT AND VEGETABLE SOUP WITH BOUILLON CUBES, SEMISOLID MEAT EXTRACTS, AND SIMILAR PREPARATIONS. To determine how the cost of meat extract obtained in bouillon cubes, semisolid meat extracts, and other meat preparations compares with homemade beef broth, and meat and vegetable soup, the in- vestigator prepared two kinds of home- made soup, keeping careful account of the actual cost. BEEF BROTH. U/\/D£'T£-/t'Af/A/SO O.S7'i/t> SALT /.07'y<:> ''M£A T6t M£>^T£?a79/KrrA/£;S/.S/ % Fig. 7. — Cup of homemade beef broth ready to serve : prepared especially for children and invalids ; more nutritious than the commercial .preparations (4 J cents a cup). T w o half - pound portions of ground beef Avere bought for 13 cents each, or at the rate of 25 cents per pound, a high price for this meat. One pint of cold water was added to each lot. The mixtures were stirred and allowed to stand in the cold for 15 minutes. They were then placed on the stove and brought to a boil. A pinch of salt was added. The broth, which contained some of the smaller particles of the meat, amounted to 1 pint or 3 cups. Tlie price, therefore, using expensive meat of this kind, would be about 4^. cents per cup. This cost, of course, could be greatly reduced by purchasing the meat at a lower - priced market, or using a less expensive cut. Analyses of the broth are given in Table II. In Table III it is seen that the amount of meat and extrac- tives thus obtained, one-sixth of an ounce, for 10 cents, was as cheap as the meat extract in many of the commercial preparations. In addition, this broth contained all the fat of the meat which is a valuable food and which is eliminated from ordinar\^ commercial meat extracts. The meat, after the soup is made, is available for the l>reparation of hash or other food and thus still further reduces the actual cost of the meat broth. [rAT 3.27"/^ SALT/.04^ /^£Ar6hy^£'AT£:X7-/x'AC77\/£:S /.02')ii> Fig. 8. — Cup of homemade ment and vegetable soup ready to servo ; a cheap and nutritious food (IJ cents a cup). 6 BULLETIN 27, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Table II. — .l»(//y/.sr.v of homemade meat [jreiHirutions. Sam- ple No. Suljstancc. Water. Fat. Ash. Salt. Meat and meat extrac- tives. Vegetables and vege- table ex- tractives. Undetor- mined material. 1 Beef broth Per cent. 95.44 94.26 88.41 88.22 Per cent. 1.72 2.49 3.27 5.12 Per cent. 1.45 1.33 1.47 1.55 Per cent. 1.07 .93 1.04 1.16 Per cent. 1.21 1.63 1.02 .94 Per cent. Per cent. CIS 2 do .29 '5.04 '3.3& 3 4 Meat and vegetable soup do 0.79 .79 1 Largely cellulose or vegetable filter. MEAT AND VEGETABLE SOUP. Meat and vegetable soups were prepared in the laboratory accord- ing to the following recipe and cost schedule: A soup bone weighing 24 ounces, one-third of which was meat, was purchased for 10 cents. After being washed it was placed in a large kettle with -j pints of cold water and was heated for three hours, when the bone and meat were re- moved. One - fourth of a small head of cabbage. 1 onion, 1 carrot, a large potato, and 2 small tomatoes. [/y^T- Trcfce \ WATER 97.7SVo 'SALT /.'^Vo ~PLAA/r EXTRACT O. /4? % ^MEAT EXTRACT O.COyo Fig. 9. — Cup of bouillon prepared by dissolving 1 cube in a cup of water ; largely water and salt but has flavoring and stimulating value (i to 2 cents a cup). all costing about 5 cents, Avere chopped and added to the soup. The mixture was boiled for one hour, thickened slightly with a little flour, and seasoned with salt and pepper. This furnished enough soup for a family of five at a cost of approximately IG cents, not counting fuel. This homemade SOU}), in addition to containing meat ex- tractives, contained gelatin from the bone and some of the food elements in the vege- tables. It also con- tained a large proportion of the fat of the meat and bone. Table II, which shows the ('omi)osition of homemade meat broths and meat and r-egetable soups when ready to serve, can not, of course, be compared directly with Table I, which shows the composition of commercial bouillon cubes before they are diluted with water for serving. [fat- Trace \y\/ATER 99.'^'^ % -SALT & ASH 0./2'}4> MEAT EXTRACT O. '^^''/l. I'lii. 10.— Cup of bouillon prepared by dissolving one- fourth to one-eighth of a teaspoonful (1.0 gram) of semisolid meat extract in a cup of water; largely water but has flavoring and stimulating value (1 cent a cup). BOUILLON CUBES: TllEIK CONTENTS AND FOOD VALUE. 7 The relative cost of the (oniineiTuil tuul homemade }>i-eparnti<)ii< (tf meat is shown in the followinji" tal)le : Tai!i,k in. — RcJttiirr cost of coiinncrcinl (tiid IioiiuiihkIc iiicat iirciKinttionx. .Sam- ple No. Substance. Best grade botiillou cubes Poorest grade l)ouillon cubes Best grade semisolid meat extract Poorest grade .semisolid meat extract.. Best grade fluid meat extract Poorest grade fluid meat extract Commercial meat juice do Homemade beef broth i Homemade meat and vegetable soup '. Ounrc. 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 2 1 ■i 1 CosI . Cents. 20 10 23 13 IS 11. .5 25 35 4.0 1 Amount of meat extract ol>- tained for 10 cents. Ounc(. 1 These two preparations are diluted and ready to serve. 'I'lie others are all to be diluted with water before .serving 2 Cups. SUMMARY. One-half to three- fourths of bouillon cubes is table salt. The cubes ure not concentrated beef or meat essence, as many people believe. They are valuable stimulants or flavoring agents, but have little or no real food value. Bouillon cubes, therefore, are relatively ex- pensive. Semisolid meat extracts sold in jars are not concentrated beef. They are stimulants and flavoring adjuncts and have only a slight food value, owing to a small amount of protein (muscle-building food) which they contain. They are more expensive than homemade soups. Fluid meat extracts are dilute solutions of semisolid meat extracts. They are sold in bottles and are flavored. They are more expensive than the semisolid meat extracts because they contain more water. Commercial meat juices are largely deprived of their most valuable food constituent — the coagulable protein, or muscle-building food. They are similar to fluid meat extracts, and some makes cost more. Homemade meat broth is more nutritious and provides more meat extractives, protein, and fat at less expense than the commercial preparations. Homemade meat and vegetable soup contains much more food and is therefore much cheaper than the bouillons or soups prepared from ><'ommercial cubes, extracts, or juices. ADDITIONAL COPIES of this publication -ti- may be procured from the Superintend- ent OF Documents, Government Printim: Office, Washington, D. C. , at 6 cents per copy WASHI.NCTO.V : tJOVF.UNMKNT I'UIXTI.NC OKKICK : 1913 viaviora iiros. Syracuse, N. Y PAT, m. 21, 1908 •^