THE VALUE OF AN INCREASED SUPPLY OF VITAMIN B1 AND IRON IN THE DIET OF CHILDREN

During the past five years it has been conclusively demonstrated that the complex formerly known as vitamin B consists of at least two separate and distinct vitamins; the antineuritic or thermolabile factor designated as vitamin B or B₁, and the pellagra-preventing or thermostabile factor designated as vitamin G or B₂. Recent studies of these two vitamins indicate that the antineuritic factor is not so abundant or so widely distributed in foods as was formerly supposed. The most concentrated sources of these vitamins are yeast and the germ of cereal grains. There are only minute amounts in milk, meat, fruits and vegetables, and practically none in the highly milled products such as white flour and farina, in which the germ and bran are discarded. When it is realized that highly milled cereal products constitute over 30 per cent of the calories in the average diet,¹ it is obvious