Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/191

 food, especially when it can be had fresh or properly canned. It has been a practice to ship shrimps in bulk preserved with sulfites or boric acid. This is a most reprehensible form of adulteration.

Canned Shrimps.—In the total dry edible portion, including solids in the liquid contents of the can, are found:

Protein,  86.89 percent Fat,       3.44    " Crude ash,  8.84    "

In edible portion (flesh plus liquids):

Water,                 70.80 percent Water-free substance,  29.20    " Protein,                25.38    " Fat,                    1.00    " Crude ash,               2.58    " Extractives,            0.24    " Nitrogen,                4.06    " Total edible portion, 100.00    "

The above data show that the shrimp in the canned state has less water in it than in the fresh state, and contains one-fourth of its weight of protein.

Aquatic Reptiles.—All forms of turtle may be used for edible purposes, both of the fresh-water and salt-water species. Both the turtle and terrapin are amphibious animals; that is, they can live either in the water or on the land. Among the turtles the marine variety known as the green turtle is most highly prized for food purposes. Its Latin name is Chelonia mydas. It grows sometimes to an enormous size, weighing several hundred pounds, and specimens weighing 50 and 100 pounds are not unusual. It is utilized chiefly for making soup, and green turtle soup is considered of high quality by experts. The flesh is also edible, and in the making of some varieties of green turtlesoup pieces of the flesh are included.

Composition of the Green Turtle.—The edible portion of the green turtle has the following composition:

Water,   79.78 percent Protein, 19.83    " Fat,        .53    " Ash,      1.20    "

The edible portion of the green turtle is not very large in porportion to its weight, as it forms only from 20 to 24 percent of the whole weight of the turtle.

Among the reptiles there are several aquatic species which are used as food. The most noted of these is the diamond-back terrapin, which is found in the salt-water bays, lagoons, and marshes of our Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Texas. Its center of greatest abundance is in Chesapeake Bay. There is no fish or other water animal that has a higher value for edible purposes than