Chapter VII: Decomposition of Food

[Sidenote: Why partially decomposed foods should not be eaten]

Vegetables and fruits that are partially decayed should not be eaten. Even if an orange is decayed only on one side, the products of decomposition--that is, the poisons produced by decay--have extended all through the orange. You cannot see them, but they are there. It is the same with a decaying apple, potato, or melon. It never pays to buy partially decayed or stale fruits or vegetables, for not only are they dangerous to health, but they are so reduced in nourishing qualities by decomposition that you get little value for the money you spend. It is always better economy to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, or even canned vegetables, when the latter are properly put up.

[Sidenote: What causes decomposition]

All decomposition (rotting) in fruits and vegetables is due to the action of germs. If you will look at a bunch of old grapes, you will notice that some of the grapes are rotten, while others have dried up. Now, if you examine them very carefully, you will find that all the decomposed grapes have breaks in the skin. The break may be very small, but it is there, and through this break the germs that cause decomposition have entered. You will find also that there is not the slightest break in the skin of any grape that has dried up. The germs could not enter, hence there has been no decomposition. It is the same with other fruits and vegetables: if the germs that cause decomposition cannot get inside, the fruit or vegetable will dry up, but will not rot.

Germs can go through a very small opening--so small that you may not be able to find it; but if there is decomposition, the hole is there.

The skin of the body acts in the same way as the skin of the grape and keeps out a great many germs that would make us sick were they able to get through the skin. They often get through the skin when we cut ourselves.

Meats decompose as well as fruits and vegetables, and the decomposition is due to the presence of germs in the meat. We cannot keep all germs out of meat, but we can keep out a great many of them by having everything clean about the meat, by keeping it covered as much of the time as possible, and by handling it only with clean hands.

[Sidenote: Why foods do not decompose in very cold places]

When meat is kept so cold that it is almost frozen, the germs cannot grow, and decomposition is prevented. In this way meat can be kept perfectly free from decomposition for several weeks. After the meat is taken from the cold storage room, it should be cut as soon as possible into steaks, roasts, and other pieces for cooking; and when taken to your home, it should be kept in an ice box until the time to cook it. You cannot keep meat very long at home without decomposition starting, because small ice boxes are not cold enough to check entirely the growth of germs.

Unless the meat is to be eaten hot, it should be cooled after cooking and placed again in the ice box as soon as possible. Cooking kills the germs that are in the meat before it is cooked; but unless it is kept in a very cold place and protected from flies after it is cooked, germs will get into it again as soon as it is cold. Cooked meat will decompose just the same as uncooked meat.

[Sidenote: What is formed in food by decomposition]

When germs are allowed to grow in meat, as always happens when it is not kept in a very cold place, these germs cause the poisons that we call ptomaines. The people who eat such meat become sick, and in many cases do not recover. Cooking meat that contains ptomaines will kill the germs that caused the poison, but it will not destroy the poison that has already been formed.

[Sidenote: Why some canned meats are poisonous]

People not infrequently are poisoned by eating canned meat. Sometimes you will hear it said that the poison formed because the meat was in cans. This is not true; the cans had nothing to do with the forming of the poison. This was caused by germs that were allowed to grow in the meat before it was cooked. When the meat was cooked the germs were killed, but the poison was not destroyed. In other words, the poison developed before the meat was canned, and not after it was put into the cans.

=Questions.= 1. What is the objection to eating fruits when they
are partially decayed? 2. Why do some foods shrivel while others
decay? 3. Why does decomposition not go on in cold places? 4.
What are ptomaines? 5. When are ptomaines formed in canned meats?

=Remember.= 1. Partially decomposed fruits or vegetables are not
suitable for foods. 2. Meats in which germs have been allowed to
grow should not be eaten. 3. Cooking meat kills the germs in it,
but does not destroy the poisons that the germs have formed. 4.
When canned meats are poisonous, it is because the poison was
formed before the meat was canned; the poison is not caused by
the can.