PERIL IN THE MILK JUG

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 20 April 1912, Page 4

PERIL IN THE MILK JUG

CARE NEEDED".

AS the white milk comes frothing froni the cuw it is considered to be in a practically pure state. Cattle do develop tuberculosis; but it is said that the »luilger from Ihi.i s?ource, though serious, is much exaggerated. In fact certain experts maintain that a tubercular cow does not pass on infection through its milk. But it is the nlilk itself after it lias been drawn from the cow, ll>a.t is liable to contamination. It is realised now that milk is one of the most per- | feet culture media for disease germs it is possible to discover. Milk has been found to be one of the most prolific distributors of typhoid, and the cow cannot bo blamed. As a matter of fact, in all cases in which fever has been transmitted through the dairy it has been directly traced to someone handling, the milk who has suffered from typhoid, to a person who has been in contact with infection, to flies with access to typhoid germs, or to contamination in the water with which the cans have been washed. Fortunately, the Government has brought in regulations to protect the public from any dairyman who may be inclined to lapse into careless ways, and it is essential (that these regulations should be carried out to the letter. Everything is in Nelson's favour for a gooil and clean milk supply, and we know of no breaches of regulations or neglect ; but at the same time it is necessary for the public to be well alive to the necessity for clean dairies, etc., and if any neglect occurs, a prosecution in the. interests of the public should immediately be made. Milk —pure and simple—has no terrors. It is only when the system of handling is allowed to do i£s destructive work that what should be the whole- | somest food of the race becomes the breeding ground for germs in countless millions. Most people with an inherent fear of microbes, view doubtful water as an aquarium teeming with invisible life, yet scientists say that water may be exposed to the air for months before becoming populated by as many germs as will take possession of a similar quantity of milk in as many hours. As the cow produces the foam-„ ing milk it is pure ; man adds the deadly ingredients in many ways.

It does not matter how carefully the milk may, be dealt with afterwards, or how scrupulously clean the surroundings may be, if the slightest contamination has once taken place. The only check on the germ family are boiling, pasteurising, or storing in a low temperature. These seem easy l'emedies, and during tiie hot weather probably the majority of housewives make use of pasteurisation and sterilisation. But either of these \s only the choice between evils. The precautions do uot clean dirty milk. The germs are certainly killed, but their poisonous products remain. It is contended by those who should know that other living organisms which play an important part in human digestion also come to an untimely end with their destructive brethren, and as a result the best properties of the milk are literally "killed." To serve its best purpose, milk must be taken "alive." The object of all then must be to keep it free from oojectionable influences, clean, and wholesome, if its nourishing properties are to be retained. To young children infected milk has proved the greatest menace, and especially during the summer months the mortality, in larger cities, has assumed alarming proportions.