OUR DAILY BREAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1935, Page 5

OUR DAILY BREAD.

SKIM MILK REJECTED. "GROSS DIETETIC ERROR." REMEDIES SUGGESTED. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. That the attitude of the people of New Zealand to the use of milk is certainly anomalous is the contention of Mr. R. L. Andrew, of . the Dominion laboratory, who has written an interesting, somewhat technical paper on the use of skim milk as an article of food. While we are given credit for consuming a high proportion of butter per head, amounting to 391b per annum, the writer contends that to take the fat content of the milk alone, and reject the skim milk with its valuable mineral matter, is probably as gross a dietetic error as to consume the skim milk only, and discard the fat.

That there are practical difficulties in distributing this favoured product to the people is recognised by Mr. Andrews, who admits that except in special circumstances, it could not be sold ae liquid, for it would be too bulky, and "difficult to supply fresh. Sweetened condensed milk would not be suitable owing to excess sugar. The most satisfactory form would be skim milk powder, which "keeps" indefinitely. Milk in Bread. As the principal objection to white bread is its deficiency in mineral matter, the suggestion is made that there should be an increasing use of milk in our bread. Many bakers sell their product with a milk content, the practice being to add up to five parts of skim milk v "~> 95 parts of flour. Mr.

Andrews points out that ordinary white bread, with only 0.3 of mineral matter, is very deficient in this respect, though milk itself contains 0.75 per cent of mineral matter, of which one quarter is phosphoric acid, and one-fifth lime. The protein content of bread would be improved by adding milk powder, as it contains 3.5 per cent of' this element, compared witli 10 per cent in flour. In addition to the real dietetic improvement thus secured, there would be a considerable advantage in the baker's sense —the loaf rises better, has a better appearance and flavour, and does not stale so quickly. Another use for milk powder is in soups .and many other foodk, though Mr. Andrews has to concede that much educational work is required before

skim milk in any form would be accepted as an ordinary and substantial part of our diet. "Possibly too much stress is placed in New Zealand on the increased use of whole milk," concludes the scientist. "A large amount of milk is used in the form of butter, ami it is probable that the average intake of fat is sufficient. If the skim milk left as a by-product in making this butter were also consumed, they would together be equivalent to a daily consumption per head of 1J pints of whole milk. In other words, we could, by so using the skim milk, bring our consumption of milk up to the maximum without milking an additional cow."