OUR MILK SUPPLY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 82, 6 April 1914, Page 9

OUR MILK SUPPLY.

& jfrppilEß'S fotST Of VIEW. PASTEURISATION DEFENDED. A WORD TO THE HOUSEWIFE. VALUE OF STERILISATION. AN UROEST PLEA FOR REFORM. The criticisms on the purity of our milk supply,•'•hie' 1 a prominent local bacteriologist made in the course of an totsrview with a "Star" representative l»st Friday, tferc taken strong exception to by Jtrk- «• Cuttou. general manager of the Auckland Farmers Co-operative Milk Supply Company. Mr Dullou, who has devoted a great deal of study to the auction of improving the standard of milk supply' for general consumption, takes particular exception to the attack oh pasteurisation, and in the course of & talfc on the subject this morning expressed some interesting and pregnant LiHons on the question of milk for public consumption. "in defehaing the pasteurisation of ffl j]ji from' the attack made upon it," , said-Mr Difalou. "1 should like to point out that ,Dr Mason, who was chief health officer in the Dominion prior to the appointment of Dγ Valintine. framed 4 bill whi cn F as presented to Parliament, but unfortunately was defeated rpjjjj bill provided for the compulsory pasteurisation of all milk supplied in cities and boroughs of New Zealand having a population of 4,000 or more inhabitants. Further, Mr Reakes, the present thief veterinary surgeon, has issued instructions to the Agricultural Department officers, and, I believe, has prepared a bill to go before Farliamcnt, with the object of making it compulsory that all efiiri milk for the feeding of pigs and ■ calves be pasteurised by the factories before being sent away. "My ■argument," said Mr DtiQou, "is that the lives of our children arc of Greater value than those of pigs and ciives. Again Professor Gilruth, who is sow Chief Administrator of the Northern Territory, told mc himself in speaking of "Ssiy Siip'plies. that in the case of fresh milk from selected farms he would not pasteurise as there was no need for it. But that when it was a question of milk for ordinary city supply, lie was certainly in favour of pasteurisation. I myself was shown in the Pasteur Institute by Professor Maye all the different demonstrations proving that it is tvbsolutely necessary to pasteurise in order to eliminate the enormous quantities of bacteria harmful to human life. "EvFAJfTS ARE NOT CALVES." '-''. "As to the reference to the Lady Tal- ' tot.lnstitute, -which is doing in Mel."'boajne, practically the ■ Same sort of wbfk that is being done here by the Flnnket Nurso Society—it is not a commercial institution, and they charge threepence per pint for the milk they 'supply. I certainly think that come real bamanifliig milk institution would be an eJ&llent establishment, say in Auckland. Irafifcisa'question of money. It is also qoitMrna, that diarrhoea and kindred diseases which play Sad'havoc with young children, art caused by infants being fed on cows milk. If an infant is in a weak state, no inattef how pure or rich the milk may be it is most likely to do it harm, unite? modified to the condition of woman's toflk—the natural food of a child. It must 6e remcnlbefetl that in/ants arc not calves."

STERILISATION ADVOCATED. Discussing the comparative merits of pasteurisation and sterilisation, Mr Duflou pointed out that the latter is a different procesa altogether, because it means that all bacteria of any description are killed and the milk is rendered absolutely sterile, 'in pasteurisation," he explained, -'you kill a certain Eumbcr of germ, but a large number oi other germs am only for the time being put to sleep, 80 10 speak, and \Aen the milk becomes old enough these bacteria revive. As long as the milk can be kept cool there is little "danger of these bacteria doing their work of Breeding. Of course, if pedple will keep milk in hot kitchens and closed pihtriee they simply raise the temperature and give* the bacteria an opportunity to renew breeding. In sterllieatipn, on the other hand, when it is properly dbhe, no bacteria are left whatWfref. Sjo long, therefore, as sterilised Mlk is kept in an airtight receptacle it cannot become sour or unfit for use. Once n is opened, however, it becomes milk ag»in in the ordinary sense, because the germs which are in the air enter the milk wd start breeding immediately they find tte requisite temperature. Personally," Wared Mr Dunou, "I am very much in Iwour of sterilisation, hut for city sup-Srti-k.VW'WB question from a financial point of view, on account of the large outlay required for bottles and the expensive plant necessitated."

L-XFAIR COMfARISOX. tllp "J 0 "' , "! ,1 ? the Auckland milk with ZZt'r InßiSted u P° n ' b y the f Mllk Commission; it js not a fair f Thc 10 '°00 bacteria to the metre admitted fy ">e Amorithe If n " k aOCS not Bhow what JJJ ■'«•' *U* « pu« nilk % of tkT Domuuon 'i«» "> the absu rd««h tW-'r*" '«B"l"to. under » quklifWJ S °1 c de P art ™nt with H» toS d JK understa »ds both tasC. in h PraCUOe Of the mi lk what t ° f tbe trade itse « to ™ what to prevent in the way of irbetter itK l l nd f r OD ° 6 Wiy for th« dlvision croate d sp«- ---■ *>«&* 1.1 t,ie p,,biie "wnpuloitt mm » / nwrcJ ' of the un " aaavi," .P^ 84 out *>»»* there are SVE? & «!, not descend ****- a to UUM p«jV he