All about milk

              All About Milk
'BY
MILTON J. ROSEN,A.U
Professor of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, Harvard University;
Formerly Director of the Hygienic Laboratory
U.S. Public ·Health Service, Etc.
PRINTED BY THE
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
1921
•.
For Distribution Through the Newspapers
Represented By
FREDERIC J. HASKIN
sF
-:Lbl
P lo~ lO
I 0, ~ l
Copyright, 1919
BY THE l\l~LROPOLITAN LIFE lNSURANC~ Co . .
..
....
All About Milk.
Milk is our best all-round food. It is the most perfect food
we have. It is also one of the cheapest foods, even at the present
SOMETIDNGS
ABOUT MILK
prices. Milk is the most difficult of all our
foodstuffs to collect, handle and transport.
It requires the greatest care from pasture
to pail, and from pail to palate. Milk spoils
quicker than any other food. It spoils even quicker than fresh
fruit and berries. ·It must be kept clean, cold, and covered.
Milk tastes good; it is easily digested, and is very nourishing,
It makes bone, brawn, and blood. In fact, the vigor and success
of a nation depend largely upon the amount of milk it uses. In
the United States, we use something like forty billion quarts of
milk a year. This would make a lake large enough to float all
the navies of the world. Yet this is only about half a pint of milk
a day for each person. Only one-quarter of this is actually used
as milk, the other three-quarters being made into butter, cheese,
and other milk products.
Like all good things, milk has a few drawbacks, but these are
far outweighed by its advantages.
Milk is the great factor of safety in our diet, It makes the
mtion complete and keeps the body strong.
Drink more milk and use it freely in cooking.
The Best Food We Have
{'I
•
4 ALL ABOUT MILK
Milk is the best food we have.• There is no substitute. Save
on other things if you must, but not on milk. You cannot afford
MILK IS THE
BEST FOOD
to tlo without it-growing childrenespecially
need plenty. Buy at least half a pint of
milk a day for each person in the household.
No other food can take its place. Use it
all; do not waste a drop. Milk looks like a simple fluid, but
really it is very complex. A glass of milk contains a mixture of
all the important things that make up a mixed diet. One can get
the same nourishment from milk as from a meal made up of meat
and eggs, sugar and cereals, oils and fats, with salt and water.
Milk is good fuel, because it contains fat and sugar. The body
needs fuel to keep it warm and to make it move and work and play,
just as the steam engine needs coal or the automobile needs gasoline.
Oue quart of milk is about equal in fuel value to any of the
following:
2 pounds salt codfish
3 pounds fresh codfish
4 pounds beets
5 pounds turnips
i ponnd butter
i pound wheat flour
i pound cheese
! pound lean round beef
2 pounds potatoes
6 pounds spinach
7 pounds lettuce
4 pounds cabbage
I Quart of Milk
Costing 12 or 14 Cents
8 Eggs Costing
36 to 50 Cents
8 eggs
One ordinary glass of milk is about equal in fuel value to:
2 large eggs
1 large serving of lean meat
2 moderate-sized potatoes
.5 tablespoonfuls of cooked cereal
3 tablespoonfuls of boiled rice, or
2 slices of bread
Milk Is the Best AU-round Food
••• MILK IS •••
RFECTFOOD
FOR
ER
MOTHER
CHILDREN
MILK B~ILDS
MUSOl!.ES
MILK IS
ENERGY FOOD
MILK SUPPLI S
ESSENTIAL
ELEMENTS-Milk
Is the Best and Cheapest Single Food
•
6 ALL ABOUT MILK
Food is more than fuel-for food also repairs waste, helps
growth, builds flesh and bone. Milk does all this. That is, milk
is a good food, not only because it is a good
fuel, but also because it has ijfe-giving proper­ties.
Milk is both fuel and food.
Milk contains a great de~l of lime. Chil­dren
need lime and plenty of it, especially for
their growing bones and
CHILDREN teeth. Milk contains
NEED LIME lime in a form that is easily changed in the
body into bone. Big boys and girls, and
even grown people, need lime, because the bones are always
wearing away, little by little, and this wear and tear ... must be
· replaced. Lime helps build bones ap.d makes them strong. The
following illustration shows how much lime there is in milk com­pare~
to carrots, eggs, or bread.
AMOUNT OF LIME IN
, 1 cup of milk
~ cJ! p carrots
1 egg
~lices of~bread
Milk is the cheapest food for lime. Buy milk. You ana your
children need its lime.
Milk is not a beverage. It should not be used to quench
thirst. Milk is a food. It should be eaten, not swallowed quickly.
Take small sips and roll it about the
mouth and enjoy it as it goes down. Think
how slowly nature furnishes milk to the
suckling. It takes a baby twenty minutes to
get a few ounces of milk from the nippJe. Imitate nature-do not
gulp down a glassful of 1nilk-drink it slowly; eat it. Chew it. This
will prevent hard and indigestible curds forming in the stomach.
Don't Drink Milk-Eat It Slowly
"
ALL ABOUT MILK 1
ONE QU 0 K EQUALS
INENERGYFOODVAlUEAN.YOFTHESI
MILK IS TI·IE CI·IEAI,EST fC)R~4
OF A~IIMAL fC)C)J) fC)R TI·IE ~tC)tiEY'
TI·IAT A I·I()IJSEI·IOJ.,I>ER CA~I BIJY'
l...v ... niiGHTED II 181 HENRY DAVIS , OOl:ITON
Growing Children Must Have Milk
8 ALL ABOUT MILK
Babies should have breast milk. There is no real substitute.
Cow's milk is good, but not the best milk for infants. A baby
raised on breast milk
MILK FOR has a much better
BABffiS chance in life than one
raised on the bottle.
Give your baby a square deal. The baby
fed at the breast has just ten times the
chance of keeping well and vigorous that a
bottle-fed baby has.
Nature never intended that milk should be drawn into a pail,
emptied into a can, carted to a town, and placed in bottles which
are left on the doorstep before dawn next
THE LONG vs. morning. Further than this, cow's milk is
SHORTHAUL often exposed to dust, flies, and dirt, and
frequently it is not ·used until it is two or
three days old. Such stale, germ-laden milk may be quite harmful
to the baby. In nature's plan, the milk is taken directly at its
source while pure, sweet, clean and wholesome. Milk was never
intended to see the light of day. Nature's plan keeps out dirt,
germs, Hies and fevers. A breast-fed baby need not fear stale
and partly decomposed milk, containing dirt and germs.
The short haul is God's plan. The long haul is a poor substitute.
Ten Bottle-fed Babies Die to One Breast-fed
ALL ABOUT MILK
70 per<:ent of city babies 'llettheit
food thro1111h a tube 60 miles lonll.
It taka llbout 36 hours - ,often
42 houn- for the milk to run from
the cow end of the tube to the
baby end of the tube.
This tube ia open in many places
and baby' 1 food is frequently pol.
luted. lt ia often wronaJy kept iu
overheal(od places,
Then there may 1>e a cliseaJed
eow at the eotintrY end ef the tnbe.
And Yet Some People Wonder Why
So Many Babies DieJ
On the ether hand the mother ..
Eed bahy aeb its milk fresh, pure
and healthful- no aerma can: aet
into it.
To Lessen Baby Deaths let Us Have
More Mother-Fed Babies.
You ean•t improve on God's Jllan.
For Your Babjs Sake- Nurse It!
Give Your Baby a Chance
9
8
10 ALL ABOUT MILK
•
It is not safe to raise the baby on cow's milk alone. '!'he cow
is a good foster-mother, but a foster-mother only. Cow's milk
I NURSE THE
~ BADY
was intended by nature as a food for calves.
It has everything in it that a growing calf
needs-but these things are not in the right
proportion for baby's needs.
Breast milk is fresh, clean and pure; cow's milk, by th,~ time
the baby gets it, is apt to be stale, dirty and impure. '!'en bottle-fed
babies die to one breast­fed
baby. '!'he chances are,
therefore, ten to one against
the bottle-fed baby. Mothers
should always nurse their
babies if possible and keep it
np until the baby is six to
nine months old.
Breast feeding is cheapest,
simplest, and safest. It needs no training and is less trouble-some
than tending to bottles. It is best for the baby and best
for the mother.
Bottle feeding requires skilled training to carry out safely; it
requires skill and practice to modify the milk to suit the baby; it
requires much more time and trouble than breast feeding. At
best it is only a poor makeshift. ·
Modify and prepare cow's milk as we may, it cannot take the
place of mother's milk. It may be modified to resemble mother's
milk, but is never "just as good." It is
REASONS FOR impossible to change cow's milk into
MODIFYING mother's milk. By diluting it and adding
sugar, we can make a mixture that is some­thing
like mother's milk, but always lacking important substances.
By giving the baby barley water and orange juice, the defi-cienc!
may be partly made· up, but not entirely satisfactorily. •
An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure
ALL ABOUT MILK
There is a temptation to add sugar generously to the milk
for the bottle-fed baby, for the reason that sugar· is fattening.
but a flabby, over-fat baby is not a sign of robust health,
Milk should not contain more
than seven per cent. of sugar,
which is the amount provided
by nature in mother's milk, Too
much sugar may cause gas and
colic and lead to more serious
trouble.
Again, i£ cow's milk is not diluted, the baby is placed in the
positioh of a person living upon a rich meat diet. Milk, not
diluted with water, then, may be the cause of indigestion and colic.
which in turn lead to summer complaint.
Further, •i£ the milk is too rich in fat, it may cause trouble,
Too much fat in the baby's milk causes a sort of self-poisoning9
leading to diarrhea and summer complaint,
If the -baby must be raised by bottle-feeding,
or weaned, select the best milk obtainable.
Baby's milk should be" Certified" or Grade "A:'
Learn how to prepare the baby's bottle and
always do it yourself. Do not trust any one.
Every nursing mother knows how careful she
must be with her own diet, for everything she eats or drinks affects
CAREFUL DIET
FORMOT~RS.
her milk. Certain drugs taken in through
the mouth have been found in the milk of
nursing mothers, such as, for example, mer­cury
(calomel), headache powders, opium.
purgative salts, rhubarb, arsenic, bromides and patent medicines,
Cows are good botanists, but their judgment cannot be relied
upon so far as baby is concerned. Cows in pastures sometimes
feed upon objectionable or poisonous weeds. Some of these poisons
may pass into the milk. A cow that is kept to produce "Certified ••
Nursing Mothers Must Have Milk
12 ALL ABOUT MILK
milk, which is the best grade of milk for lfabies, is not, under any
circumstances, allowed to graze in pasture on account of this
danger. Such c.ows are given selected feed in suitable amounts.
Milk for<:the baby must be kept cold until just before feeding
time; then it should be warmed to blood heat. Test the tempera­ture
by dropping a little on your wr-ist.
It is dangerous to keep milk warm or tepid
for over half an hour. Never keep it warm
in a thermos or similar vacuum bottle.
Clean and scald the nursing bottle and the nipple just before
filling. Do not use rubber tubing. Keep away flies.
In case of doubt, the mother should consult a doctor, or go to
the nearest milk station, dispensary or infant depot. Do not
raise the baby upon the advice of the neighbors.
Impure milk is one of the preventable causes of sickness and
unnecessary deaths of babies. Many babies can be saved by
breast feeding, or by the use of fresh, pure milk; by care and clean­liness
and by following the advice of the doctor. Read "The
Child," issued by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
Milk is an absolute necessity for growing -children. Each child
should have a quart of milk a day. Milk should not be the only food
for children, of course. They also need vege­MILK
FOR
CHILDREN
tables, fruits, cereals,
eggs,· and some meat.
The reason that milk is
especially good for children is thatithassome
vital substance (vitamine) that helps growth. f)~£fl
Children can get a little of this vital substance I. "' av "!&-~~ ' ~eSGJfiM,(,_.·: 't·
in other foods, but not enough. Give your ,,.~ .. Q~ 110 I
boys and girls milk and a chance to 1
1 DHPM~f Mfl};( f -
grow. Milk also has other valuable ~J
things that build bone, make firm flesh ~ ~~.,...~:J/1-~-~
and put glow in the cheeks.
To Go Without Milk Is Poor Economy
•
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ALL ABOUT MILK 13
Milk also helps your children to keep well. Look at children
who do not get milk, but tea and coffee instead. Most of them
arc pale and sickly. Tea and coffee are not foods, but drugs.
They stimulate, but do not nourish. Childrt!n are better off with­out
stimulants. Give the children fresh clean milk and plenty of
it. This will help them to grow up strong and well. Save other
things if you must, but do not save on milk.
In spite of the shortage of milk in Europe since the war, every­thing
has been done to give milk to the children and hospitals,
even though the adult population had to
do without it. In a "safety first" health
campaign, it must be remembered that
it should be "children first."
Milk is valuable for grown-ups, es­pecia
lly for sick
MILK FOR people. It has been
GROWN-UPS found in the army
hospitals that the -~t:.:~O~~~
wounded recover much quicker when they Wounded Recover Quickly
have milk. Milk helps to keep you strong, vigorous and young.
A Quart a Day for Children
14 ALL ABOUT MILK
Grown-up people can live for m0nths and months on milk
alone, hut a hard-working man would have to drink many quarts
each day to keep up his vitality and repair the wear and tear of
his body. However, if milk is used in combination with other
food, one is sure of getting a well-balanced r~tion. One pint of
milk will serve this purpose for grown-ups-children need a quart,
Children must have milk-adults ought to.
The souring and curdling of milk is wrongly called nature's
danger signal. Nature has no danger signal for milk. The
SOURING AND
CURDLING .OF
MILK
dangers in milk cannot be seen with the
naked eye. Our sense of taste and smell
are poor sanitary guides. Curdled milk
may not be harmful, and is often beneficial.
Usually when milk is allowed to stand it turns sour and curdles.
This is the usual way for milk to spoil. 'This curdling is a special
form of fermentation and is caused by an acid which is formed by
lactic acid bacteria. Strong acids like sulphuric acid will curdle
milk at once. Weak acids like lemon juice will also curdle milk,
When milk curdles, very much· the same thing~ takes place as
when an egg is heated-the albuminous matter is made hard, lumpy.
Buttermilk Is Nourishing
and insoluble. The curd is the
thickened albumin of the milk.
Rennet also causes milk to curdle.
'fhis is the ferment found iri the
gastric juice; hence, the first thing
that happens to milk when it reaches
the stomach is to become curdled.
'The curd is then acted upon by the
pepsin and digested. If the lumps
are large and tough, the digestion is
slower than if the lumps are soft
and smalL 'Therefore, diink milk
slowly.
There Is No Substitute For Milk
•
ALL ABOUT MILK 15
Buttermilk is a curdled milk from which the fat has been
removed. It may be a sweet curd or a sour curd. Buttermilk is
a pleasant, refreshing beverage and a nour-
BUTTERMILK IS ishing food. It has practically all the food
NOURISHING value.of milk except the fat, most of which
is removed by churning to make butter.
Prepared buttermilk is usually made from skim milk and is
sold under different trade names. It should always be made
from clean, safe milk.
Sour milk can always be put to use. It can be used in making
ll}Uffins, griddle cakes, and cottage cheese. Use the whey in
bread making. Do not waste a drop of it.
Skim Milk Whole Milk
All skim milk should be used-none wasted. It can be used
as a drink or a food, in cooking, or to make buttermilk or cottage
SKIM MILK AND
COTTAGE
CHEESE
cheese. Skim milk is the cheapest kind of
albumin on the market. It contains all
the good qualities of milk except the fat.
Cottage cheese is made either from
whole milk or skim milk.
1 quart thick sour milk
1 quart boiling water
1 tablespoonful top milkj
! teaspoonful salt.
Milk Promotes Growth-Buy Milk for Children
16 ALL ABOUT MILK
Put milk in a large bowl. Add the boiling water and let stand
five minutes. Strain through cheesecloth, squeezing gently,
Mash the curd with a fork, moisten, and season with salt.
One pound of cottage cheese supplies more albumin than one
pound of beef, or one pound of pork, or one pound of lamb, or
one pound of veal, or one pound of chicken. ·
Other milk products, such as cheese, junket, custards, cream
sauces, cornstarch and rice puddings, ice-cream, and butter are
all good, nourishing and valuable foods.
Milk is cheap, even at present prices. . It is too bad that the
housewife is inclined to cut down on milk when the price goes up.
I · PRICE OF
MILK
It is poor economy to save on vital foods.
It is not how much we pay, but how much
we get in return that counts. Thus, tour­teen
cents' worth of milk does the body
more good than fourteen cents spent on steak at forty-eight cents
a pound, or fourteen cents' worth of eggs at sixty cents a dozen.
At these prices, milk would be worth over forty cents a quart.
To go without milk is poor economy. You get more energy
(force) from twenty-five cents' worth of milk than you can from
A Milk Ca-rt in Belgium
Milk Is One of. the Cheapest Foods
•
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ALL ABOUT MILK 17
twenty-five cents' worth of meat, or eggs, or cod. Hence, it is
better to cut down on meat before you do so on milk.
The reason for the higher price of milk is the higher cost of
everything else including fodder, farm labor and transportation,
When the price of milk went up a few cents a quart, many families
were found giving their children tea and coffee instead of milk. This
is a great mistake for such drinks fail to nourish the child properly.
Milk contains " life" because it is rich in vitamines. Vita­mines
are vital substances of great importance in our diet. .Vita­I
LIFE IN MILK
VITAMINES
mines are also found in other foods, but
are there in very small amounts. These
peculiar substances were recently discov­ered.
They are absolutely necessary for
the growth and nourishment of the body. Therefore, vitamines
are indispensable to everybody, but particularly to growing chil­dren
and to persons recovering from illness. The
easiest way to get vitamines is in milk. Heating does
not hurt the vitamines in milk. Hence pasteurized
milk is just as nourishing as raw milk.
Milk has everything needed in the diet. It is a'
complete mixed diet in itself. It has· sugar and fat!'
which give energy (force) to move the body-like coal
to the engine; it has mineral salts which build up the
bones and keep the body in good shape; and albunaim
(protein) which-like meat or white of egg-is impor­tant
in making brawn and sinew.
Of all the different kinds of protein to be
found in food, the best is found in milk.
Sugar9 mineral salts, fat, and protein are
all necessary in a well-balanced diet. But
these substances without vitamines will not
nourish the body or promote growth. Milk
is rich in vitamines.
Milk Is Cheap Even at Present Prices
18 ALL A B 0 U T M I L K
ASK YOUR
• POCKETBOO
Milk Repairs the Body-Buy Mnk for the Sick
•
ALL ABOUT ' MILK 19
Think of the value of having one food which supplies all the
necessary elements of a good mixed diet-and which at the same time
. can be used without the slightest preparation.
Milk is watery. The w;at~ may be evaporated, leaving aH
the food value in a dry powder. In other words, milk may be
dried just as apples, pears, and beans may
DRIED AND CON- be dried. Dried milk loses none of its food
DENSED MILK value-it is just as nourishing for family
use as fluid milk.
Condensed or evaporated milk is partially dried, and is also
a good food. Condensed milk is preserved with sugar, and there­fore
is not sterilized. On the other hand, evaporated milk is not
sweetened and must be sterilized by heat, in order to preserve it.
It is not wise to raise the baby on dried or partly dried milk, with­out
the advice of the doctor.
Dried milk, condensed milk, and evaporated
always be prepared from fresh, clean, and safe milk~
Milk may be rich in cream yet of poor sanitary
quality.
There are only two .kinds of milk-good and
bad. There is a growing tendency to classify all
milk as either raw milk or
KINDS OF pasteurized milk. But there
MILK are other classifications: (I)
Certified milk; (2) ihspected
milk; (3) market milk. A still better way of grading
milk is " Grade A," "Grade B," and "Grade C."
milk should
Be sure that your milk is graded, for it is not .!.6
possible to tell what kind of milk you are buying F a lse Impression
by looking at it or by tasting it. The amount of !fec~~~h of'N".;
cream does not tell the true story. If your milk row Neck
is graded, ask the Health Officer to examine a sample t__o tell
you whether the grade is up to standard.
Better Be Safe Than Sorry-Pasteurize
20 ALL ABOUT MILK
Certified milk is the very best, freshest, cleanest, purest, and
safest raw milk that it is possible to produce. It is milk of uni­form
composition and of high quality
obtained by cleanly methods from healthy
cows under special sanitary care. It is so
certified by a medical milk commission.
Certified milk is honor milk. It is intended especially for babies
and invalids.
Certified milk costs more than ordinary milk, because it requires
a veterinary surgeon to test the cows with tuberculin to find out
whether they have tuberculosis,
and to examine them from time
to time; a bacteriologist and
chemist must analyze the milk;
a physician must look after the
hands and wear clean clothes;
the milk must be bottled and
iced at the dairy; the construction and lighting and ventilation of
the cow barnsJUust be extra good and the water supply extra safe.
The greatest care and attention must be constantly practiced.
Constant watchfulness is the price of safety.
INSPE<;TED Inspected milk is a good grade of milk
MILK obtained from healthy cows by cleanly
methods. Inspected milk is not quite as
good as certified mille Inspected milk is family milk. It should
always be pasteurized before you buy it.
Pasteurization Is Cheaper Than Doctor's Bills
ALL ABOUT MILK 21
Washing the Cows Before Milking
..
Dirty Milk Clean Milk
Pasteurization Means Precaution, Protection, Prevention
22 ALL ABOUT MILK
Market milk is milk that is neither certified nor inspected. It
is often of a poor quality and not suitable for infant feeding.
MARKET MILK,
DIP MILK
Dip milk is milk dipped from a can. It
is also called " bulk milk " and " loose milk."
Such milk is often sold at grocery stores and
small shops. The best qualities of milk are
never sold in bulk, but always in individual bottles. Any milk
dipped from a can is therefore pretty sure to be of the poorest
grade. If it is advisable to sell crackers and cereals
in individual packages, surely milk should be sold
in individual bottles to insure cleanliness and pro­tection
from dirt, flies, fingers and germs.
Clean milk is much better than dirty milk,
especially when the health of those who handle
the milk is carefully super­CLEAN
MILK
vised. It requires only a
little intelligence and rea-sonable
care to keep milk
clean. With care, cleanliness, and the use of ice,
a satisfactory grade of milk may be sent to
market by any farmer. Clean and healthy
cows, healthy milkers, milk pails sterilized by
scalding, sterilized cans and bottles, clean hands-these are the
prime essentials. The milk must be chilled promptly and kept
cold. ke is the best preservative. Good dairy methods are
more important than fancy barns and pedigreed cattle.
Clean milk, kept cold, and properly protected, shows very
little change in three or even five or ten days. It is not difficult tOJ
keep it cold and clean. With special precautions, it is possible
to keep milk so that it may be shipped across the ocean and back
again and still be in good condition.
Sanitarians All Recommend Pasteurization
...
ALL ABOUT MILK 23
Frequently milk contains so much dirt that the specks may
be seen as a sediment in the bottom of the bottle or glass. Ordi­narily,
the dirt cannot be seen because the
DIRTY MILK
dairyman has filtered the milk or taken out
the dirt in a special machine called a clarifier.
Filtration will take out the specks and
clarifiers will make the milk look cleaner, but these processes do
not improve the milk except in appearance. The bacteria and
germs cannot be
·separated or filtered
out.
You can see for
yourself that milk
hides the dirt because
milk is opaque-not
transparent. Add
a teaspoonful of mud
to a quart of milk.
Mix it up. The milk
will look as white and
pure as before the
mud was added.
!J!iG~ll!~¥~
icll[~T 1
1
ilE~M.9
1 q'
~~11
'tWO KINDS 01" MILK PAILS
!l
!l
The Open Pail Admits Much Dirt; the Covered
Pail Keeps it Out
You will find it equally interesting to make the regulation
dirt test. Simply filter a pint or a quart of milk through some
clean white cotton or through several layers of white cloth. The
brownish or blackish stain proves the presence of dirt.
0 2 3 4
Four grades of milk as indicated by the dirt test. One pint of" milk was poured
through each of these discs of absorbent cotton, whicli were perfectly white at first.
They show four grades of milk, as folio ;vs: 1, perfectly clean; 2, slightly dirty; 3, dirty;
4, very dirty.
Safety First-Use Only Pasteurized Milk
24 . ALL ABOUT MILK
Most of the dirt in milk consists of cow dung; also of particles
of dust from the air, bits of straw, parts of insects, and trash of all
kinds. 'fhe dirt is there because most of the milk d9es not get
the care and attention it should have on most farms, especially
small farms.
Dirty milk spoils much more quickly than clean milk. It is
laden with bacteria, and may be harmful, especially to a tender
infant.
DISEASES AND
DANGERS
Every rose has its thorns. Milk also has
its dangers. It is apt to become contami-nated
and convey the genns of disease.
'fhe principal infections transmitted through infected milk are
tuberculosis, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, septic sore
throat, diarrheas and dysenteries, summer complaints of children,
and other serious diseases. Fortunately every portion of milk is
not a portion of poison. 'fhe dangers are, however, sufficiently
real and frequent to make us careful.
Fortunately, too, we possess an easy, cheap, ~d reliable
method of preventing these dangers-namely pasteurization
Bottle Washed by Hand-Afterward
Scalded
Bottles Filled and Capped by
Machinery
Pasteurization Saves Lives and Prevents Sickness
...
•
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ALL ABOUT MILK 25
Pasteurized milk simply means heated milk-milk that is
par-boiled or scalded. It is not necessary to boil milk to pasteurize
PA~TEURIZA­I'ION
OF MILK
it. If you have no thermometer, however,
it is advisable to bring it to a boil to make
sure that the harmful germs are killed.
After the milk is heated it must be suddenly
chilled and kept cold. This is a very essential part of the process
of pasteurization. The milk should be heated to 148 Fahrenheit
for thirty minutes. A lower temperature or shorter time may not
kill the bacteria. A higher temperature or longer time is not
necessary. Pasteurization has only one object, and that is to
destroy the harmful bacteria.
The word pasteurization is usec1 in honor of the great scientist
Pasteur, who discovered the process. Pasteurization neither im­proves
nor harms the milk itself. Weak and dirty milk is still
weak and dirty after it has been pasteurized. It would avoid con­fusion
ii pasteurized milk were simply called heated milk, for
that is all it is. Pasteurized milk is just as digestible and just as
nutritious as raw milk.
Only the harmful and frail varieties of bacteria are destroyed.
Many harmless and hardy forms survive, and will continue to
grow and multiply. Therefore, pasteurized milk turns sour and
curdles in the same way that raw milk spoils.
Pasteurized milk must be handled at least as carefully as raw
milk. It may become infected after pasteurization. All milk,
whether raw or heated, should be kept covered, cold and
clean.
Pure milk is better than purified milk, but it is so difficult to
get pure milk that our only real safety lies in pasteurization. So
long as raw milk is apt to be dangerous milk, our only protection
lies in heating the milk, thereby killing the germs of tuberculosis,
typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever, septic sore throat and
other ills.
Pasteurization Is a Public Health Safeguard
26 ALL ABOUT MILK
.. For family use, it is advisable to obtain 1 1k !ready pasteur-iized
by a trustworthy dairy. It is cheapen, Sa1er, and better to
• JIIeat milk by wholesale in a large plant with competent supervi­sion
than to depend upon each household
heating its daily supply. If drinking water
needs purification, it is filtered at a central
station, and not left for each individual kitchen.
Babies should have mother's milk. There
is no adequate substitute. If mother's milk
is not available, babies are entitled to the best
and freshest cow's milk that can be obtained.
Whether such milk is to be modified, pasteur­ized,
or otherwise treated is a question for the
doctor to decide in each individual case. U n1ess
very sure of the supply, the doctor will usually not take chances.
and advise pasteurized milk for baby, especially during summer
time.
The simplest, cheapest, easiest and best method of making
raw milk safe is to pasteurize it. The easiest way to pasteurize
milk for family use-is to heat it in a double
HOW TO boiler, such as a rice boiler, for three-
PASTEURIZE quarters of an hour, and then to chill it
quickly.
The best and simplest home method of pasteurizing milk for
infant feeding is in the Straus pasteurizer. Milk of good quality
is placed in individual nursing bottles and heated according to
directions given below.
The Straus pasteurizer consists of a pail of water and a recep­tacle
for the bottles of milk. It is used as follows:
After the bottles have been thoroughly cleaned, they are placed in the
tray (A) and :filled with the milk or mixture used for one feeding. Then put
oo the corks or patented stoppers without fastening them tightly.
The pot (B) is now placed on the wooden surface of the table or floor
and filled to the supports (C) with boiling water.
You Won't Eat Uncooked Fish; Why Eat Raw Milk?
ALL ABOUT MILK 27
Place the tray:(A) with filled bottles into the pot (B) so that the bottom
of the tray rests on the supports (C), and put cover (D) on quickly.
After the bottles have been
warmed up by the steam for five
minutes, remove the cover
quickly, turn the tray so that it
drops into the water; replace the
cover immediately. This manip­ulation
is to be made as ra pidly
as possible to avoid loss of heat.
Thus it remains for twenty-five
minutes.
Fig. 72-Straus Home Pasteurizer
Now take the tray out of the
water and fasten the corks or
stoppers a i r t i g h t . Cool the
bottles with cold water and ice as
quickly as possible, and keep
them at this low temperature
until cold.
Use the milk from the bottles and do not pour it into another vessel.
The milk should not be used for children later than twenty-four hours
aft11r pasteurization.
Emphasis is laid on the fact that only fresh, clean milk, which has been
kept cold, should be used.
It is to the interest of every householder that the milk supply
should be carefully supervised. Is your milkman licensed? Are
COMMONSENSE
PRECAUTIONS
his dairies inspected? It is more impor­tant
to license persons engaged in the milk
industry than it is to license plumbers,
undertakers, or chauffeurs. New York,
Washington, Boston and other cities require all persons who
handle milk to obtain an official license or permit from the health
authorities. Such a system helps the inspector to compel cleaner
dairies and to get rid of sickly cows, and makes it easier to enforce
the milk regulations and to improve the $upply.
Milk should not be allowed to stand out-of-doors, but should
be taken in as soon as delivered. To' prevent th~ dangerous
Don't Waste a Drop
28 ALL ABOUT MILK
Modem Method
Keep Milk Clean, Cold and Covered
ALL ABOU T MILK 29
Courtesy of H. P. Hood & Sons Pri,,ate House Safe. Showing Door Open,
Milkman has Placed His .1\Iilk in Safe,
Preparatory to Locking the Door
One of tho Things That May Happen to Milk
During the Early Hours of the Morning
occurrence pictured here, the milk bottle should be protected in
a box until taken into the house, and placed on ice as soon
entitled
as possible.
In the home, milk should be kept cold, clean,
and covered. If part of the milk in a bottle is used, do
not replace the paper stopper, but invert a clean tum­bler
over the neck of the bottle and at once replace
in the ice-chest. Never let the milk bottle stand
around. Have a special place in the coldest part of
the ice-chest for the milk bottles. The best way is
to ha>e the milk bottle touching the ice. A cheap
home-made ice-box for milk can easily be made
by following the directions giYen
in a pamphlet issued by the Metro­politan
Life Insurance Company
" The Child," page 20.
Milk is readily tainted and absorbs odors and
flavors just as charcoal does. It will soon taste
of tobacco, onions, fish, or fruit if exposed to these
things in an open pitcher or bottle. Turnips,
onions, and other strong-tasting substances fed
to the cow will also give a flavor to the milk.
Milk should have no odor at all, or, at most, only
Milk Builds Bone, Brawn a11d·Blood
30 ALL ABOUT MILK
a slight characteristic odor. A "cowy'' odor, means smelly
barns, poor dairy methods and tainted milk,
Milk should never be placed
in a bottle that has not been
purified and disinfected by scald­ing
with boiling water. Milk
bottles should not be taken into
the sick-room. They should
never be used for any other
purpose than to hold milk. I They should always be rinsed I in cold water and then thorough-ly
washed and scalded before they ar~ returned to the milkman.
Never take milk from a dairyman who does not disinfect his
milk bottles with boiling water or steam.
Inspection and pasteurization solve the milk problem. We
need inspection to keep milk clean, and pasteurization to make
SOLUTION
TO THE
MILK PROBLEM
milk safe. Inspection goes to the root of
the problem and helps bring us cleaner,
better, fresher and safer milk. Inspection,
however, has limitations. These limita-tions
may be guarded against by pasteuriza­tion.
It is certain that a milk supply that is both supervised and
pasteurized is the only satisfactory solution of the milk problem.
Milk Is the Best Food
Use MORE Milk
Milk Is Not a Beverage, But a Food
13y LORADO TAFT
Courtesy Infant Welfare Society of Cbica~o.