HEALTH NOTES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 20 August 1929, Page 7

HEALTH NOTES.

FOOD. CARE IN THE HOME. (Contributed by Department of Health). Formerly the problem of keeping food in a f'r.sh and satisfactory condition in the home was more difficult, than it is at present, states the Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health, England, in a recent report. Nowadays the transport and distribution of food has greatly improved and it i.s possible-

;> in most parts of the country to obtain i a daily sup.plv of fresh food from ito- - toilers. and therefore the time for 5 which it i.s necessary to keep foo-d! in j the home before it i.s consumed i,s oum- . piaratively short. Consequently the 'precautions in the home which, were for- > morly esseiitral if food was to -arrive, oil ' the table in a. satisfactory condition are ’ now much fewer and more sample. " Nevertheless, if some care is not bestowed upon food when it arrives in the bonne, the best cannot lie got out- ol ' it; there will certainly be- waste and ; perhaps even danger to health .from contamination which can, with, a little care, be avoided. The foods which re- ’ quire the greatest care are those which are the most perishable, such as milk, cream, sausage, brawn, butter, etc. There are manv houses in which fa.eiliiitiesj for proper storage of perishable food a.re rudimentary or absent, but in spite of this nmioh can be dome by the exercise of a little care land forethought to protect food from household contamination and keep it in good condition until it is consumed. In the first place, perishable food should he bought at as frequent intervals as daily if this cam be done, or as often .as may be required. Food should 1 'be kept in a; clean .cool! place, and handled ns little as possible until wanted. It should.be protected from contamination bv being kept, covered. In many cases- nowadays food is supplied by retailers in containers iamd wrappers which are in themiselves' excellent prot-eictiveis- against contain in a.t on. and' when ratable vessels or wrappers of this kind 1 are .provided, it i.s best to keep the food in them until it- is required. In most cases food can be kept sufficiently cool without rev course to nnv very .speioilal iprecamfion.s. In® boxes or reifrigermt m\«» in house's, i although convenient, arc not essential in this"’ oountrv: fre-sh supplies of foci! na.n gpiw-nal'v lie obtained eo f.reqinenF'v I t-b.nt-”eve-n in hot wemjtiher very rpeivisb•ible foods' like milk should be kept well for the short time necessity before consumption. The following arc examiri'es of the sort of care winch should be i-iven to certain n'.uvs 1 1 a 1)1 o foods in practically every Ironic :

PERISHABLE FOOD. Milk should not fie emptied out of the bottle in which it i.s .supplied into a. jug or basin. The bottle has been thoroughly cleansed and sterilised, and it is certain that the jug or other household utensil cannot be- so clean or a (foil 1 vucli eomjpilete protection. It .should fie remembered that the use of uni!ff.e>ri!.‘,sod vessels is the principal cause of the premature souring of milk. Its freshness may ho .prolonged even in very hot weather by standing the .milk bott-'e in a basin into which cold! water is allowed to flow .from the- tap. Suspicion has fallen upon na.ts and. ni ice as .being possible cainiiern of the organisms resixiusiiibie- for food poisoning infections. Cold meats and meat food .preparations' such as brawns, meat pies. etc., to which some- cases of food' poisoning have been traced'in this past, were suspected of having received their infection from contamination by rats; or mice nunning over them or feeding ”.Pon them. Tt is a necessary precaution. therefore, to- protect such articles during storage- in the household from the risks of swell contamination. Closely voven wire covers are useful for thro purpose, -and 1 will also serve, as proteetion from the emrafly objeethonah-Te contamination bv flies.

Tn addition to the simipHe precautions i ust inetioned for keeping food in flic home fin ia.l fit condition for consumption there afe certain foods which arc. consumed raw a.nd arv specially liable to Mr--irlent-.-I cont-aim.ination in course of -,-ftn-v'iition for the market- and "In transit to the consumer. Such, for instance. are lettuces-, cefoi'y. etc-., and as the protection afforded bv cooking is absent in their case, care should bo taken to waish them thru*. 'ovdilv under running water before-they t-o consumed. The import a nc-e o-f thg use of raw ve-o-etablcs a-= on.it of the dPn.lv diet nmn»rlv insisted upon in view of FV» j suri-u.lv -of essential vitamins and .rribe"' u-'f.rj+ivo ecustit-uenf.s which th-pv r-’n-.•>Vv* h-uf 1+ is p'.i’nJk iniP n, rt- 4 illt thl-t (-Pei- lie emt-eu in ;1;S dr""! -I cnu.

dif-fon and a<- free from a-l-1 contamin tion as n-oss-’b-le.