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A Little More Fat in the Fire: Abstract of Informal Remarks in a Recent Discussion Led by Francis M. Pottenger, Jr. MD
Abstract of informal remarks in a discussion led by Francis M . Pottenger, Jr., MD. Publication information unknown.
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At the risk of boring some of you who have listened to my views on fat metabolism for so many years, let me offer a few statements of what I believe to be fact.
First about oleo. You will find Merriam’s Webster says “Oleo oil, a yellow oil of buttery consistency obtained from animal fat.” This is a true original definition. When the animal fat from the range cattle of an earlier day was pressed to get the hard stock for candle making, the soft yellow “buttery” oil not firm enough for the candles was called oleo. A major part of this material can be described chemically as glycerides of oleic acid. It would certainly rank as one of the very best and most nutritious foods known.
But it is not possible to make very good comparisons with the words now available to us. For example, take butter. A part of milk from stall fed cows on dry rations can be used to produce a pale pat of fat. It can be salted and dyed yellow and then according to law it can be labeled butter of such and such a score. But as a food, it would not compare too favorably in my opinion, with the yellow oleo oil from cattle on green grass.
The green grass factor in fat is something that we can’t forget. That is why some of us are so enthusiastic about the Certified Milk Program. Milk and butter and animal fat of any kind can’t possibly be any better in quality than the food of the animals themselves. This fact is fully recognized in the production specification for Certified Milk. I’ve often said it’s too bad we can’t find a way to produce a certified butter. Or for that matter, a “certified” Oleo oil with a natural yellow, not something dyed to fool somebody.
From a mercantile point of view a dyed synthetic fat is near ideal. It is very low in cost right now. Petroleum based detergents have destroyed a large part of the market for oils and tallow formerly used for soap making. And synthetic fats will not turn rancid, that’s a certainty. As to nutrition, literally millions of practical field experiments are under way today by human subjects under subconscious direction of our Advertising Agencies. Not all of these people may be too well qualified for medical research; but nevertheless, the rather spectacular results of their experiments are before us on a scale which is unprecedented in history.
What I see personally, is that the human anatomy can’t utilize these saturated synthetic fats very well. The digestive organs and viscera put up a terrific struggle. But they are not equal to the task over any very extended period of time.
As a remedy, I don’t say we should return to candle making. But I would indeed like to see more foods like the yellow oil that takes its color from the green grass which the animals eat.