Soybeans are nothing new. In thousands of tasty forms, the Chinese have eaten them for thousands of years. U.S. nutritionists have long been pro-soybean, pointing out that soybean protein is as good as the protein of meat, containing all the amino acids which the human body needs. Last year U.S. farmers raised 196,725,000 bushels of soybeans and fed nearly all of them to livestock, which returned only a fraction of the precious protein as meat or eggs or milk.

The soybean product in the news last week was something called Multi-Purpose Food, developed in Los Angeles by Dr. Henry Borsook, Caltech nutritionist. To soybean grits (the material left over after the beans' oil is extracted), Dr. Borsook added minerals, synthetic vitamins, flavoring materials and hydrolyzed yeast. The mixture looks like speckled, light-buff cornmeal. It has twice as much high-grade protein as beef, and more vitamins. It lacks vitamin C (unstable to temperature changes) and is low on calories. But two ounces of the stuff, supplemented with leafy vegetables and a little bread or potatoes, provide a full, balanced meal. The cost: 3-c- per 2-oz. portion.

Boiled ten minutes in water, MPF makes a soup or porridge with a pleasant, faintly meaty taste (nothing beany about it). It is a fine "extender" of expensive foods, taking on the flavor of meat, fish or anything else in the larder.

Dr. Borsook has not patented MPF, and is not interested in it commercially. At present it is made only for Meals for Millions Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles which sends relief food to Europe and Asia. But the news has got around. Last week watchful Los Angeles housewives were crashing the Foundation's office, eager for a cheap substitute for high-priced meat.

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