1934 - Nutrition

Nutrition

A "Milk in Schools" scheme improves nutrition among British schoolchildren by supplying one-third pint of milk each day to nearly half of all elementary school pupils (who pay little or nothing; see 1906; 1931).

English chemist Walter (Norman) Haworth, 51, coins the term ascorbic acid for vitamin C (see 1933). He has conducted basic studies of sugars and devised the modern ring form of representing sugar molecules.

U.S. food-buying patterns begin shifting to larger consumption of red meats (especially beef and pork), fruits, green vegetables, and dairy products as industrial earnings start to improve.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is described for the first time. The condition affects some adults but more particularly infants who lack enzymes needed to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine; it may cause mental retardation if not quickly diagnosed and remedied by putting the infant on a diet low in phenylalanine.

Hungarian biochemist Paul Gyorgy, 40, at Cambridge University discovers pyridoxine (vitamin B6)—a coenzyme which cures dermatitis in rats. It will be synthesized in 1939.

Pet Milk Co. introduces the first evaporated milk products fortified with vitamin D, using the irradiation process (see Steenbock, 1927; Borden, 1933). It is the first company to do so.