PASTEURISED MILK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22225, 27 September 1935, Page 15

PASTEURISED MILK

Sir, —With your kind permission and to avoid confusion to those who may have read a report of my talk to the Overseas League, and Mr. Montgomerie's letter in the Herald of September 23, I should like this letter published. The report of my talk was naturally curtailed and unfortunately an important word was left out—l said one quart of unpasteurised milk will supply calcium and vitamin A, B and C—the words calcium or lime were missed. No mention was made in my talk or the report of the loss of vitamins A, B and 0 by pasteurisation. As Mr. Montgomerie points out, the diet I advocated to supplement our ordinary meals will supply all the vitamins, and as the quotation in this letter will show I knew A and B were not seriously affected by pasteurisation, and ois supplied by citrus. I said unpasteurised for a more vital reason, i.e., tho supply of soluble calcium which we so urgently need in this volcanic country. I pointed out the difficulty of obtaining soluble calcium easily—green vogotables, whole wheat, etc., all help, but are by no means an easy way to provide sufficient. The fact that tho public may have no supply other than infected milk if not pasteurised did riot ontor the case —I merely suggested the best way of obtaining calcium, hoping some would be lucky enough to have a pure raw milk supply. As I have no laboratory for tests, etc., I naturally was not drawing a line between raw and pasteurised milk from my own experiments as Mr. Montgomerie's letter more or less infers. I quoted probably the greatest known authority to-day on theso questions, McCollum, who says:— "Effect of pasteurisation on vitamin, calcium and phosphorus content —milk is pasteurised to destroy certain dis-ease-producing organisms which it may contain. It is heated to 143 degrees to 145 degrees F. for 30 minutes in the commercial process. Milk loses its vitamin 0 content in a great measure in pasteurisation, but noither A nor B is appreciably affected. In pasteurisation the calcium salts of milk are rendered more or less insoluble, depending on the length of time the milk is. heated. In this insoluble form they may be lost through adhering to the container. This has long been known because of the formation in pasteurisation apparatus of a deposit called 'milk stone.' Daniels and Stearne regard it as probablo that a baby fed on pasteurised milk over a long period receives too littlo calcium for growth needs." If wo aro between tho devil and the deep sea, and raw milk is so infected that it is unsafe, by all means pasteurise; it is ever so much better than nono at all. If Mr. Montgomerie is able to guarantee the method they use does not destroy soluble calcium in sufficient quantities to matter then all is well. May I suggest tho word "pasteurisation" is obsolete and should not apply to present-day methods —a better term probably would be sterilised or certified milk. Work being done in many countries, chiefly Canada, on what may bo described as a fixer, if proved successful, will make it possible for us to use insoluble or inorganic calcium. G. B. Chapman.